General Cycling Discussion - Are there standard names for the lengths of bicycle trips?

Hi all,

Of course I know of a "Century" for 100 miles, but what about, 5-10-20-50 miles...?

I tried googling the question, without any luck.

Thanks!

Half-century, 50 miles
Metric century, 100km or 62 miles and change
Double-metric, 200km or 125 miles

Some people use "quarter-century" for 25 miles, but I just call it a 25-miler.

A five miler is often called a sissy, while a 10 miler is usually called a nancy.

Thanks for the responses.

I just finished a quarter century/25 miler.

Tomorrow I guess I will nancy to work.

A five miler is often called a sissy, while a 10 miler is usually called a nancy.

Man, it takes some thick skin to rebuff the attitude that comes from some motorists on my commute of 4 miles each way. But coming from fellow cyclist...that hurts :lol:

Thanks for the responses.

I just finished a quarter century/25 miler.

Tomorrow I guess I will nancy to work.
If you ride both ways that's a double nancy!

Man, it takes some thick skin to rebuff the attitude that comes from some motorists on my commute of 4 miles each way. But coming from fellow cyclist...that hurts :lol:
4 miles is a teeny weeny...

Sometimes it's just relative. 50km in cold rain is a longer ride that 100km on a perfect day in late spring. 30km into a strong head wind is called a death march. When you turn around and have a strong tail wind for 30km it's called awesome.

The difference between your epic adventure and your senseless tragedy is you are still alive to tell the tale of the adventure.

Under 50 miles ... it's just a ride, as in, "I went on a 25-mile training ride this afternoon", or " I did a 30-mile ride around the lake", or whatever. If the 30-mile ride around the lake is a common occurance, then it might become "The Lake Ride".

50 miles = half century
100 km = metric century
100 miles = imperial century
200 km = double metric
200 miles = double century
300 km = triple metric
300 miles = triple century
400 km = quad metric
400 miles = quad century
etc.

Sometimes it's just relative. 50km in cold rain is a longer ride that 100km on a perfect day in late spring. 30km into a strong head wind is called a death march. When you turn around and have a strong tail wind for 30km it's called awesome.


There's no such thing as a tail wind. You're just having an awesome day. :D

I like the Fibonacci rides: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ...

There's no such thing as a tail wind. You're just having an awesome day. :D

What's it called and we get a little extra boost from methane?

What's it called and we get a little extra boost from methane?

Methane doesn't give us recumbent riders a boost. It does keep our glasses from fogging up, though. The downside is, it makes our eyes water worse.

If you ride both ways that's a double nancy!

Total double nancy, lol!

More good responses, ahsposo and machka, that's the kind of gauge I was looking for I guess.

I was also secretly hoping for ye olde examples as well.

Maybe a little something like, "5 miles is a jaunt, 10 miles a brief constitutional....", I don't know.

Is there an accepted standard length for the term, "tour"?

What's it called and we get a little extra boost from methane?

A legume.

There are those that really like long distance riding. They ride randonneurs or audaxes.

Here's a link to the wiki on it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randonneuring)

Here's a link to a friend's blog who rides these amazing distances. (http://bigdaddygs.blogspot.com/)

So that's where the name of my vittorio front tire came from....

It's a long way to go to be considered, "audacious".

Thanks for the link.

I measure mine in:
a) Non divorce causing ride length.
b) Divorce causing ride length.

I measure mine in:
a) Non divorce causing ride length.
b) Divorce causing ride length.

Do you miss her? :P

Heck no! :p

Is there an accepted standard length for the term, "tour"?

No ... and touring is broken down into all sorts of categories ...

Within recreational touring:
-- Day tour ... where riders spend the day riding around an area with the intent of having a look at what's there. Riders will stop to take pictures, stop to read informational signs, stop to have a look at the scenery, museums, parks, etc. etc.

-- Hub-and-spoke tour ... where riders will set up headquarters in a central location (usually a place away from home), and will ride out in different directions each day of the tour ... like spokes from a hub

-- Point-to-point tour ... where riders will ride from Point A to Point B, stay there overnight, then ride from Point B back to Point A or onward to Point C, D, E, F ... or wherever. These tours can be a weekend tour, a tour of several days or week, or months, or even years. Cycletourists may carry everything they need with them in panniers etc. and camp along the way, or they may travel fairly lightly and stay in hostels, motels, friend's places, etc. along the way, or some combination of those options.

The distance a cycletourist travels can vary at the whim of the cycletourist from just a few kilometres to as much as a cycletourist can fit in a day.


Sometimes Randonneuring events are referred to as a tour as well, and those are long, long distances. But generally you'll hear terms like: audax, randonnee, brevet, permanent, and populaire to describe those sorts of rides. The distances for those rides are usually 50K, 100K, 150K, 200K, 300K, 400K, 600K, 1000K, and 1200K, and have a time limit. For example, the 200K - 600K distances have a 15 km/h minimum speed, including all breaks. So the 200K must be finished within 13.5 hours, including all breaks.


And racers ride "tours" as well, except theirs are competitive, with several long and/or intense days, and may also be called "Staged Races". The Tour de France is the most well-known of those sorts of tours or staged races. It is 3 weeks long and includes a couple time trials (which are the shortest riding days). The rest of the days are usually around or over 150 km.

Thanks again, machka.

Some solid info there.

Half-century, 50 miles
Metric century, 100km or 62 miles and change
Double-metric, 200km or 125 miles

Some people use "quarter-century" for 25 miles, but I just call it a 25-miler.

