Archie_tect
De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
- Location
- Northumberland
Depends who's you used...
Why kms?
- Thread starter Cerdic
- Start date
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derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
4 black jacks for a penny.I got a half crown for pocket money
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
I’m intrigued by those above who think using km makes things sound impressive. Why do you think this?
To 90% of the world's population, the marathon is 42.2km.
It baffles me that we're still stuck with imperial units, when schools have exclusively taught metric for decades. My Mrs insists in using miles, but has no idea how many yards constitute a mile
itboffin
Guru
- Location
- Marlborough, Windshire
I agree why km when our cars and road signs are in mph don’t get me wrong I’m not some kind of brexit nutter but we measure in imperial not metric, when I’m in Europe I switch because the road signs are, why would you not pick the default for the country you’re in, doesn’t make sense to me.
also weight myself in stone, lbs and ounces, height in feet and inches because we haven’t changed
classic33
Leg End Member
"The organisers of the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens in 1896, devised the marathon race over 40km to celebrate the achievements of Ancient Greece.
The distance then was extended to the imperial measurement of 26 miles at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and increased another 385 yards when the starting line was pulled back so it could be seen by the children in the Royal Nursery at Windsor and still finish in front of Queen Alexandra at the White City Stadium in west London. This distance was standardised at 26 miles 385 yards (42.195km) in 1921."
You forgot the monster that is Myanmar.Well it has really, hasn't it - except for the USA. Oh and some little countries like Liberia and the UK
classic33
Leg End Member
Do what they did in Ireland, the figures stayed the same on the signs, only the units used were changed.
First driver caught speeding, when they changed units, was just after midnight on the day the new unit came into force.
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
I quite agree, it is easier to think in miles when in the UK, but if you go foreign it can be a struggle doing the conversions in your head when referring to local road signs and maps. Which is why I have two computers on my touring bike, these are quite cheap and save me from a lot of mental arithmetic.
I can't answer for sport cyclists, I don't understand cycle sport
.
Because imperial measurements are a really poor way of measuring distance. Decimalisation is so much clearer and easier to break down.
We've pretty much done away with feet and inches in manufacturing in favour of millimetres and the only reasons people persist with miles is because of history and the fact it's still how our speed limits and road signs are shown.
We've pretty much done away with feet and inches in manufacturing in favour of millimetres and the only reasons people persist with miles is because of history and the fact it's still how our speed limits and road signs are shown.
itboffin
Guru
- Location
- Marlborough, Windshire
you do know if that’s your own OSMaps account you can pick metric or imperial as the default 🙂
Noah's
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
I'm with you there, L for Little, Light or Large?, and when did it become an LGV?
Dayvo
just passin' through
- Location
- 59° 50′ 5.55″ N, 10° 47′ 41.89″ E
Maybe it’s a longing to still be part of the EU!
😉
iandg
Legendary Member
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway
I think when I started using kms was when I did a mountain skills course and learnt how to use an OS map to navigate. Map scales are metric based and grid squares are 1km - everything was so much easier using metric measurement.
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