Rice Valley Tandem Rally
February 10th

Tour de Ed
February 23rd

Tour of the Unknown Valley South
March 2nd

Tour of the Unknown Valley North
March 30th

Chico Velo Wildflower Century
April 27nd

Unknown Coast Weekend
September 20th-21st
Registration Forms
available May

Quincy Weekend
October 18th-19th
Registration Forms
available May

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 chandler@apexweb.com

ANOTHER STAPLE OF THE CENTURY SERIES, THE UNKNOWN VALLEY has been in the Velo memory from inception. It's been done in both directions and seems to have settled in with two separate start points, even with all the problems that entails. We blatantly stole the name from the tour of the Unknown Coast -- they have a coast no one knows about and we have a valley.
The century begins in Willows, taking old Hwy 99 south to Maxwell where the Metric Century starts/finishes. All riders zigzag south & west on farm roads toward the Coast Range. There are some short gravel sections.
The riders, metric and full century, climb the serpentine switch backs of the Leesville Grade, hitting elevation at Windy Point Summit, 1,700' continuing north to Lodoga, 1,280'.
The ride from Leesville to Lodoga is the true Unknown Valley. It runs up the Bear Valley to Indian Valley to The Stony Creek drainage. At Lodoga the full and metric century routes split. 100 milers head north towards Stonyford and the Elk Creek rest stop. From Elk Creek you turn east onto Hwy 162 for the ride down to Willows. Don't miss the turn or you end up in a very pretty part of the Unknown Valley to Chrome and Burrows Gap.
The Metric riders stay straight at Lodoga for the short, steep climb up Grapevine Summit (1,844') and the very fast descent to Sites and back to Maxwell. To add a few more miles to the metric route, go through Stonyford, turn right on Rd 303 then right again on Rd 401, Rail Canyon Rd. It's not paved but is easily ridable on a road bike and comes out at Grapevine Summit.
The ride wraps up with a dinner at the Willows Fire Department World Famous Bean Feed. As always, there is a vegetarian option.
This ride draws between 150 and 300 riders depending on the weather. As of February 27, 2001, the off-road option on Old Wilbur Stage Rd. was closed to public traffic and is no longer available for off-road cycling.
In 2007, the ride was split into two routes -- the Unknown Valley North and the Unknown Valley South.

You can download the registration packet. Click here.

You can download a detailed map (71K) 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.