In 1911 the weekly magazine Cycling began a competition for the highest number of 100-mile rides or "centuries" in a single year. The winner was Marcel Planes with 332 centuries in which he covered . The inspiration for the competition was said to be the efforts of Harry Long, a commercial traveller who rode a bicycle on his rounds covering every part of England and Scotland and who covered in 1910. The world record for distance cycled in a year began in an era when bicycle companies competed to show their machines were the most reliable. The record has been officially established nine times. A tenth claim, by the English rider Ken Webb in 1972, was disallowed.Ken Webb's claim was for in 1972. Webb insisted he had completed the distance but others said he hadn't and he was removed from the Guinness Book of Records. Apart from the 1911 competition organised by Cycling, there was no authority that set rules for record attempts nor certified the mileage ridden. In 1937 the League of Victorian Wheelmen declined a request by Ossie Nicholson for patronage for his attempt on the record. Nicholson's response was to appoint a committee to supervise his attempt. The mileage had been traditionally verified by way of a sealed milometer and cards signed by upstanding members of society such as police officers or postmasters.
