Riding a century is a rite of passage. It’s a significant challenge – 100 miles is a long way, make no bones about that – but an achievable one for regular cyclists.

Many sportives will have a route option of more than 100 miles and having a specific event in the diary gives you a date to work towards, but there’s also a joy in plotting a route and following it turn-by-turn on a long summer’s day to bag your first century with friends for company.

Brands such as Science in Sport and Rapha regular post century challenges on Strava too, so you could be rewarded for the effort too.

Summer, by virtue of improved weather and more daylight hours, is the best time to ride a century.

If riding 100 miles seems a daunting task even from a distance of several months, consider the time you have between now and then to prepare.

Follow a training plan, slowly build up your mileage (if you can ride 75-85 miles in training then you can ride 100 miles on the day), have a bike fit and think about nutrition.