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River
Road
(20 miles)
Nord Flatlands
(20-25 miles)
Durham Loop
(20-25 miles)
Keefer Road
(25 miles)
Honey Run
(35 miles)
Table Mtn
(55 miles)
You
can e-mail us at:
ed@chicovelo.org
for cycling related comments or questions. Please do not
rely on us to answer your e-mail inquiries just prior to the Wildflower Century
-- it gets kinda busy around here!
To
report a problem or make a suggestion about our website, please contact us at lorrod7@comcast.net or
chandler@apexweb.com

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DISTANCE:
around 50-60 miles
TERRAIN: Rolling hills with a few challenging climbs.
Table
Mtn. is the second of three sections of the Wildflower Century and every
April thousands of cyclists climb up and over it on their way back to
Chico

A
remnant of an ancient lava flow, Table Mtn. truly is tablelike on top,
with steep, vertical cliffs at the edges that produce some very cool looking
waterfalls in the early Spring -- along with an abundance of wildflowers.
There are numerous
ways to get to Table Mtn., among them by taking the Midway Bike Path to
Oroville Chico Hwy., then south to Pentz Rd. and west past Butte College
to Hwy. 70. At Hwy. 70 make a left and travel up the hill for less than
a mile to Cherokee Rd. A challenging climb takes you through the old town
of Cherokee and onwards to the top of Table Mtn. proper. You will know
when you get to the top -- it is flat as a table.
The ride down the
other side to the outskirts of Oroville can be dangerous -- so much so
that the riders in the Wildflower Century climb up from the Oroville side
and go down through Cherokee. But for a single rider or small group who
know the downhill is challenging, we find the Cherokee-Oroville direction
more satisfying.
Once at the end of
Cherokee Rd., make a right on Table Mtn. Blvd. (which has some great views
of the Table Mtn cliffs) and follow it to its end. From here you have
a couple of choices. You can make a left, on Hwy. 70, then a quick right
on Hwy. 149 to connect with Hwy. 99 back to Chico (both have a fair amount
of traffic, but with a good shoulders). Or you could make a right on Hwy
70 for a mile or so and make another right onto Coal Canyon Rd. This quiet
road ends up crossing Hwy. 70 again in a couple of miles and changes into
Wheelock Rd. which dead ends back into Pentz Rd. where a left turn takes
you back to Butte College and ultimately Chico.
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