Wildflower Century Route Rides by NCRLT Protected Lands!

This past weekend, Chico Velo’s 45th annual Wildflower Century event brought 1,800 total riders to our County.

The first rider of the day! A rainbow alights in the distance, cheering on bikers with vibrant color!

Riders select from several routes of varying lengths, with four climbing first into our beautiful and scenic, oak woodland foothills, continuing across our beloved Paradise pines, through Tuscan-formation buttes to rest momentarily aside a reservoir connected to among the most ambitious water engineering projects in the state before climbing one last time to ascend and traverse world-famous Table Mountain and the cool descent from Cherokee to Spring Valley School, before finishing in the shade of iconic orchards and waterfowl-dotted rice fields to complete the loop.

I was a rider of the Wildflower during its first decade and then some, powered purely by youth, determination, and dare. For my first, I rode a 5-speed bike, purchased through the classified ads in the newspaper. I remember climbing Honey Run and noticing the pain in my quadraceps and also that stopping would pose a challenge to start again.

Something changed by the early 90’s for me on that ride. Armed with a bit of botanical knowledge gained in my academic pursuits, I could identify the wildflowers growing along the road's edge – silene, buttercup, wallflower, lupine, delphinium, you know the ones, climbing that same canyon road. Like old friends watching from the roadside.

That was about the time NCRLT was getting up to speed with an ambitious mission, closing their first easements in 1992.

Three decades later, 42,135 acres are PERMANENTLY protected by NCRLT! Let’s count how many conservation easements riders pass over the entire 100 mile course?

There are at least four prospects along the route. A prospect is a property brought to NCRLT by the landowner or a partner organization, and we are up to our ears (gratefully) with some amazing projects we’ll be sharing very soon.

As riders climb Humboldt Road, and return on Deer Creek Highway, Canyon Oaks is located just to their north, a mitigation project protecting Butte County Checkerbloom.

A picture of a Butte County Checkerbloom (Sidalcea robusta) taken during our 2026 monitoring of Canyon Oaks!

Several NCRLT-held Conservation Easements are in the second half of the full Century ride. A conservation easement is a privately owned property with voluntary, perpetual protections established by NCRLT. Beyond the descent from Paradise, parcels from our Oroville easement are along the descent from Paradise. Just beyond, after the short stretch on Hwy 70, near Wicks Corner interchange where riders skirt Hwy 70, all pass the Berkeley Olive Grove - a classic holding. Our Oroville easement includes several parcels off the climb up Table Mountain, and our oldest easements, all four of them, totally 2 acres -- are located in Cherokee! Cutting our teeth, our organization was.

From there, the agricultural fun begins. The ride back toward Durham passes another prospect, another easement, and a mitigation bank, and another approaching Dayton, and views the multi-use Rancho Llano Seco, before riders make the turn to Chico River Road and back to the starting grounds in Chico.

After returning to Chico in 2023, I joined the Table Mountain rest stop team as a Wildflower volunteer. It’s a great spot. During the ride, there is a moment when you’ve thought at least six times that you’ve found the top of the climb, only to round the corner and find more elevation to gain. Then, like an oasis rising from the fog (in some years...) the snacks and ERG and water and encouragement of this rest stop is a welcome sight for all.

Dedicated volunteers monitor the hospitality tent up at Table Mountain!

2026 was a rainy and cold Wildflower. After serving three early riders at 9:45, we had a long and chilly wait until another appeared an hour later, then steady until our final rider crested the climb. There were groups and individuals. Old, middle, and young. We greeted a rider on a classic Trek 3-speed, beaming in the delight of such a welcoming group. The cowbell, the dance music, and the goldfish and Pepsi Colas give riders an infusion to continue beyond the bend toward the Ecological Reserve parking lot.

A first time Wildflower rider is cheered on by friends, family, and excited onlookers!

The smaller crowds gave us a lot of time to visit, talk about ideas and solutions, find more common threads in our community fabric, create art from found objects, dance, sing, and serve. Our traditions and sense of place felt alive and well.

Chico natives pose for a group photo with wide smiles!