What counts as a century?
 

Hey guys, if you ride 100 miles in a day but stop a bunch do you think it counts as a century? I remember one day a while back where I had a morning ride before work, a lunch ride, an evening group ride, and then took a scenic route home after dinner. Total miles was like 85, could have done an extra 15 but i think it would have been weird to call it a century given that I left the house at like 6:30 am and came back at like 11:30 pm. Thats like walking 25 miles and saying you did a marathon

100 statute miles, give or take.

We can always count on Larry to ask the deeply penetrating, hard-hitting questions.

And end up with another thread that's at least 5 pages long because everyone has to argue about it. Forever.

When is that Ignore Thread button going to be available? :lol:

100 Miles (100 km = 62 miles for a metric century) in one ride would be a century ride. Split it up into more than one ride but still ride 100 miles in a day, and that’s called riding 100 miles.

Many people ask how long of a break can be taken and still have it count as a single ride? It’s a trick question. It’s not time, it kit change. If you change any piece of kit, unless performed whilst moving…that’s a separate ride. This leaves a huge loophole for any who choose to ride shirtless! ;)

I set the DISPLAY OPTONS (under the thread listing) to show stuff in Thread Start Time order.

As a new Thread comes up, I either subscribe or move on. That Thread just drops to the bottom never to be seen again.
I have a shortcut on the desktop that already has the Display Options set.

Works for me.

Barry

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ee282de66d.jpg

If you stop for more than 30 min for any reason other than a mechanical problem. You have to start over. I just made that up, but it sounds like a good rule.

A century is 100 years. So if you can't ride that long it doesn't count.

Now that you brought it up, I will now start combining my shorter rides and just say I rode a century over the course of a week.

What if the waiter at the lunch stop is really slow?

The OP example is 100% NOT a ride. It's 3 rides.
Going home after 50 miles for lunch does not qualify either. IMO.
All my centuries involve going to a town 45 to 60 miles away and having lunch, 45 to 60 minutes. Then I take it easy for another hour by riding slow sightseeing the town. On the way home I'll make another break for icecream likely. So I'll take 10 to 11 hours. My bikes are all heavy by any standard.

If it's in the same day, it's a century. Walking 24 miles isn't a marathon because a marathon is a running race. A century is a 100 mile bike ride, not a race, who cares if you cut it up in segments? Actually, who cares what you or I or anyone else calls it? I call it a century to give myself a mileage goal for the day, I'm not putting it up on some Galactic scoreboard.

Not less than 100.

Only if you keep Strava running the whole time.

if you have to ask, you are eternally channeling the short bus. congrats?!

Prostate issues?

Don’t know if its 100 miles in one day, but if your ride spills over midnight to the next day it’s still riding a century. Your ride does sound like three separate rides but don’t know if there are any ‘official’ guidelines. Seems like 100 on a defined route would be more appropriate. Wikipedia says that they are usually sponsored events by cycling clubs but I don’t buy that since my wife and I did 100 in a day on our tandem and it was darn well a century. 80+ miles, not so much. 100 is definitely the benchmark.

I think 100 miles in one day is a century. It's not an easy process, but if you're strict, you can do it non-stop when you have time.

I'd say it would be 100 miles in a single, dedicated ride. Now that doesn't mean that you can't stop for lunch or breaks or anything, but riding some before work, then a couple rides in the afternoon and evening, wouldn't be the 'same' ride, would it?

What you did there Larry was 4 distinct, separate rides in the same day. That's not a single "Century" ride regardless of the total mileage. A "Century" ride is a single ride with the specific intention of completing a 100 mile route. It might involve multiple breaks along the way, but it's all part of the same ride and end goal. What you did was a bunch of disconnected rides for different purposes that just happened to total 85 miles. So yes it would have been weird to add anther 15 miles and call it a Century ride!

That's not a century ride...All you did was three separate shorter rides in a day...A century should be done uninterrupted by anything other than maybe few short stops to eat or drink...I highly doubt that most cyclists have enough stamina and endurance to do a 100 mile ride uninterrupted.

The Solvang Double Century is 192 miles, so, a Century must be 96 miles or greater chopped up however you want during one day. That's Cali rules. Your 85 miles is 7 miles short. Sorry. (Math is bad in Cali, too)

In England, one may not stop even to pee to get The Club Patch. I think 100 Imperial miles is like 125 miles sort of like their gallons are bigger, too. And a pint must be 20 oz over there.

100 miles in a day > metric century in one ride.

It'd need to be a single coherent ride. Stopping for breaks is fine (and pretty sensible), but you clearly did 3 different rides over a day.
There's a distinction between a break and stopping, I'm just not sure how to define it. Putting the bike away or getting changed would make it a stop.

Nothing to say you couldn't do a century with 3x 33 mile loops that start and end at home, with a break each time, though.

At the end of the day, does anyone really care that much?

You all have good ideas....but I have the real answer.

If you got/bought a t-shirt/jersey for the "event," then it was a century (distance covered of course). If there is a cutoff time, then you need to be in by that time.

If not, it was just a long ride.

Same with marathons.

Done plenty of both.

You're welcome 😁

Its whatever you want it to be. For me, it’s 100 kilometers.