Beginning January 1, 2026, RUSA credit (currently: distance and unpaved distance) will extend to include climbing. Brevet routes and calendared events will list the amount of climbing, and climbing will be included on event and rider results pages.

Will there be climbing awards?

Yes. The Awards Review Committee and the Board will use 2026 as an evaluation period before establishing thresholds to use for climbing awards. These awards will apply retroactively to all climbing credit earned in 2026.

How is the amount of climbing determined?

The sole source for estimating climbing on a ride is the official RideWithGPS (RWGPS) route. Results from a ride activity may not be used.

Why RideWithGPS? It has <problem>.

Estimation of climbing by RWGPS route is imperfect and has a number of known issues, but it does a decent job and standardizing on this single source of truth means that every rider's estimated climbing can be imperfect in a consistent manner. Using a single tool across RUSA's various processes also has several advantages and significantly reduces administrative overhead.

What do organizers have to do to support this new climbing data?

All calendared (non-team) events starting in 2026 must have assigned elevation data in order to submit results.

If a RWGPS route is not accessible, options include:

1. Find a volunteer to draft the route. If a RWGPS route is not supplied to riders, it's likely that someone is already making an unofficial RWGPS route from the provided cue sheet.
2. Use the RWGPS Manual Trace feature to convert GPS tracks from an activity into a route. Do not simply import activity tracks as a route. This does not rely on RWGPS's terrain data. Note that the Trace tool is a premium feature, but RUSA has a work account that can be used for this purpose.
3. Reach out to RUSA HQ for help.

How do I assign climbing data to my routes?

Specify the RWGPS route(s) corresponding to your routes using the self-service tool. You can also give access to one or more deputies to assist in this task. The elevation assignment tool will scrape the requisite elevation data from RWGPS and update the official brevet route in the RUSA DB accordingly. Note that a RWGPS route must be public during the brief period it is entered into the tool, but you are free to restrict the visibility immediately afterward.

I already sent RUSA a RWGPS route when getting the brevet route approved. Do I need to do anything?

Of the 3567 active routes at the time of this FAQ, 867 of them already have climbing data collected by the Brevet Routes Committee. This team will continue to assign climbing data for new and updated routes, given that a RWGPS route is supplied as part of that process.

All other routes will eventually need climbing data as well if they're going to run in the future. You can check the status of your routes using the self-service tool.

Do these RWGPS routes need to be approved by the Brevet Routes Committee?

No. An important goal is to minimize the overhead on RBAs and the Brevet Routes Committee. Organizers are trusted to provide a RWGPS route that accurately reflects the course.

Do I have to provide RWGPS routes to my riders?

No.

What if the route changes because of conditions on the day of the event?

The results submission tool will allow organizers to provide RWGPS routes that function as one-off overrides.

What if I run a route in reverse?

Running a route in reverse (in particular, point-to-point routes) can affect the amount of climbing due to the net elevation difference at the start vs the end of the route. The results submission tool will prompt you for the direction the route was ridden in order to make this adjustment.

Will team events have climbing credit?

Yes. Riders can get credit for their climbing, but they are responsible for providing organizers with a RWGPS route corresponding to what they rode during the ride, including any meaningful deviations from their original route. Organizers should communicate expectations to riders in order to facilitate a timely RWGPS collection ahead of results submission. If a team does not provide their RWGPS route in a timely manner, RBAs may use their judgment to submit results without climbing data and the team will forfeit their climbing credit.

What support will RUSA provide for correcting climbing results?

The Brevet Coordinator can make manual corrections to submitted results, and the Brevet Routes Committee already updates elevation when processing new/updated route submissions. The Web Team will fix bugs and improve tooling as needed. Please contact the Board if there are any additional pain points for administering climbing in your events.