Key:mtb:scale:amtb
 mtb:scale:amtb
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A rating to indicate how much support is required for an Adaptive MTB ride. 
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| Group: Walking disability |
| Used on these elements |
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| Useful combination |
Status: approved
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| Tools for this tag |
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This tag only serves to answer one question as an Adaptive Rider, "How much support to I need for a ride?". This is not a difficulty rating we already have mtb:scale:imba=* for this. Many adaptive riders seek challenge and difficulty so as stated this only focuses on support need and nothing else.
How to use
| Tag / Category | Challenge | Support need (for most cyclist) |
|---|---|---|
| mtb:scale:amtb=no | Mountaineering not Mountain Biking | Support required for greater than 20% of the trail |
| mtb:scale:amtb=1 | No challenges exist | Support not needed |
| mtb:scale:amtb=2 | Some challenges exist | Support recommended |
| mtb:scale:amtb=3 | Major challenged exist | Support needed |
| No rating | Never ride "new single-track" alone! | A good ride is a ride everyone comes back from, do not go without support! |
Note: A trail requiring more than one support rider, support for more than 20% of the trail's ride time, separation from a rider’s equipment, or extra equipment, is deemed expedition level and therefore not suitable for aMTB by the standards of this system. We understand that anything is passable with a crew, gear, proper planning and determination, but the goal of this project is to direct adaptive riders onto trails and routes that provide the best experience for mountain biking, not mountaineering.
Related tags
Note: Only one of the follow tags can ever be added to a mtb:scale:amtb=* tagging as either the tag is inclusive for 'all riders' or it contains adaptive specific technical features these two tags therefore are mutually exclusive.
- mtb:scale:amtb:inclusive=* can be added to indicate a trail was designed to third party specifications to be ride-able by 'all' adaptive cyclists. Difficulty for trail still needs to be considered. See that tag for examples of third party certifiers and what goes into this.
- mtb:scale:amtb:technical=* is used to indicate adaptive specific technical features exist. See that tag for list of examples.
Additional tags
Note that none of these tags answer 'how much support' but they can help indicate sufficient width/clearances for an adaptive cycle.
- bridge=* + width=*
- bridge=* + width=*
- width=*
- surface=*, tracktype=*
- incline=*
- incline=*
- smoothness=*
Don't assume
Unfortunately, people in an effort to be 'helpful' or even with best intentions 'inclusive' can make assumptions about what makes a trail adaptive friendly and try to without much experience tag trails. For instance it may be commonly assumed that a IMBA Green 🟢 could 'safely' be assumed to be mtb:scale:amtb=1 however a common practice to make a trails more easy is to add more switchbacks which can introduce 'off camber' tilting risks for adaptive rides ironically requirement more assistance despite being an easier IMBA rating. Tree gates also can turn a simple path into an impassible one if not route around the gate is navigable.
In other word to 'hope' or 'wish' tag please only use this tagging if you are either an adaptive rider, trained support for adaptive riders, had trail design expertise, or at minimum had received basic training on how to tag adaptive. This is similar to unofficial trails where incorrect mapping can put adaptive riders in a lot of trouble.
Rendering
I know there have been signs but up using the icon-based sign found here here. I'm in touch to make sure there is permission to use this and that it's not under any trademark or copyright restrictions. Ideally, I'll have 9 versions of this logo to cover the 3 levels and the two optional add-on tags:
| Rating | No added tagging | mtb:scale:amtb:inclusive=yes | mtb:scale:amtb:technical=yes |
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| aMTB1 - mtb:scale:amtb=1 | |||
| aMTB2 - mtb:scale:amtb=2 | |||
| aMTB3 - mtb:scale:amtb=3 |
The above Adaptive MTB symbology and can be used to rendering of trails based on their respective rating.