Back in 2014, I was living in England and was the Competition Secretary for Woking Cycling Club. Starting with a handful of guys meeting under a tree every Sunday at 8am, the club soon grew to well over 100 members. In a drive to keep motivation high throughout the year, and introduce a competition where more than just the very fastest riders could win, I started the Metric Century Challenge.
The concept was simple. Ride one metric century (100km) every month for a year. Back then it had to be an actual outdoor ride. No virtual rides or trainer rides would count. Due to the timing of the club’s combined Christmas Party and Awards night, it ran December the previous year through to November.
I had a spreadsheet that I updated, listing each active rider and their completed rides. In the first year of this challenge, I think there were about 15 finishers. Below is a photo from the 2015 Awards Night. I can remember some of their names; Stephen, Paul, Karen, Mark, Ben, Glenn, Steve, Tom, Billy. I’ve moved across the globe, some have also moved away, but a handful are still riding and active members of the club.
I am second from the left. Steve (pictured centre with the microphone) took over from me as the club’s Competition Secretary in mid 2015. He finished off the collection of ride data and in a nod to the Rapha Festive 500, all finishers received a woven roundel prize. I still have a collection of these roundels and they all bring back fond memories.
In 2019 or 2020, Paul at 36×25 came up with the “Resolution Ride” phrase. For some reason that just stuck with me, so it became the Resolution Ride challenge! Same great challenge, slightly different name.
Fancy taking on the challenge? It’s easy (well, easier said than done). All you need to to is keep track of your rides and complete one ride of at least 100km each month. Any other rules are up to you! Outdoor only? Indoor rides count? Start in January or later in the year? Totally your choice. The main aim is to stay motivated and keep those wheels spinning throughout the year. Why not give it a go!
Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania 
I must be reading your blog for over 6 years now! I’m pretty sure I remember reading about this challenge in its second year from one of your posts 🙂
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Pretty sure it was this post: https://tempocyclist.com/2015/12/12/2015-metric-century-challenge/
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Nice! That’s the one. 😁 Thanks for checking in and reading my random drivel for so many years!
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I’m very impressed with the Woking Cycling Club’s heraldic emblem.
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I set myself this challenge and completed it. The weather didn’t work out for me in September and had to do two of the centuries in December. It’s hard with the juggle of full time work, kids and school sport to find that weather window on a weekend. I think that made it more special for me with those challenges
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I can confirm Klem that the Woking CC 100k Challenge is still going strong with 49 finishers this year out of a membership that is now over 300. In the last couple of years we’ve modified the challenge to take account of Covid protocols. Rather than allowing rides to be done indoors on a trainer we’ve reduced the number of qualifying months to take account of lockdowns. We didn’t want anyone who didn’t have the indoor facility to miss out. Having said that I’ve managed 12 outdoor 100k rides every year – even through two hip operations! The 100k challenge is a great incentive to get out and do those longer rides.
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By the way the other two members in the photo between Tom & Billy are Richard and Andy.
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Great to hear the challenge is still going strong! Always good to make some allowances for the current world situation. I was lucky that the “two hour exercise limit” we had here didn’t last a whole month. I managed all of mine outside. Does the WCC challenge include virtual rides?
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Coined the name and not completed the challenge yet. I’m rubbish
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I do have an easier time of it with the Australian weather though.
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