We got bored this weekend and decided to drive the 4 1/2 hours down to Willows, CA (north of Sacramento) to do the Tour of the Unknown Valley. We also must have been really bored because we signed up for the Century part of it, but I guess if you are going to do something you might as well go all out. Anyway, we stayed in Willows which is a nice tiny agricultural town in the middle of the Sacramento Valley. Just west of town is the California Coastal Range. The rides wanders south of Willows before heading due west into the Coastal Range. The ride started on nice smooth, flat pavement as we headed down Historic Highway 99, but the day would rapidly change as we headed up the old roads. If you like the Paris-Roubaix race, then this ride is for you. I was told it was going to be rough but this route left me feeling like a can of pebbles in the back of a redneck truck without any shocks. If you can handle rough roads, dirt roads, and gravel roads then it isn't too bad, and overall I think we'll do it again. We like pain.

In general though, the people were friendly, the number of bikes was small, the food was fine, and the other riders seemed cool and happy to be there. I was a little nervous about my carbon fiber stays and fork but they seemed to have held up fine. The potholes jarred me hard enough a couple of times on the descents to make me wonder if I was going to fail instead. Well, enough talk, here's the pics.

Starting out you ride along Interstate 5 on Old Highway 99. This is a nice flat, smooth warmup before you come to the first restop. The roads a few miles from the reststop are a warning about what is to come. The weather was perfect though and every fruit tree in the valley was in full bloom. Leaving the reststop you hit the beginning of the climb.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Tour-of-the-Unknown-Valley-Route

103.1 miles when done.

I forgot my camera, so all these pics were taken by my friend Joe. He did a good job but almost killed himself a few times on the bumpy road while trying to shoot pics. I'm the guy in the RBR kit and am actually in the pics for a change. After the first reststop the route climbs very quickly towards 1750 ft elevation. The road winds like a pile of spaghetti but this prevents any out of control grades to deal with. If it weren't for the lack of decent pavement I'd want to do this everyday for training. What a fun and crazy road.

After you crest the top you sigh with relief thinking now you're in for a great downhill. Well, you definitely get the downhill but you better not mind bouncing like a golf ball hit into a granite field. I was having fun for the most part. I just held on tried to pick the route with the fewest holes. We pulled ourselves to about 100 feet apart to give lots and lots of room for picking the best line between riders. They had done a great job smoothing out the gravel/dirt portions and I actually was looking forward to each patch. This almost got me killed at one point. We had gotten used to being able to do 30mph on the dirt with no problem. At one point I hit a stretch that was much softer than expected. I think I must have looked pretty dumb fishing from one side of the road to the other until I could slow down enough to gain control again.

After you get to the bottom you have about 40 miles of fairly decent road winding down the Valley and generally back to Willows. We had a tail wind on the last 20 miles and ripped along nicely. Great way to end the day.

Wow, that looks like my kinda ride! I have stayed in Willows many times for motorcycle-related events, but I don't think I've ever been up into that particular part of the coast range.

What were the temps like? In a couple of months it will be a real blast furnace down there.

Tell Joe he did good.

BTW I LIKE those roads!

Ridgetop indeed! Nice report

BTW I LIKE those roads!
Me too. I think I'd be doing that climb every day. :)

Really nice reports. What type of trees are blooming? Almond?

Beautiful. Looks just like the Rivendell site.

It was around 70F with light cloud cover the whole time. Almost zero wind until the way back and then maybe a 1-2 mile an hour tail wind. Perfect. I would honestly recommend the the climb but know that there is no, zero, and zilch for support possibilities out there. I would still do it but only carrying an extra tire, lots of tubes, and H2O.

We saw almonds (the prettiest), apples, and cherries. There may have been more but I'm not that good with all the different type of fruit tree flowers. My favorite were the apple orchards. It was pure white under them. Awesome.

I'll tell him that MB. I was so disappointed when I got several miles into the ride and realized my camera was still sitting in the truck. Joe's little camera did a fine job overall. I can tell you one thing about those roads, when I passed a couple riding a Rivendell and a Bridgestone steel commuters/tourers they were smiling a lot more than I was on the roughest part. They may have been rough but those bikes were doing well. Their steel was holding up nicely.

That looks like a great ride.

This is the first year since 2002 that I have not taken the bike on a trip in February or March. Your pictures remind me that I have to do something next year. Thanks for the report and pics.

great report - thanks

Those photos are great! I especially like that upper valley. I have family down near there. I think I need to do that ride on my next trip. Thanks for posting.

Dig this shot.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=81011&stc=1&d=1173143745

That looks like a fantastic ride! I can't wait for some 70deg so I can get out for some long rides! thanks for posting.

That looks like a fantastic ride! I can't wait for some 70deg so I can get out for some long rides! thanks for posting.

What does the temperature have to do with ride distance?

Those pics of the valley are awesome! If there's a heaven, I think it might look a lot like that valley except with a smoother road. Thanks for the pics!

My Bleriot's tongue is hanging it out...it was made to ride roads like that! Great, great pics, thanks for sharing. I'm green with envy.