# Chico Wildflower



## rollinrob (Dec 8, 2002)

Its this weekend, who is going? Who has gone? I am considering doing it this year and am wondering what its like. I have done a couple of centurys (Sierra, America Most beautiful Bike, and the the Sequoia Metric a couple of years ago). Wondering how hard the Wildflower is and how it compares.. Anyone have info on the amount of climbing? Thanks for any replies.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

I did this ride once, maybe 10 years ago. I don't remember how much climbing there is, but it's not excessive. Some of the climbs have some steep pitches, but all the climbs are fairly short. Overall, it's not comparable to any of the rides you've mentioned in terms of climbing.

I remember far more flat riding than climbs on this ride, and that's really where the difficulty is, because there is a lot of wind up there. In the first half of this ride, there's a lot of up and down, mostly rolling hills type stuff, but in the second half of the ride, you'll ride a lot of miles into the wind on relatively flat roads, and you don't want to be out there on your own. Find a group to work with.


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## dougrocky123 (Apr 12, 2006)

*My first time*

I'll be there as a first timer. Wierd weather so I'm expecting anything.


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## Cliff O (Feb 10, 2004)

There are only a couple of real climbs, the one up Honey Run Rd to Paradise, and the climb up Table Mountain, the top of which is far from flat. It is not a difficult century, and the support is excellent (especially the munch at the lunch stop :thumbsup: ). The weather should be perfect this weekend, so have a good time.


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## rzims (Nov 15, 2005)

Chico is a fun century - as Cliif O mentioned, the two climbs aren't too tough. The first year I did it the climb to Table Mtn was tough because it's full sun and it was a really hot day.
The worst is the second half in the windy, flat areas....like was said, find a group and work together. 
The downhill after Honey Run is a lot of fun.....Food is REALLY good


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## lococarnitas (Sep 10, 2009)

If you plan on staying in chico in a hotel...good luck. There are all booked. I'm having to stay in oroville.


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## curmorpheus (Apr 27, 2010)

@rollinrob: This information is a little late, but hopefully it's useful for the future. 

Overall the Chico Wildflower route is pretty diverse, you deal with some pretty rough road conditions, sections with rollers, some long descents, two good climbs, and a lot of flat wind swept riding at the end. Overall, I think the greatest difficulty on the ride comes from the road conditions (which can be a fun challenge if approached with the right mindset), and the possibility for some rough headwinds on the flats. 

Garmin registered 4,700' of climbing on the route...and if you want to see the entire ride in time lapse video, you can check it out here: www.roadrashcycling.com


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## bddbb (Dec 8, 2001)

rollinrob, did you end up going? I was out there having fun. Got passed by two guys going up the Honey Run climb. I caught back up to one of them later, but the other guy was gone and super fast. I got passed by two more guys on Cherokee, but was able to catch back on once we hit the top. Coming back into the headwind I joined a group headed by a tandem and rolled all the way to Durham at 23+. Fun.


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