What Level Rider Am I?

[Eden]

by what scale?

[smilingcat]

I don't think you should worry too much about "level" but instead try to enjoy what you are doing. If you want to be competitive, join a racing club. If you are more into just fun rides who do hundred mile events join a touring club. Lot of times clubs, will have a touring group and hard core racing group and they will allow you to ride with either group (provided you are competent enough for the pace line riding of the race group).

Worry about levels when you get to be a racer with a rating. You will start at cat 4. It's a fun place to be. It can also be quite agonizing...

First thing and the last thing is having fun on your bike.

smilingcat

[MauiRockHopper]

I'm asking because I'm thinking of participating in some week long tours in Spain and some tours are called Level 2 or 3.

[Zen]

If it's not in the FAQ's on their website ask the tour company.

[indysteel]

I'm asking because I'm thinking of participating in some week long tours in Spain and some tours are called Level 2 or 3.

The company should be able to provide more guidance as to what experience/fitness level you'll "need" to do the tour. How many miles will you be riding each day, and does the tour cover hilly terrain?

From my own experience with week long tours, depending on the mileage, they can be tiring. You might want to up your weekly mileage (gradually) to prepare for it. Do long, back-to-back rides. Worry more about endurance than speed and include some hill climbing in your training if the tour itself is hilly.

On my first tour, I was used to riding 150 to 200 miles a week. The tour was in Tennessee, was somewhat hilly and covered about 380 miles over 6 days. I was beat by the end of it. I loved it, though!

[OakLeaf]

On my first tour, I was used to riding 150 to 200 miles a week. The tour was in Tennessee, was somewhat hilly and covered about 380 miles over 6 days. I was beat by the end of it. I loved it, though!

That sounds like going to a fitness convention. After the first day, a few parts hurt as you expect... after the second day, some more parts hurt... after the third day, your eyelashes hurt... but then after the fourth day, you start to feel stronger and feel just WONDERFUL, and then the freakin' thing is OVER.

[Crankin]

I have been on tours with 2 different companies. I found that each had their own definition of easy/moderate/challenging. Trek Travel had climbs with 10-15% grades on tours labeled moderate. The people on the tour ranged from racer types who were 20 years younger than me, to people in their 60s riding hybrids. I was sort of in the middle. We didn't go for speed and sometimes didn't do all of the daily mileage (we had short, medium, long options). Mostly I did the medium options, because with all of the climbing, I didn't want to feel dead. Plus, it was rainy and 45 degrees at the beginning and 95 and boiling at the end.
We went to Canada with Classic Adventures and purposely chose a moderate trip that veered on the easy side, because we wanted a vacation, not just 250 miles of riding! I enjoyed myself much more, but the riding was very easy, because of the lack of climbing (there was vicious headwind on 2 of the days). So, you can sort of look and see what type of participants sign up for the company's tours and it might give you an idea.

[Eden]

Every tour company will have their own scale they rate their tours by.... you'll have to find out from them what they consider to be a "level 1" or "level 2".

That said, I would guess its fairly unlikely that they'd rate a level 1 ride as being for beginners who care barely ride a bike.... I would think they would expect anyone planning to do a tour to be more capable than that.... I just looked at one tour web site and their rating system used numbers and letters - numbers for distance and a "level 1" was averaging 30-40 miles/day. Terrain was by letters "A" being easiest.

[indysteel]

I think the other thing to emphasize when it comes to tours is that you can find just about any flavor. I've never taken a European tour, but I have researched enough of them to know that on one end of the spectrum are tours that mimic the professional grand racing tours. On the other end are tours in which cycling is almost an afterthought. They're low mileage, slow, sightseeing type rides. And there's a lot in between. These companies couldn't thrive if they didn't cater to anybody but the most experienced, hard core cyclists.