Homegrown Gravel Adventure, Franklin GA - February 22nd 2025
United States | Southeast | Virginia >> What is a Century Ride?

What is a Century Ride?

A century ride is a badge of honor among cyclists. Get ready to suffer amidst scenic views over the course of 100 miles and then celebrate your achievement. 

Century Rides have traditionally been the backbone of road cycling, supported and sponsored by local cycling clubs across the country.A century ride is of course 100 miles in distance, but most events support different distances, for all abilities, typically:

  25 miles - quarter century
  50 miles - half century
  62 miles - metric century (100km)
  100 miles - imperial century
  120 miles - double metric century (200km)
  200 miles - double century, also known as a "double"

Double century rides are usually scheduled nearer the middle of summer to take advantage of the longer daylight hours, and begin at or before dawn. Nowadays many events provide short family orientated events to encourage families and children to participate in cycling. Many cycling clubs sponsor an annual century ride as both a social event for cyclists and as a fund-raiser too. A sanctioned century ride is organized and conducted under the rules and liability protection of a sanctioning organization. Sanctioned rides typically have rest stops every 25 miles or so, where water, food and toilets are available for cyclists.

On a supported century ride, the route is patrolled by a SAG wagon to assist riders with bicycle maintenance, or provide transportation back to the starting line for those unable to ride the entire course. Sanctioned rides are almost always supported.

The typical entry fee for a century event is around $50. Century rides are are usually one day events but are also incorporated in multi-day events known as "Cycle Tours". Standards can vary, but most cyclists agree that you are required to be somewhat self supporting, which requires you to carry spares like inner tubes, puncture repair kit and tyre levers.

The History of Century Rides

The origins of the century ride are obscure, but most agree they were invented in the United States, around the 1890's.

Dora Rinehart of Colorado, gained a reputation as "America's Greatest Cyclienne"  for her long-distance riding in the mid-1890s.

Rinehart took up cycling in 1894, even though society at that time discouraged female riders. In 1896 she famously rode more than 100 100-mile rides. She commented that "I do not like to go on a hard run when my husband is with me, for you know it does take so much starch out of a man to ride the century."

In June 1894 she addressed the 24th Annual Convention of the Colorado State Medical Society in Denver. On the agenda were presentations titled, "The New Movement in Dress Reform" and "Bicycle Exercise for Women." She is quoted as saying: "Just to give you an idea of the benefits of a divided skirt, it is almost impossible for a lady to ride any distance…with the ordinary skirt. You get too much of the dress on the one side of the wheel, and you do not get enough of the dress on the other side.

The Tour of the Scioto River Valley began in 1962 with two riders and now boasts over 3,000 cyclists each year!

Experience Counts

Joining a local club and taking part in weekly group rides is one of the best ways for newcomers to be introduced to cycling.

Build your confidence by riding in a group, learn the basics of sports nutrition, training and make new friends.

Then set your self a goal, like ride a metric century or your first century.

What's the difference between a Century Ride and Gran Fondo?

Century rides typically don't have any electronic timing for the duration of the ride or timed sections. They don't typically have much support like a SAG wagons, escorts, marshals. Many do have feed stations but standards can vary. Cyclists should plan to be self sufficient carrying spares and tools. They are run on open roads and all traffic laws apply and must be obeyed.

Although Century Rides don't as offer much support to the rider, they are a great day out ,whereby you can ride a new route, make new friends and ride in a group. They are generally much cheaper than a Gran Fondo.

Standards vary, so you always check the event details on our event calendars and contact the organizer if you have any queries.

2025 USA Century Rides Calendar

2025 U.S. Century Rides Calendar

2025 USA Century Ride Calendar by State

Alabama Georgia Maryland New Jersey South Carolina
Alaska Hawaii Massachusetts New Mexico South Dakota
Arizona Idaho Michigan New York Tennessee
Arkansas Illinois Minnesota North Carolina Texas
California Indiana Mississippi North Dakota Utah
Colorado Iowa Missouri Ohio Vermont
Connecticut Kansas Montana Oklahoma Virginia
Delaware Kentucky Nebraska Oregon Washington
District of Columbia Louisiana Nevada Pennsylvania West Virginia
Florida Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island Wisconsin
        Wyoming

