Why do folk in the UK refer to distance covered in kms

Bozman

Is there an unwritten rule that all distance covered on a bike must be refered to in Kms? Or do people use kms because it makes them feel like they've covered more distance....."I did my first 100k today", no you did 62 miles.

smidsy

Yes to both. Although I use miles.

Edit: In fact the rule is written.

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

Rule 24 refers.

Strith

I use kms

jamie1012

Most people in the UK refer to distance in miles.

My impression is that cyclists use kilometres because it's European, and cyclists like to be European. And also the numbers are bigger.

danlikesbikes

Not really a rule, just I learnt from others older and wiser than me & guess they learnt the same way. Someone will of course bring this up http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/ as a tongue in cheek version of the unwritten rules now written down.

Don't think people use it to make their rides longer or it they do they are more stupid than vein!

declan1

Has to be miles.

If someone tells you how many kilometers they did, they're probably trying to show off with a bigger number.

MattyDeez

Miles.

I did 109 miles today, or 175.42kms.

Bozman

smidsy wrote:

Yes to both. Although I use miles.

Edit: In fact the rule is written.

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

Rule 24 refers.

I feel foolish for not checking the rules first, i apologize to all for any inconvenience caused.

ADIHEAD

I use miles because I'm a car driver also, I can compare distances and speeds. Road signs are in miles, therefore I know how far from home I am etc. Go with what works for you, I find I can covert kms to mls in my head fine when I'm at home or work, but not whilst riding hard.....

thegreatdivide

Miles for distance, but climbing in meters.

cyclingsheep

thegreatdivide wrote:

Miles for distance, but climbing in meters.

+1

marylogic

cyclingsheep wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Miles for distance, but climbing in meters.

+1

Same here,although I've no idea why. Even my Garmin 800 has defaulted to this position.
But then I clip my pump to my frame and have a triple, so what would I know :oops:

andy_wrx

Miles.

Roadsigns are in miles, speeds are in mph.

When I do an audax, I convert the routesheet to miles :twisted:

xscreamsuk

Miles, but I don't really care either way, just ride.

JackPozzi

Ride for miles, run for kms

thegreatdivide

Re The Rules - my mate has the full Velominati Castelli kit including feckin arm warmers and gilet! He also can't climb hills or hold any decent pace, but will call constantly call out rule breaking. I therefore make it my duty to rip the pi$$ and break the rules at any given opportunity...then drop him like a stone on a 1% gradient

john1967

What the flucks a KM ?...

Who was the last person to do a 16KM TT ?...

asprilla

I use km because the metric system makes sense to me, whereas imperial is just bollocks we cling onto for no rational reason. I use miles in the car because that's what the road signs / speedo are in.

declan1

Asprilla wrote:

I use km because the metric system makes sense to me, whereas imperial is just **** we cling onto for no rational reason. I use miles in the car because that's what the road signs / speedo are in.

So why don't you just use miles everywhere to avoid confusion?

simon_masterson

Because they like pretending to be like the pro racers who race in Europe.

ooermissus

Lots of people use miles, but metres rather than yards.

john1967

Asprilla wrote:

I use km because the metric system makes sense to me, whereas imperial is just **** we cling onto for no rational reason. I use miles in the car because that's what the road signs / speedo are in.

So I take it you've never drunk a pint ?

prhymeate

I prefer metres if I've had an especially short ride.

jonny_trousers

Simon Masterson wrote:

Because they like pretending to be like the pro racers who race in Europe.

There's probably a lot of truth in that.

I've used miles up until now, but as I more and more get into watching pro cycling, I'm wondering if I should go to kilometres so I can pathetically think in terms of what pros do.

PS. Is there that golden number in kms? Doing a 100 miles is a big rite of passage. 100 kms? Meh...

gavbarron

Miles for everything, running, riding, driving.

I'm British

smidsy

Cclimbing in feet if distances on miles.

rolf_f

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

PS. Is there that golden number in kms? Doing a 100 miles is a big rite of passage. 100 kms? Meh...

This. The km is the Anthony Worral Thompson of units of distance. Besides, anything that is against 'The Rules' can only be a good thing.

Climbing in feet as well.

neeb

I'm ashamed to admit I still use miles on my cycle computer despite living in Finland where kilometers are universal. I've tried switching to kms but I just can't get my head around a "feel" for speeds and distances in kms. This is, of course, purely because I was born and have lived most of my life in the U.K. and am used to it - there is no doubt that metric measurements are superior in all respects and I am basically in favour of them being forced upon everyone, especially the Americans. If we were all forced at school and later in life to use metric, society would make the switch within a generation and we would all be a lot better off.

Human nature being what it is, sometimes we need the nanny state to just kick us up the arse, force us to get on with things and tell us in no uncertain terms that our parochial attachment to good-old-British Imperial measurements is just bloody-minded, Daily Mail reading, sentimental tosh.

The U.K. is actually a strange hybrid of imperial/statute and metric. Although I was brought up using miles for distance, stones & pounds for body weight and feet and inches for body height, I was also taught to use centigrade for temperature, meters and centimeters for most measurements, and kilos for weighing anything other than people. I blame the reactionary tossers who want to keep old fashioned British units for saddling my world-view with useless Imperial thinking for distance and measurement of bodily variables.

If you don't believe that metric and international standardisation is superior in all respects, try living in the U.S. where they still use fluid ounces and quarts for volume, Fahrenheit for temperature, etc etc etc... Bloody medieval! Not to mention U.S. letter size for paper, which is just completely idiotic when you know how international standard paper sizes work (A4 etc). I just hope I live long enough to see America forced to convert to metric by the Chinese, that will be satisfying.

jagx400

Miles for me, I am British, I will never be a European.

andrewjoseph

because all map grid squares are in km or multiples of.

when navigating off road having to convert is an unnessary distraction. a road bike was not enough like a car for me to consider it worth changing my garmin every other day. ;-)

team47b

Kms here, but I still divide my speed by 8 and multiply by 5 as I go along before I really 'know' how fast I am going :roll:

As I grew up in the UK I am quite happy to measure length in metres and widths in feet and inches