Bike North offers a variety of rides to suit all levels of cyclist.
Our grading system provides an overall rating for each ride, making it easy at-a-glance for you to see which ride you may prefer, taking into account pace, distance, path type and elevation. Bike North’s Rides Coordinator and Rides Committee review the grading of Bike North rides to ensure consistency.
Grading system
Here is how our colour grading works:
| Easy |
For any healthy person, little cycling experience necessary. The ride leader might instruct beginners with simple riding techniques such as use of brakes and gears.
Distance to 25 km with slow or gentle pace and over reasonably flat terrain.
Experience with traffic and knowledge of road rules is necessary.
Parties stay together and regroup approximately every kilometre.
Rides typically last 4 hours including a rest or coffee break.
Typically paced at around 15 km/hr average riding speed.
|
| Easy-Medium |
Slightly longer than Easy and requires basic competence with bicycle riding such as use of gears and brakes.
Distance from 20 to 40 km with gentle short hills.
Experience with traffic and knowledge of road rules is necessary.
Riders stay together and regroup approximately every couple of kilometres.
Rides typically last 4 hours including a rest or coffee break.
Typically paced at around 18 – 20 km/hr average riding speed.
|
| Medium |
Cyclists with geared bikes.
Distances up to 50 km.
Experience with traffic and knowledge of road rules is necessary.
Riders may break up a little according to ability and will regroup every 3 to 5 kilometres.
Rides typically last 5 hours including a rest or coffee break.
Typically paced at around 17-19 kph average riding speed.
|
| Medium-Hard |
For athletic adults.
Distances up to about 100 km.
Experience with traffic and knowledge of road rules is necessary.
Riders tend to get separated by hills and traffic. Might need to regroup about every 10 kilometres.
Every cyclist should be self-sufficient for puncture repairs, hydration and snacks.
Rides typically last 5 hours including a rest or coffee break.
Typically paced at around 17-25 kph average riding speed.
|
| Hard |
For experienced cyclists with above average ability.
Distances may exceed 100 km over difficult terrain.
Experience with traffic and knowledge of road rules is necessary.
Riders might need to ride separately for long distances. Cyclists should be self-sufficient for punctures
and other minor mechanical repairs, hydration and snacks.
Rides last for 6 hours or more including more than one rest break.
Typically paced at around 17-25 kph and might include sections of riding at faster than 25 kph
|
Pace
The overall pace of a ride can dramatically affect how much work you have to do to complete the ride. Even on easy terrain, a fast ride can be quite taxing. As a guide, on each ride an expected average moving speed is indicated. Note that this is average; the pace may be faster or slower than this depending on terrain and conditions on the day.
Here is a guide to the paces indicated on our rides:
|
slow
|
< 15km/hr
|
|
gentle
|
15-17km/hr
|
|
steady
|
17-19 km/hr
|
|
moderate
|
19-22 km/hr
|
|
brisk
|
22-25 km/hr
|
|
fast
|
> 25km/hr
|
RDI
To help work out which rides might suit you, or to compare the difficulty level of different rides, you could use the Ride Difficulty Index, which can be calculated using this formula:
RDI = C x D/1000
where C is metres climbed and D is kilometres travelled.
For example,
Looking for Lilies is graded as an easy ride. It has an RDI of 7 (= 259 x 27 /1000). In contrast,
Return to Reptile Park, graded as a hard ride, with an RDI of 170 (= 1638 x 104 /1000).