2025 Century Ride Calendar

 

 
Tag: centuryride
 
Mar 31 2023 - NEWS: Register Now for the 40th Honolulu Century Ride
Feb 23 2017 - NEWS: Guide to Weight Loss during Base Training
Jan 07 2014 - NEWS: Nutrition Tips to Survive Your First Century Ride
Feb 06 2017 - NEWS: Lose Weight Cycling in the Off Season
Dec 26 2016 - NEWS: 2017 North American Gran Fondo, Gravel and Century Rides Revealed
Aug 08 2016 - NEWS: Cycling century season rolling into New England
Jul 27 2014 - NEWS: Tips for Riding Your First Century
Jan 07 2014 - NEWS: Training for a your first Century Ride
Apr 27 2025 - EVENT: Hale‘iwa Metric Century Ride
Apr 27 2025 - EVENT: Maui Century Ride
May 17 2025 - EVENT: Terra Nonno Metric Century Ride
May 25 2025 - EVENT: Chippewa Valley Century Ride
Oct 05 2025 - EVENT: Lifeline 100 Ride
 
Tag: whatis
 
Dec 27 2022 - NEWS: Top 10 North American Gran Fondo Awards 2023
Dec 27 2022 - NEWS: Over 2,500 event organizers events confirm dates and details
Dec 27 2022 - NEWS: The Top 10 Most Popular Events Worldwide
Dec 14 2022 - NEWS: 22 Percent Increase in the Number of Century Bike Riders
Aug 23 2022 - NEWS: Strong Steady Growth Predicted for the Cycling Events Industry after Rapid Pandemic Recovery
Dec 31 2021 - NEWS: Over 2,000 events confirm their dates and details for 2022!
Jan 09 2021 - NEWS: Training Tips for Your First Gran Fondo
Dec 28 2020 - NEWS: 2021 Gran Fondo Calendar with thousands of events Worldwide
Dec 29 2020 - NEWS: 2021 Gravel Ride Calendar with thousands of events Worldwide
Dec 29 2020 - NEWS: Top 10 Bold Predictions for Cycling in 2021
Dec 30 2020 - NEWS: A Tale of Two U.S. Rides that Absolutely Crushed COVID in 2020
Dec 29 2020 - NEWS: 2021 Century Ride Calendar with hundreds of events across the USA
May 30 2020 - NEWS: Gravel Stars and Promoters Come Together for the first Gravel Summit
Nov 27 2019 - NEWS: 2020 Gran Fondo Calendar with Thousands of Events Globally
Dec 03 2017 - NEWS: Making Gravel a Standard by Neil Shirley
 
Tag: granfondoguide
 
Dec 27 2022 - NEWS: Over 2,500 event organizers events confirm dates and details
Aug 23 2022 - NEWS: Strong Steady Growth Predicted for the Cycling Events Industry after Rapid Pandemic Recovery
Dec 31 2021 - NEWS: Over 2,000 events confirm their dates and details for 2022!
Jan 22 2021 - NEWS: Top 13 Most Popular Gran Fondos Globally in 2020
Jan 13 2021 - NEWS: Top 10 Most Read Cycling Articles on Gran Fondo Guide in 2020
Dec 28 2020 - NEWS: 2021 Gran Fondo Calendar with thousands of events Worldwide
Dec 29 2020 - NEWS: 2021 Gravel Ride Calendar with thousands of events Worldwide
Dec 29 2020 - NEWS: Top 10 Bold Predictions for Cycling in 2021
Dec 30 2020 - NEWS: A Tale of Two U.S. Rides that Absolutely Crushed COVID in 2020
Dec 29 2020 - NEWS: 2021 Century Ride Calendar with hundreds of events across the USA
Jul 10 2020 - NEWS: Top 11 Toughest Climbs Used in Professional Cycling
Nov 27 2019 - NEWS: 2020 Gran Fondo Calendar with Thousands of Events Globally
Dec 31 2016 - NEWS: Top 10 Cycling Tips for the New Year
Nov 29 2017 - NEWS: Top Ten Craziest Switchback Cycle Climbs in the World
Jul 14 2019 - NEWS: Switzerland – Europe's Best Kept Cycling Secret!