Paved Roads? Dirt Roads? Our New Website Feature Makes That Clear

Recently we wrote a helpful blog and accompanying video that explains the best technique for riding on dirt roads. Some of you love the gravel and dirt. Some of you despise it. We are never afraid to veer off the main road and follow lesser used routes but sometimes it means we are choosing an unpaved road.

To help you make an informed choice about your next ride with us, we now give each tour and section of a tour a difficulty rating out of five and also share the approximate percentage of the tour’s distance that takes place on unpaved roads. While rating the overall challenge of a tour is an inherently subjective process, this will provide useful information as you make your decision.

We have made two improvements to our system:

Helpful Road Surface Information for Every Stage and Tour

The webpages for each tour and section now list a percentage range of unpaved distance. In addition, the detailed itinerary you can download from the website lists the unpaved percentage of each day’s ride. This is a feature that many people have long asked for and we are glad to be able to now offer it.

What is ‘Unpaved’?

Unpaved can mean roads or paths with a surface of dirt, gravel, sand etc. Looking only at the unpaved % can be deceiving. For example, paved roads also vary in quality and could have stretches of rough pavement that end up being more difficult to ride than a stretch of a smooth gravel road. These measurements can also be affected by road construction or when a route needs to be changed at short notice. While they aren’t the whole picture, they do give you a general overview of what to expect.

Bike and Tire Choice

On each tour page, we recommend what type of bike you should bring and what size tires to use. Even on tours that are entirely on paved roads, we never recommend bringing a road bike or tires narrower than 35mm. There is always a chance of a change of route onto gravel paths or riding through construction or stretches of very rough pavement. Wider tires are also more comfortable, stable and durable.

>>RELATED – Seven Tips for Riding on Rough Roads

More Precise Difficulty Ratings

Our tours now have half ratings – allowing us to differentiate more accurately between different tours and sections. A rating of 0.5 indicates the least difficult TDA tour while a rating of 5 signals the most difficult TDA tour. Difficulty ratings are based on a number of factors. Tougher road conditions, more climbing, inclement weather, general adversity and discomfort all contribute to the difficulty rating being increased for a particular tour or section of a tour. There might be a relatively flat and short stage but it’s in a region with prevailing or persistent headwinds, making the overall challenge greater. There might be a long day with lots of climbing, that on paper appears challenging, yet it’s smooth roads and gentle grades make the effort easier. We try to consider all these factors across the sections of the tour, and the tour as a whole, to come up with an accurate rating.

Don’t Only Focus on the Data

Ratings and tour data are tricky and sometimes you do yourself a disservice if they are used incorrectly. We want you to be informed but we also don’t want these data points to be the only factor that make you choose one tour or avoid another. Remember that these are fully supported tours – vehicles to carry your bags and staff to assist when you have a difficult day – so use this additional information as one of several factors when deciding and never discount a tour based solely on its ratings or % paved/unpaved. Part of the joy that people find on these trips is stepping out of their comfort zone, challenging themselves and trying something new.

We’d love your feedback on these new features. Please leave us a comment below.