Here are noteworthy century rides mostly in the NorCal area.
MAY 6 Saturday. Delta Century. 100-, 67-, and 26-mile routes. $65-$45. Very flat rides starting in Woodbridge tour the Sacramento Delta. Registration should open in January is open.
6 Sunday. Wine Country Century. 100-, 63- and 34-mile routes. $110-$80. A club fave and great food. It always sells out so register early. Limited to 2,500. Registration is open.
6 Saturday. Mr. Frog’s Wild Ride. 55-, 43- and 21-mile routes. $75-$40. A challenging hilly ride out of Murphys including Sheep Ranch Road. Registration is open.
7 Sunday. Grizzly Peak Century. 100-, 75-, and 50-mile routes. And a 60-mile gravel route. $90. Limit of 1,000 riders. Registration opens mid-January is open.
13? Sunday. I Care Classic. 100-, 62-, 32- and 10-mile routes. $95. Riding in the Santa Clara Valley between San Jose and Gilroy. Run by the Almaden Lions Club. Registration is open.
20? Saturday. Davis Double. 200 miles, period. $140. Limited to 500 riders. Registration opens March 1.
21 Sunday. Strawberry Fields Forever. 102-, 64-, and 30-mile routes. $100. Out of Watsonville and into the Santa Cruz Mountains. Registration is open.
19-21 Friday to Sunday. Cycle Oregon (Gravel). 66 & 61-mile, or 34 & 26-mile days. $375. Cycle Oregon is offering a two-day gravel trip. Limited to 500. Registration opens January 24 is open.
27-28? Saturday-Sunday. The Art of Survival Century. 100-, 60-, 38-mile road routes & 74-, 54-mile gravel routes. $75-$25. Rides near the Oregon border in NW California. Registration is open.
JUNE 3 Saturday. Gold Country Challenge. 100-, 74-, 54-, and 35-mile road routes; also 42- and 62-mile mixed terrain routes. $80-$60. Registration is open.
3 Saturday. Ojai Valley Century. 128-, 102-, 67-, and 35-mile routes. $90-$60. A bit further south in Ventura County in the Ojai Valley out to Santa Barbara and back. Registration is open.
4 Sunday. Sequoia Century. 101-, 76-, and 59-mile routes. $125-95. A venerable century going from the Midpeninsula over the Coast Range to coastside and back. Will Stage Road be repaired and open by June? Registration is open.
17 Saturday. Climb to Kaiser. $125. 155- and 99-mile routes. The hardest climb in California: 15,000 vertical gain. Registration is open.
17 Sunday to 24 Sunday. Sierra to the Sea. 420 miles over 8 days. $1,500. Limit of 85 riders. Registration is open.
18 Sunday. Mile High 100. 108-, 56- and 33-mile routes. $95-$65. Rides around Lake Almanor near Chester, CA and Lassen. Registration is open.
24 Saturday. Giro Bello. 100-, 63- and 35-miles routes. Similar to the Wine Country Century and in the same area. No information yet.
JULY 15? Saturday. Fall River Century. 200k, 100k-, 100-, and 25-mile routes. $75-$50. Beautiful rides east of Mt. Shasta. No word yet on whether this event will take place in 2023.
15 Saturday. Death Ride. $139. 103 miles. Monitor, Ebbetts, and Pacific Grade summit for 14,000 vertical gain. Registration is open.
15-16 Saturday-Sunday. STP. 206 miles. $200-$160. The big ride: Seattle to Portland. Overnight in Centralia with camping or cheap lodging from $50-$25. But you’re doing it in one day, right?
29 Saturday. Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge. 125-, 100-, and 50-mile routes. $90. Registration opens February 1 is open. Despite storm damage there are defined RWGPS routes for all of them.
What’s happening in 2023? Clubs and organizations mostly came back in 2022 and offered their usual centuries. A few did not such as the Pedaling Paths to Independence and the Crater Lake Century. Let’s hope they have the interest and energy to put them back on the calendar for 2023. The risk of event postponement or cancellation due to Covid seems over barring something unforeseen. Vaccinations seem to have greatly reduced the chances of a superspreader event.
Here’s what we know so far for the first months of 2023. April is when the calendar really starts to get packed.
January 1 Saturday. Resolution Ride/New Year’s Day Up Diablo. 38 miles. No fee. This isn’t a century but it’s the first “big” ride of the year and practically a club tradition. See the listing in the club calendar.
February 11 Saturday. Tour of Palm Springs. 102-, 85-, 56-, 34-, 25-, and 7-mile routes. $100-$30. This is by today’s standards a huge ride—many thousands of cyclists. It’s a long drive south but hey, it’s Palm Springs! Registration is open.
12 Sunday. Velo Love Ride. 60 miles. No fee. This event had put on by Chico Velo since at least the mid-Oughts if not earlier. It’s a much lower key event than their Wildflower, attracting only a couple hundred cyclists in a good year. It’s pleasantly flat and tours the scenic valley area around the Sutter Buttes providing an excellent early season metric. Unfortunately Chico Velo hasn’t been able to find a member willing to organize this long held ride. But Different Spokes is going to go up there to ride it anyway as long as it doesn’t rain. See the listing in the club calendar. If you’re unfamiliar with the Velo Love Ride, you can read about it here, here, and here.
