What is a Gauntlet?

A gauntlet is a named stretch of road or trail, usually a climb, that you race repeatedly. You create one by trimming a section out of one of your own rides. From then on, every ride that crosses it gets matched automatically, timed, and stacked against your history and your friends.

How do medals work?

Medals on a gauntlet are personal. Gold, silver and bronze reflect your own best efforts at three scales: the last 12 weeks, the year, and all time. Beating your own best from the season earns hardware even if a friend is faster. That is deliberate: medals track your progression, while leaderboards and friend rankings carry the social competition.

When a friend does set a faster time on a gauntlet you both ride, that becomes a takeover, and Torqa tells both of you. Reclaiming it is the fun part.

What does "contested" mean?

A gauntlet is contested when you have put down a verified effort on it this month. Contested gauntlets are where the live rivalries are: they show up with the current standings and the gap you would need to close.

How is difficulty scored?

Every gauntlet gets a climb score from 0 to 10 that grows with both steepness and length: a short steep wall and a long grinding pass can score similarly for very different reasons. Alongside it, climbs that qualify get the sport's traditional categories, from Cat 4 up to HC, based on the classic distance times gradient convention.

Getting started

Ride something worth racing, then trim it into a gauntlet from the activity view. Keep it over a couple hundred metres so matching is reliable. Once it exists, it works retroactively: your past rides over the same stretch are matched too, so you start with a history to beat. Check your Form before an attempt; a fresh day is the day to take back a crown.