… and counting..
I was searching for information on a ride I did in 2012 called the Lake Anna Cycling Classic. I found a blog called 50 Centuries by Bike, written by a guy named Ken from (presumably) Northern Virginia. It is much different from what you will find here, but it is an interesting read. I encourage you to pop over there for fun reading, and you may find some rides he did that you will want to do.1
But that raised the question. Have I ridden 50 centuries? I had to look, but the answer is yes. But what is a Century? Any 100-mile ride? Does it have to be an event? What if an event, say the Lake Anna Cycling Classic, billed it as a century ride, but it measured 96 miles? Still a century? Hmm.2
I rode for years without keeping track of my miles. When I was a kid, I always dreamed of the huge analog speedometer with a cable that attached to the front axle, which seemed to be advertised at the back of every comic book. I never had one. I didn’t keep a notebook (this predates spreadsheets) of miles ridden as Danny Chew did. I just rode, albeit not a lot compared to the past 25 years.
My first real bike speedometer was digital, connected to a wire to a sensor on the fork that detected a magnet on the spoke passing by every revolution. This bike “computer” could display speed, distance, and time elapsed, and therefore, also display average speed. And even temperature. Eventually, I started recording those miles in a spreadsheet.
In trying to recall how many centuries I have ridden, I went to my account on RideWithGPS. Even that is not a complete history because when I got my first GPS bike computer, a Garmin 700 ($$$), I chose not to upload many local rides. I opted to simply delete them when I was done. One reason, or perhaps the main reason, was that this was an arduous process. One needed to use a cord to connect the Garmin to the computer, navigate to the website (GarminConnect), and manually upload a ride. Deleting the neighborhood 30-mile ride was simpler. However, anything that I considered epic was uploaded.
Eventually, these units evolved so that the user no longer has to manually upload the ride. Bluetooth anyone? So I have a complete accounting for the past 10 years at least on both Strava and RideWithGPS. For the Century rides, I went looking for rides longer than 90 miles. And I found more than 50.
However, the first one that I recall does not have a GPS file. It was not recorded. It was a 100-mile (maybe 104) ride with 12,000′ of gain called the Blue Ridge Extreme Century. I got pulled off my bike by EMTs on the last climb of the day at Reeds Gap. It was brutal. I was offered a SAG at MP80 but refused. I was dumb.
But it looks like 56 times I have ridden a Century, including 200 miles at the 24 Hours of Booty in 2014. And most recently on RAGBRAI on July 23, 2026.
CHARITY EVENTS
I used to say that I didn’t need to raise money for charity to ride 100 miles. Then I started raising money for charity.
1-2. LIVESTRONG Philly (2009, 2010)
3-5. LIVESTRONG Austin (2012, 2015, 2016) I also did the challenge in 2014 but cut it to 65 miles because I was riding with Vanessa and she begged for the lesser distance. I was signed up in 2020 but it was canclled for COVID and when they rolled it over to 2021, it conflicted with Phil’s Cookie Fondo the same day in California. I went for cookies.
6. Jeremiah Bishop Alpine Loop Gran Fondo (2016)
7-8 Pan Florida Challenge (2022). Back-to-back days in March 2022. This was a short-lived event that raised money for fighting cancer and feeding children in the Fort Myers area. The first day was from Fort Myers to Sebring, Fla. After an overnight in Sebring, the second day was 106 miles from Sebring to Tampa and a ride back to Fort Myers in a party bus.
9. – MS-150 Championsgate, Florida (2023)
10-12. 24 Hours of Booty (2012, 2013, 2014). Who doesn’t like Booty? The original Booty originated in the Myers Park “Booty Loop” of Charlotte, N.C. At one point, it expanded to include Booty events in Indianapolis, Atlanta (I think), and Columbia, Md. I attended the event when it was in Columbia, Md. One could ride as much or as little as one liked. The 2014 version was for 200 miles. No GPX file exists because my Garmin quit that day but I do have a photo of the odometer before it was lost forever.
13. Spokes of Hope (2015). I also went in 2019, but it was cut short (65 miles) due to severe weather.
Pennsylvania used to have the best Bike MS 150 ride. It was two days of 75 miles each from Hollidaysburg to State College and back. But it never had a century option
CYCLING EVENTS
14-15. Blue Ridge Extreme Century (2007, 2008)
16. Potomac Pedalers Backroads Century (2009)
17. Mountains of Misery (2010)
18. Lake Anna Century Classic (2012)
19-21. Civil War Century (2010, 2011, 2013). There was a time I thought the Civil War Century would be my go-to ride every year. Highly recommended and challenging, as you visit three battlefields, including two iconic ones, Antietam and Gettysburg. I also did this in 2012, but severe weather forced us off course after 60 miles. I went back and finished it six weeks later. Does that count as Century? (I didn’t count it).
22. St. Marys Century (2010). Pax Velo. May have died by 2026.
23. River Ride (2007) Lancaster Co., Va.
24-26. Bike Virginia 2012 – (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)
27-30. RAGBRAI 2014 (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4)
31. RAGBRAI 2026 (Day 5)
32-36. Ride the Rockies (2013-Alamosa; 2013-CañonCity; 2014-Steamboat Springs; 2015-Cottonwood Pass; 2016-Grand Lake). For my money and enjoyment, Ride the Rockies was the best statewide ride anywhere. I wasn’t selected in the lottery to enter in 2012, but I rode in 2013-2016. I wanted to go back after 2016, but it always conflicted with a European trip3, and then in 2023 it died. That makes me sad. But there is a ride called Colorado’s Ride, which is much smaller but very similar.
37-43. Sea Gull Century (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
44-47. Horrible Hundred (2016, 2021, 2024, 2025)
48. America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride (2011). This ride goes around beautiful Lake Tahoe. It should be a bucket list ride. It appears that COVID and wildfires took their toll on this ride and it was sold to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (now Blood Cancer United). One can do the Team in Training experience, be a fundraiser, or still be a rider.
49. Cap 2 Cap (2013). This was a 100-mile on-road event from Richmond to Chickahominy Park and back. Many sections of the Virginia Capital Trail were not yet open in 2013. Today’s Cap2Cap ride utilizes the trail between Richmond and Jamestown, starting and ending anywhere on the trail.
50. Intracoastal Waterway Century (2023). Cocoa, Florida, this intimate ride, about 400 riders, was delightful.
JRA (Just riding along)
51. Referee Meeting in Fredericksburg (2010). Not an event or even a route that I would recommend. But I rode to a referee meeting and got in 100 miles. Does it count that the ride was interrupted by a two-hour meeting?
52. Seven Mile Bridge (2013). This was a solo ride from Key West to Marathon and back, across the Seven Mile Bridge, twice. If you can go one way, then check the winds and you will probably find massive tailwinds from Marathon to Key West.
53. Double WOD (2014)
54-55. Backyard Century (2020 twice)
56. Reverse Sea Gull Century (2020)
Honorable Mention
Roosters Four-Country Ride (2019) – 95 miles. Battling bronchitis, I felt awful and half hoped that Frank Schleck would make me SAG. He did not. When we got back some of our group added five more miles to make it a Century. I had nothing left to give.
- I found the Six Pillars ride in Cambridge, Md., and the Tarwheel in Elizabeth City, N.C. ↩︎
- The Lake Anna Century came in at 96 miles, so I just rode an additional four because OCD ↩︎
- Actually, in 2017, I was to attend the service at Annual Conference, and my dad’s name was one that was named. In 2018, it was a knee replacement. In 2019, it was my trip with the Roosters to Luxembourg. In 2020 and 2021 it was COVID. ↩︎
