How can I work out how hard a route will be?

[Spinney]

Because bikehike shows you the OS 1:50 000 map as well as the google-maps-type map, you can scan the OS map for chevrons as you plot your route. Doesn't give an overall difficulty for the route, of course, but at least you get warning of the bits where you might really suffer!

 

[jimboalee]

Because bikehike shows you the OS 1:50 000 map as well as the google-maps-type map, you can scan the OS map for chevrons as you plot your route. Doesn't give an overall difficulty for the route, of course, but at least you get warning of the bits where you might really suffer!

No chevrons indicates a hill which has a gradient of less than 14%.
One chevron is placed on a gradient between 14 and 20%.
Two chevrons should be avoided.

You will find a single chevron could be a possible 14% or a bloody difficult 19%.
Depending on how clever you are choosing the gearing on your bike, a hill with a single chevron could be possible or a 'walker'.

OS 50,000 has the contours at 10 m elevation increments, and the blue grid at 1 km squares.
For the PC screen, make your own scaler and measure the horiz distance between the contours. Do a calc and you get a more accurate idea of the gradient.
The OS 25,000 is even better.

Now you know how steep, how long and how many, what gears do you fit?

 

[peanut]

It's crap.

The 25,000 view is merely a DOUBLE size 'blow-up' of the 50,000 OS map, NOT the pathfinder 25,000.

Useless.

it depends on what you want to do with the map. Its an excellent ,free,full page map for plotting routes .Is has all the detail most riders are likely to need.

If you know of a free 25000 pathfinder map online please post a link to it so we can all benefit

 

[jimboalee]

http://streetmap.co.uk/

 

[peanut]

what are you talking about Jimbo ?

The map you linked to is a poor quality map and not even based on OS

It is the only map I've used that doesn't even show my road for crissakes. it has no topography no hills no points of interest nothing except lots of irritating flash animation and advert banners.

You'd be 10x better off with googlemaps

Stick to gearing mate.

 

[MGBLemonrider]

I've been perusing maps of my local area looking for some climbs to supplement my current favorite - 51m over .51km peaks at 18% on bikehike - Hertfordshire isn't known for it's mountains. A short lung buster for a novice like me. But having said that, I think one of the local cycling clubs Hill Climb up it. http://streetmap.co.uk/idld.srf?x=5...archp=ids.srf&dn=634&ax=524810&ay=232252&lm=0
I thought I'd found a very step crest, but the chevrons turned out to be "powerline" as it crossed the road. LOL

 

[jimboalee]

I've been perusing maps of my local area looking for some climbs to supplement my current favorite - 51m over .51km peaks at 18% on bikehike - Hertfordshire isn't known for it's mountains. A short lung buster for a novice like me. But having said that, I think one of the local cycling clubs Hill Climb up it. http://streetmap.co.uk/idld.srf?x=5...archp=ids.srf&dn=634&ax=524810&ay=232252&lm=0
I thought I'd found a very step crest, but the chevrons turned out to be "powerline" as it crossed the road. LOL

That streetmap.co.uk view you have there SURE looks like the Ordnance Survey Landranger 1:50,000 series maps.

 

[jimboalee]

Here's what the pros do.

The team has a man who scours the route ( on a paper map ) to find the STEEPEST bits of road the riders will encounter on each day.

In our case, the man who scours the map and the rider are the same person.

The same man watches the weather forecast on the morning of the ride and makes a note of the air temp, wind direction and wind speed. He estimates the amount of swirling that wind will create at the steep climbs he has identified on the map.
They may be a help, or a hindrance.

The riders conflab and choose their gearing. These days with 39 rings and 25 sprockets on a 15lb bike, the weather forecast serves only to pre-warn the riders of the task ahead and when to take glucose.

Even so, there were some riders who 'got it wrong' on the TdeF this year climbing against the howling wind up Mt Ventoux.