donhaller 

I have seen a few rides advertised as English Centuries, isn't a hundred miles a hundred miles?

CliftonGK1

English = Imperial, as opposed to metric.

100 miles vs. 100 kilometers

MGtrack

"English Century"
That's where you ride on the wrong side of the road and dodge cars head on for 100 miles.

CliftonGK1

TurbineBlade

Riding a century, but every 10 miles stopping for orange marmalade on toast.

imi

I say. Jolly funny old chap...

Road Fan

I thought you were required to make a pub stop every 10 miles .... I'm down with that!

TVS_SS

and you must always stop for tea

zowie

It refers to the 19th century, as opposed to the American Century, which is the 20th.

BengeBoy 

...and the Chinese Century, which is the 21st.

donhaller 

You guys have been very helpful?

formerbrit

As a proper Englishman, allow me to address the original question.

To my knowledge an English Century means the amount time required to navigate through London traffic out of London to find a proper place to ride one's bicycle.

ClydesterD

So England=London?

skiffrun

Metric measurments are French -- developed by the 1st French Republic and/or the 1st French Empire (Napolean).

"English" measures are what us 'Mericuns grew up with. Miles, inches, feet, yards, ounces, pounds.

Be careful of the use of "Imperial" if you intend to mean standard "English" measures (which perhaps ought to be referred to as "American" measures). Why, you ask.

Well, for example, an Imperial gallon is based on an "Imperial" pint which is 20 fluid ounces. Normal American gallons are based on the usual 16 fluid ounces -- which was the standard in Britain, until they decided that the Empire needed bigger because it was better, viola, Imperial.

ClydesterD

Thirteen responses so far and nobody's answered the OP's question. Does anyone actually know? I'm curious now.

imi

^^^huh? the correct answer was in the first response!

imi

An imperial century MUST be ridden with a small tufted beard as worn by Emperor Napoleon III...

... exhibited here by Mel Gibson

coasting 

too right!

coasting 

how many cups of tea can you drink during an english century?

znomit

As many as you like, but afterwards you can only drink warm beer.

Choccy

You mean the same Mel Gibson who hates the English.

Choccy...

imi

English Century = One hundred runs in a cricket test match

Hezz

Sorry to break the fun but everyone so far is wrong. Except for the jokers.

The English had at one time a system of measurement known as the imperial system. It used inches, yards, miles, gallons, ounces, etc. Some of the volume measures are different than the American. For instance an Imperial gallon is 160 ounces instead of 128 ounces of the American gallon. But the inches, yard and mile are the same as the American equivalents. At least they are now. They unified the imperial distances in the 1950's to be the same as the American units. Prior to that time the Imperial distance units may have been longer. I'm not sure. So an English century is essentially 100 miles long. Not to be confused with the metric century which is 100 kilometers.

However, some believe the English century to be superior to the American century even though they are of the same length. The primary difference is that one is based on Imperial miles and the other on American miles.

From Wikipedia:

Imperial units or the imperial system is a system of units, first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, later refined (until 1959) and reduced. The system came into official use across the British Empire. By the late 20th century all nations of the former empire had officially adopted the metric system as their main system of measurement. However, the use of imperial units does persist, with some countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada, having laws permitting and even mandating them.


The imperial system is one of many systems of English or foot-pound-second units, so named because of the base units of length, mass and time. Although most of the units are defined in more than one system, some subsidiary units were used to a much greater extent, or for different purposes, in one area rather than the other. The distinctions between these systems are often not drawn precisely.

One such system is the US customary system, which is historically derived from units which were in use in England at the time of settlement. Because the United States was already independent at the time, these units were unaffected by the introduction of the imperial system. Units of length and area are mostly shared between the imperial and US systems, albeit being partially and temporally defined differently. Capacity measures differ the most due to the introduction of the imperial gallon and the unification of wet and dry measures. The avoirdupois system applies only to weights; it has a long designation and a short designation for the hundredweight and ton.

Another distinction to be noted is that between these systems and older British/English units/systems or newer additions. The term imperial should not be applied to English units that were outlawed in Weights and Measures Act of 1824 or earlier, or which had fallen out of use by that time, nor to post-imperial inventions such as the slug or poundal.

My personal take on it:

American century = 100 miles ridden with the end in mind for bragging rights to see how fast you can do it.

English century = 100 miles ridden with the journey in mind, not for speed but for enjoyment and to see the country side.

iluvfreebeer

He doesn't hate the English. He just wasn't shy to takes sides against them in Braveheart and the Patriot.