102.1 miles of incredible countryside, gosh-awful
roads, PERFECT weather (58-78 degrees), a lot of flat tires, nice
rest stops and very little traffic. What's not to like?
But where the heck is it? You don't instantly recognize towns
like Maxwell, Willows & Sites? They're in the Sacramento
Valley, nestled against the coastal mountain range, about 70 miles north
of Sacramento.
The 100 miler starts in Willows, where we stayed at the trendy
Super-8 (pretty serviceable motel, and reasonable at about $55).
If you're doing the 100 kilometer event (which
we rode in '99), you start in Maxwell, with the nearest places
to stay being in Williams, about 12 miles to the south.
Get used to
this view, as it's not going to change for the next 19 miles!
100% straight, 100% flat. Pavement quality C+, upgraded
retroactively to A-. More on that later! But for now
it's a steady 22mph drone until boredom sets in and I kick it up to
29mph for precisely one mile.
So there's not much to see on the road ahead, but the views to the
side are spectacular. Behind Jeff, who I often ride centuries
with,
are the snow-capped coastal range mountains.
After 17 miles of the
mind-numbingly straight Highway 99, you actually look forward to the
stop sign that marks your arrival in Maxwell, where you can see the
100k riders signing in.
Long lines are not a problem with this ride!
Back to Highway 99,
where something exciting is about to happen- a 90-degree right-hand
turn! Be careful the G-forces don't rip you apart...
Heading
west towards the coastal mountains; life is (still) good. The
memories of the dirt & gravel roads (from
the '99 ride) are still somewhat dim, and we're considering this
a passable piece of pavement. Nothing special, just a grade
above chip seal.
OK, pavement quality just dropped to a "D" somewhere along Danley
Road. Following others in a tight paceline required a lot of
faith in the lead rider pointing out some pretty decent potholes and
cracks.
But still, it is pavement, and at a high-enough speed it
seems to smooth out a bit. Besides, if you're whining about
this, just wait...
The recumbent rider on the left proves that you can make a
fashion (?) statement on a bike.
Above is a very important sign. PAVEMENT ENDS. OK,
so you
read the map, and it did indicate two sections of "some gravel."
It should have said "some pavement." Or perhaps varying
pavement. Experimental pavement. Wished-for pavement. Wannabe
pavement.
The first rest stop, at
an airstrip about 30 miles into the ride. This rest stop is
underwater in a wet year.
The locals, for the
most part, were exceptionally friendly. Even when forced onto
the sidewalks.
Now you're seeing what
makes this ride worthwhile. That's right, just beyond this
rise, the gravel begins!
What's a little gravel
matter to lightweight 23c tires?
The views just get
better & better, while the roads get worse & worse.
I'm not the only one
out here taking photos today!
The gravel is replaced once again by occasional pavement as you head
up a beautiful valley towards your date with Leesville Grade.
A bit steeper than Mt. Hamilton, a lot shorter, and much worse
pavement! However, the views are to die for as you climb and
twist your way to the top.
Nearing the top of
Leesville Grade at Windy Point Summit, 1700ft.
It just
doesn't get any better than this! Every turn is a
picture-postcard, and as we head into the Leesville rest stop, we
even get a pace dog!
The much-welcome Leesville rest stop, the first one where you
really felt like you needed a break. Food (great cookies),
drinks, and the chance to rest your body from the pounding of the
choppy pavement.
It also gave our pace dog a chance to catch up to us.
That's Dick from our
Redwood City store, admiring the abandoned cement mixer near Ladoga. Not too
long after this I blew out my rear tire and rode solo for 20+ miles.
Cyclists are getting
fewer now, as we've past the turnoff for the (more intelligent) 100k
riders. Light headwinds are quite unwelcome, especially on straight
stretches.
Nearing Stonyford, I
spot a couple of matching cyclists with matching TREK "shark tooth"
bags (one of the few things I can point to and say "That was my
idea!")
Ah, the
bustling town of Stonyford, where quite a few stopped at the General
Store to rest or buy a drink before continuing on the long, open
stretch to Elk Creek. This was by far the most difficult
section of the ride, with a combination of mild headwind,
rolling terrain and no other cyclists to trade pace with. I
went through a lot of Cytomax...
Finally, after 35
miles, the Elk Creek rest stop. Fueling up on a Mountain Dew
Code Red made me a new man!
Heading up
and over the final climb, on Highway 162 to Willows. A pretty
sharp climb that lasted maybe a mile or two, followed by a very long
descent to Willows. For the first quarter mile, a very nice
descent!
Unfortunately, the
"descent" dropped only 500 feet over the next 20 miles. A fast
paceline might have made it fun.
Power. It's all
about power. Lots overhead, very little pushing our pedals.
Can it be? The
Willows City Limits sign! Unfortunately, Willows seems to be
the size of Nevada.
102 miles
later we finish, with a great post-ride meal put on by the Willows
Firefighters. The ride ended up shorter than the 107 miles
advertised, and we might have considered riding a lap around town to
add those five miles... if we were insane that is. Overall, it
was a much easier ride than I'd expected. I normally ride my
first 100-miler in April (at the Primavera Century) and, having just
come back from Washington DC, where I did no riding and very little
sleeping, had some doubts I could pull it off. But it turned
out to be one of my better rides, despite the (rare for me) flat
tire.
Making this ride
special for me is the fact that I spent quite a bit of time in
Maxwell as I was growing up, at my grandparent's farm. The
photo above shows what's left of one of their barns (but the truth
is, it doesn't look a whole lot more derelict than it did 30 years
ago!).
If I had to sum up what makes
this ride so special, in only one word, it might be "Windmills."
Why
windmills? Because this ride travels through a special place
where windmills aren't high-tech things built in huge numbers on
windy hillsides and generating electricity. No, these are the
real thing, old & creaky with wooden vanes that actually turn in the
wind and draw up water from underground for irrigation and cattle.
I'm pretty sure my kids have never seen a real, working windmill.
I saw lots of them on this ride.
The Tour of the Unknown Valley is the real thing. A place
where people still live off the land, and depend on their neighbors.
A place where the difference between survival and losing your farm
might be determined by the weather. A place where the locals
(all five of them) are more than happy to share their road with you.
A place where a nice day seems somehow about 20 times nicer than
anywhere else in the world. A place where all of that
dramatically overshadows roads that are designed to reduce you &
your bike to their component atoms. And I'm sure I'm more than
a little bit affected by it because it's also a place I spent a lot
of time as a kid, during the summers, on my Grandparents farm.
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TOUR
OF THE UNKNOWN 
Why
windmills? Because this ride travels through a special place
where windmills aren't high-tech things built in huge numbers on
windy hillsides and generating electricity. No, these are the
real thing, old & creaky with wooden vanes that actually turn in the
wind and draw up water from underground for irrigation and cattle.
I'm pretty sure my kids have never seen a real, working windmill.
I saw lots of them on this ride.
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