Note: In the past, cycles have ended before the 11 merc. Cycles are not really "cyclical", as they are more like geopolitical eras. The Cycle of the Snake did indeed end on an 11, it can be assumed, because the beginning of our calendar was the birth of the empire in the year 00.
However, the Cycle of the Owl ended during the purges in Imperial Project (which was not on 11), and the Cycle of the Dragon, I'm assuming, could do the same. Some momentous occasion recognizing a seismic shift in the political order usually is what justifies it.
Mind you, I am one of the few who does not think we are ready for a new cycle. We have modernized and expanded many new features, for sure. But it's not akin to the great Fleeing which wiped out entire civilizations, or the abandonment of the old world in search of a new world. But that's just my two cents of course. It's the community's will.