Chico Velo

THIS RIDE BEGAN AS THE UNKNOWN VALLEY TANDEM RALLY out of Willows one very stormy Sunday in 1988(?). Two tandems and one single rider (Bill O'Donnell) left. Three hours later, one of the tandems and O'Donnell crawled into Maxwell, a total distance of 18 windy miles, only to find that mud & rock slides closed the road ahead. So much for the first tandem rally!

We did the ride out of Oroville for a couple of years before moving to Gridley and designing a somewhat contorted figure eight route. This allowed riders to choose a mileage to suit their desires. A 34 mile north loop takes riders through old, old walnut orchards between Gridley and the Feather River. The route elevates slightly to the mine tailings from the gold rush era along the Feather River on the right (east) and the Thermalito Afterbay on the left.
At the Hwy 162 intersection route turns left,, crosses Hwy 99 to Richvale, turns left on The Midway and zigzags south through rice fields to Gridley for a rest stop. This loop can be done on its own for a 34 mile ride, or as the first stage of the century. Route then heads west out of Gridley and south on the Pennington Road to the Grey Lodge Wildlife refuge. Riders wishing to do a 40 mile ride that includes the Sutter Buttes usually drive to Grey Lodge to begin the ride.

The loop around the Sutter Buttes, the World's Smallest Mountain Range, begins in a clockwise direction, so the peaks are always on your right. There is a lunch stop and other services in Sutter on the southeast side of the Buttes. The only climb (200') follows shortly after lunch, completing the loop around the Buttes, back to Grey Lodge and returning to Gridley for the post ride dinner and schmoozing. In 1995, 135 riders rode -- 50 tandems and 35 wheelsuckers. This is a very flat ride.
New for 1998 is a hiking option up into the Sutter Buttes. The hike is lead by the Middle Mountain Foundation, the organization that owns the property. They have a website where you can learn more about the Sutter Buttes at http://www.syix.com/mmf/.

You can download a detailed map (56K) of this ride in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format by clicking on the button below. However, because there might be minor routes changes from year to year, do NOT rely on this map for ride day -- always get a current map at registration.