Off-asphalt difficulty scale
The enormous increase in interest that the sector has experienced “off-road vehicle 2 wheels” in recent years, involving and enthusing a large number of new enthusiasts more or less experienced in driving on natural surfaces, It urgently brings with it the need to illustrate as clearly as possible the nature and level of difficulty of the routes on which one is going to venture, so that everyone can consciously face it in optimal conditions of safety and fun.
A precision classification “scientific” It's pure utopia, because there are really too many variables, and objective (type of motorcycle and tires just to name the two major) and subjective (experience and physical condition of the pilot first of all), in addition to all those related to the environmental context in which one moves, often unpredictable: from the weather of the day we make the excursion to events even weeks or months before – For those who go off-road, the “climate change” is a very tangible phenomenon, from the landslides resulting from the floods in the Romagna Apennines to the unprecedented in living memory of the disturbances that have struck in the 2024 both the Gobi Desert and the Sahara, creating lakes that lasted months before reabsorbing, giving way to deadly expanses of mud, and by destroying large stretches of slopes “Historical”.
As well as on every occasion when you leave the “Comfort zone”, A criterion of utmost caution should be used in any big or small decision; off-road teaches us respect for Nature and its forces, and as an apparently trivial inconvenience to be solved in a context “road” one can become dramatically serious even just at the end of the 100 meters distance as the crow flies from the asphalt strip!
Among the many precautions to learn to manage, the decisive one always remains the “mind map“, that is, our attitude as motorcyclists in nature: if it is the correct one, marked precisely by awareness and responsibility, rest assured that you will always come out with your bones more or less in place – and indeed in the future those moments of “crisis” will constitute the most beautiful memories of life!
In short, to get to the point of this reasoning, we offer you a reference scale developed by the excellent Davide Rota of “CER Lombardy”:
0 – dirt road, without depressions, gutters, mostly flat and straight.
1 – dirt road, with a few bumps, Wide-radius dips and bends.
2 – dirt road with bumps, Dips and tight bends.
3 – Natural-ground road with numerous bumps, Depressions, Tight turns, loose stones and moderately marked slope
4 – Natural ground road with bumps, Depressions, presence of channels, herbaceous plants that make the traces of the, Tight turns, stones planted.
5 – road with a natural surface, even of reduced width, with gutters, Depressions, Tight turns, loose stones, steep slope and various obstacles (roots, Steps, Etc).
6 – mule track or single track path with technical passages, Tight turns, various obstacles, very uneven surface, loose ground and marked slope.
7 – mule track or path for experienced drivers. Very uneven surface. Ostacoli di media difficoltà, Tight turns, roots, Depressions. Ripartenza difficile e buona resistenza fisica per affrontare questi tratti
8 – mulattiera o sentiero hard per guidatori con grande esperienza. Fondo estremamente sconnesso. Ostacoli di grande difficoltà, Tight turns, roots. Ripartenza molto difficile e grandissima resistenza fisica per affrontare questi tratti.
9 – percorso Extreme per piloti di altissima esperienza con resistenza e preparazione fisica di alto livello. Ostacoli molto grandi, percorsi pericolosi, gradoni. Ripartenza quasi impossibile.
10 – percorso Extreme per ristretto numero di piloti con profilo professionale. Ostacoli insormontabili anche per i più esperti. Pericolosità di altissimo livello. Ripartenza impossibile. Sconsigliato se non a proprio rischio e pericolo.
Ricapitolando, identifichiamo 4 livelli così suddivisi:
Da 0 in 3 livello Easy
Da 4 in 6 livello Medio
Da 7 in 8 livello Hard
Da 9 in 10 livello Extreme
In caso di maltempo e fondo bagnato, la difficoltà, aumenta indicativamente di 1/2 classi causa il minore grip degli pneumatici sul terreno.
And’ superfluo sottolineare come gli itinerari di “kind off-road vehicle” proposti dagli Eroici in Moto si svolgano su percorsi del livello “Easy” or “Medium” – invitando tutti i nostri compagni di mototurismo in natura ad apprezzarli con un percorso all’insegna della massima gradualità – avendo come unico riferimento la propria sicurezza e divertimento; l’unica gara è eventualmente a chi mangia di più! 🙂