The point of the basic "named" rides is because they are "significant" distances and somewhat "difficult" (to complete in daylight).

Of course, 100 miles is mostly arbitrary but it's a nice round number.

Short rides like 25 miles are rides that most anybody can do. They don't really "deserve" names.

The "metric century" is kind of marginal.

No one seriously calls a 25 mile ride a "quarter century" (it's kind of lame).

I was also secretly hoping for ye olde examples as well.

Maybe a little something like, "5 miles is a jaunt, 10 miles a brief constitutional....", I don't know.

Is there an accepted standard length for the term, "tour"?

It would be interesting to know why you think that such terms exist for such trivial ride distances.

I do a Mega Million Ride. 1/2 mile to the convenience store to buy a ticket.

Yesterday evening I did a quick 15 miles, which, obviously, would be considered a sissynancy. But since i had my older daughter in a seat on the back of a 30lb Hardrock it would be a hard big sister nancy. It's pretty simple if you think about it.

Has "decade" or "deca" ever been used for 10-mile (or 10-kilometer) rides?

Having done a bunch of 200k rides, I've never heard them called a "double metric". They're just "two hundred kay" rides.

Double centuries seem to be regional, mainly a west coast thing. So around here, we'll do 300k rides ("a three hundred kay"), but don't think to call it a double century even if it does edge over 200 miles. (300k is actually like 189 miles or something, I forget.) And I rode the Tejas 500 a while back, but never heard it called a Quintuple Century, either, nor was the Rando Stampede a Septuple Century.

Having done a bunch of 200k rides, I've never heard them called a "double metric". They're just "two hundred kay" rides.


It's probably a regional thing ... having also done a bunch of 200K rides, I've heard them called both 200Ks and double metrics.

And you can turn a 300K into a double century by riding an extra 23 km ... which I've done on a number of occasions. The randonneuring 300K in Manitoba (which I rode 4 times) happened to be 323 km, so getting my double centuries there was easy. And I organised randonneuring routes in central Alberta for a few years. So I created a 323 km 300K the first year, and rode it. The next year, however, I dropped it to about 305 km because that made for a nicer route. But it meant that if a person wanted a double century, the person had to ride around the block a few times to get it.

Has "decade" or "deca" ever been used for 10-mile (or 10-kilometer) rides?

Not to my knowledge. Really short rides like that are usually referred to in sentences as:

"I did a quick ride up the road and back after work"
"I only managed to get 10 km in tonight before the rain started"
"I have a 10 km commute"

Yesterday evening I did a quick 15 miles, which, obviously, would be considered a sissynancy. But since i had my older daughter in a seat on the back of a 30lb Hardrock it would be a hard big sister nancy. It's pretty simple if you think about it.

I like it. Well Done!

Has "decade" or "deca" ever been used for 10-mile (or 10-kilometer) rides?
Again no, a ten mile ride is a nancy.

Has "decade" or "deca" ever been used for 10-mile (or 10-kilometer) rides?

Not to my knowledge. We usually call it a warmup. ;)

Again no, a ten mile ride is a nancy.

correct, it's a waste of time................

Sometimes it's just relative. 50km in cold rain is a longer ride that 100km on a perfect day in late spring. 30km into a strong head wind is called a death march. When you turn around and have a strong tail wind for 30km it's called awesome.

The difference between your epic adventure and your senseless tragedy is you are still alive to tell the tale of the adventure.

This makes the most sense a great way to benchmark.

Nah. It can be a waste of time but not always. I have a 10 mile climb that is steep as all heck and would make you rethink that idea.

10 miles (16 km) isn't a waste of time. It's a decent length for a commute, and it's a good ride for those evenings where you've got other engagements but want to squeeze in a quick ride. It can also be a good test ride when you're trying out new equipment. Bring tools and ride a bit, then adjust, and ride a bit, then adjust.

Also, when I was racing in Manitoba, they ran a Tuesday night Time Trial that was 11 km, because the loop we rode was 11 km long. (The weekend TTs were usually 22 km or 44 km)

I dispute the idea that a ten mile ride is a waste of time.

No ride is a waste of time unless it's in a car.

Nah. It can be a waste of time but not always. I have a 10 mile climb that is steep as all heck and would make you rethink that idea.

I realize that after reading ahsposo's post. Your point is well taken. In my area a 10 is a waste of time.

I realize that after reading ahsposo's post. Your point is well taken. In my area a 10 is a waste of time.

If you ride it at max effort that 10 miles will kick your booty. ;)

If you ride it at max effort that 10 miles will kick your booty. ;)

My trainer dvd's are 30 minutes of intense spinning and such and are equivalent to 10 miles + or- 1 or 2. This is possibly a case of where I opened mouth and inserted foot before thinking through. :)

My foot is permanently inserted in my mouth. :p

Drug lingo works - nickel and dime. Sissy and Nancy are also excellent. So a thirty could be two dimes and two nickels, or three dimes, really depending.

"So I was rolling along a nickel, and didn't have time to drop a dime." Perfect sense.

Edit: could also say "Went out to nail a Sissy or Two, ended up feeling so good I nailed a Sissy and banged out a Nancy. Boy, will I be sore tomorrow."

Drug lingo works - nickel and dime. Sissy and Nancy are also excellent. So a thirty could be two dimes and two nickels, or three dimes, really depending.

"So I was rolling along a nickel, and didn't have time to drop a dime." Perfect sense.

Edit: could also say "Went out to nail a Sissy or Two, ended up feeling so good I nailed a Sissy and banged out a Nancy. Boy, will I be sore tomorrow."
I think you nailed it.