The Wildflower is the anchor of the Chico Velo Century Series. It was first offered as an organized event in 1981. While it poured most of the day, about 60 riders struggled through it. The hard part was making this wonderful 85 mile ride into a century.

Today the ride has a bunch more choices. There is the Mildflower 65, an option that leaves off the Table Mtn. loop and the Flatflowers (30 or 60 miles) which boasts absolutely no hills.

The Wildflower has grown steadily over the years to 4,000 participants. 3,150 ride the hills (Mildflower 65 and Wildflower 100), 750 ride the Flatflowers and 100 young cyclists ride the Childflower 15 on the bike path to Durham. The rides satisfy the three biggest desires of century riders - the challenge, the scenery and the food. We combine tough climbs in the lush and fertile springtime with plenty of fresh fruits, fresh baked goodies (like streusel-date bars, banana-walnut bread, raspberry granola bars and raisin-nut energy bars) and a lunch spread that makes other century organizers scratch their heads. The rides have always included a dinner at the finish.

A few years back we began providing a souvenir water bottle that doubled as proof of entry into the rest stops and dinner area. It allowed us to avoid the waste created by using over 10,000 single use drink cups. We also switched from a paper map to an artistic map rendering on a cotton cloth bandana.

Our various Wildflower T-shirts have won many design awards. The Wildflower was listed in BICYCLING magazine as a TOP TEN CENTURY.

In all the years of the Wildflower, there has been just one car-bike accident on the ride. It was in the early 80s when a rider was hit from behind by a driver scolding a child in the rear seat. The rider was treated at the scene, had a wheel repaired and finished the ride. The driver was cited.

Recently, Photo Crazy started taking photos of the riders as they ascend Honey Run Rd. Watch for the camera parked by the side of the road and remember to smile (even if you see small planets and stars orbiting around your head from lack of oxygen) and note the time your photo was taken. Usually within 24 hours you can go to www.photocrazy.com and see your photo and decide to buy a print, a mug, a T-shirt or some other form of proving you were actually riding up Honey Run. You find your photo by remember the time it was taken.

The routes currently offered are the standard Wildflower 100 with 4,300 elevation gain. The Mildflower 65 has less than 2,000 of elevation gain. Flatflower routes of 30 and 60 have no climbing. 

The Flatflower had a new route for 2007, heading south out of Chico through Durham to Agua Frias Rd. the 30 milers continue west to River Rd and back to the Fairgrounds. The 60 milers turn south on Agua Frias, then east to Richvale. The Flatflower lunch is at Richvale and then the riders head north back to Durham, then follow the 30 milers back to Chico via River Rd.

The 15 mile Parent-Childflower ride takes a bike path and quiet orchard road to the rest stop in Durham south of Chico.