Find a New Climb: How to Plan an Exploring Group Ride
Use a topographic map to find a climb nobody in your group has ridden, plan a no-drop route to it and ride it together.
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Pick a blank spot on the map, find the tightest contour lines in it, and go and ride them together.
Most groups ride the same three loops. An exploring ride breaks that habit: the group uses a topographic map to find a climb nobody has ridden, plans a route to it and rides it together. It works for any level, as long as you plan it well.
1. Choose an area, not a route
Open a topographic map (a paper map, or the terrain layer in your route app) and pick an area within reach of your usual start. Look for roads that cross lots of contour lines in a short distance. Those are your candidate climbs. Our guide to reading a topographic map for cycling explains how to spot them and estimate the gradient.
2. Shortlist three climbs
Pick one easy, one moderate and one hard. Check each on street-level imagery or a recent ride report where you can: road surface, traffic and whether the road is actually open to bikes. Drop anything that looks unsafe.
3. Build the route around regroup points
Plan a no-drop route with a regroup at the bottom and top of each climb. Every rider climbs at their own pace and the group comes back together at the top. Put the café after the hardest climb, not before it.
4. Share it in advance
Send the route file a few days ahead with the distance, total climbing and a note on gearing. If the climbs top out above 8–10%, point riders to what gearing you need for hills.
5. Ride, then name it
The fun part: the group gets to name the new climb. Log it on your club's route list, and next month pick a new blank spot on the map.
Dress code: wear the map
Our Contour jersey ($99.95) puts lilac topographic contour lines on deep olive, with one citron line through the terrain. It's an imagined landscape, so it fits any climb you find. Found a climb worth remembering? Your Ride turns that route and its elevation profile into a jersey of its own.
Share it
Tag @corbahcycling in your photos from the top. We'd love to see what you find.
Get yours
Made to order (about 5–6 weeks), sizes XS to 4XL, with free personalization. Check the size guide first: we don't take returns or exchanges, but if the size is wrong you keep the jersey and can order another size within 15 days of delivery for about 20–60% off. Bib shorts are sold separately, and you save 10% on bibs bought with a jersey. More ideas: how to run a hill-repeat group ride.