25 Saturday. Pedaling Paths to Independence. 65- and 25-mile routes. $55 and $45. This benefit for the Community Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired is their annual fundraising ride out of Linden, which is just east of Stockton. It’s a small event of about 250-300 riders and this year is their comeback from the pandemic. It tours the rolling ag land south and east of the town. If you’re unfamiliar with this ride, you can read more about it here. Registration is open.
March 4 Saturday. Solvang Century. 101-, 68-, and 52-mile routes. $125-$105 Now $135-$115. Although the Solvang has never been short of participants—several thousand is the usual number—since being sold to Planet Ultra there is now a limit of 1,000 riders. Registration opens December 25 is now open.
April 15 Saturday. Cinderella Classic & Challenge. 95-, 65-, and 30-mile routes. $70-$30. Limit of 900 riders; women/girls only. The Classic starts at Las Positas College near Livermore and traverses a big loop through Danville, Dublin, and Pleasanton. Registration will open January 5 is now open.
22 Saturday. Tierra Bella Century. 100-, 77-, 55-, and 33-mile routes. $65 Now $75. Limit of 1,500. Starts in Gilroy and takes in the climbs and reservoirs in Santa Clara Valley. New routes this year. Registration opens Jan. 1 is now open. There may be masking required at rest stops. And new “Southern Picnic” meal after ride!
22 Saturday. Levi’s Gran Fondo. 139-, 120-, 81-, 63-, 40-, and 22-mile routes. $295-$140. Some new routes this year. Registration is open.
20-23 Thursday through Sunday. Sea Otter Classic. 92- and 50- mile road routes. $125. Sea Otter returns to its usual April slot. Registration is open.
23 Sunday. Primavera Century. 100-, 90-, 63-, and 25-mile routes. $95-$40. Starting in Fremont the 100-mile route heads up Calaveras, around the reservoir and then out to Patterson Pass before returning and over Palomares to Fremont. Registration is open.
29 Saturday. SLO Wildflower. 63-, 52- and 30-mile routes. $85 Now $105. Limit of 1,000. SLOBC has decided to cancel the 100-mile route due to climate change, ie. the wildflowers have all disappeared from the route. Last year the club went down to do this ride and had a great time. Registration is open.
30 Sunday. Chico Wildflower. 125-, 100-, 65-, 60-, 30-, and 12-mile routes. $85-$25 Now $95-$35. This used to be the ‘must do’ club ride qua getaway weekend. Terrific riding despite the incineration of Paradise four years ago during the Camp Fire. Registration is open.
6 Saturday. Marin Century. $60-100. 122-, 101-, 86-, 61-, and 24-mile routes. No additional information on the 2022 Marin Century yet.
7 Sunday. Civilized Century. $40. 100-, 75-, 60- and 35-mile routes. Registration opens June 1. Limited to 200 riders. Here’s the ‘new kid on the block’. The 100-mile route starts in Redwood City goes up to SFO and returns before crossing the Dumbarton and returning around the South Bay with a total of only 1,000 feet elevation gain–flat! SOLD OUT.
20 Saturday. Cool Breeze Century. $85. 125-, 107-, 95-, 60- and 34-mile routes. A pleasant, not-too-difficult century down in Ventura county with great weather. No Class 3 e-bikes allowed. Registration is open. Limit of 2,000.
?. Crater Lake Century. No information yet. This event was cancelled in 2021.
21 Sunday. Tour of Napa Valley. $90-80. 64- and 3-mile routes. The 2021 event was cancelled. No information yet whether Eagle Cycling Club will put on the Tour this year. The club is no longer offering the Tour of NapaValley and apparently it is now being operated by a local cycling/running shop in Napa, The Athletic Feat. However the event is substantially different than in the past consisting now of two flat routes on the Silverado Trail. SOLD OUT.
September
3 Saturday. Tour de Fuzz. 100-, 62-, and 35-mile routes. $89-$109. Registration opens 3/21. is open. The 100-mile route is similar to the Wine Country metric century but has a long excursion up Rockpile Rd. and a jaunt up to Cloverdale and back. SOLD OUT.
10 Saturday. Best Buddies Challenge. More information and registration opening in late January. Last year there was a $50 fee plus $1,550 minimum fundraising. 30, 62, or 100 miles but will be different routes than in past because of closure of Hearst Ranch.
10-17 Saturday to Saturday. Cycle Oregon. $1,250. 272 to 443 miles. Limit of 1,500. Cycle Oregon is back! Awesome week-long road tour of Oregon’s small towns now with gravel road options. Registration not open yet is now open! Registration will close on August 30. REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED.
17-18 Saturday & Sunday. Bike MS: Waves to Wine. $350 minimum fundraising goal. Two-day ride with routes from 100 to 40 miles. First day starts in San Francisco, the next in Rohnert Park. Registration is open.
24 Saturday to Sunday. Napa Valley Ride to Defeat ALS. Registration fee and then minimum fundraising amount. 100-, 62-, 47-, 28- and 9-mile routes. Registration is open.
24 Saturday. Lighthouse Century. $85. 100-, 75- and 50-mile routes. Limit of 1,000. San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club’s other century. From Morro Bay a detour inland before heading back to the coast and halfway up Highway 1 and back. SOLD OUT.
25 Sunday. Jensie Gran Fondo. No information yet other than date. Rides through West Marin on a route similar to the Marin Century.
October
1 Saturday. Best of the Bay. Double century (197 miles) only this year. $155. A grand tour of the East Bay including up Mt. Diablo. Registration doesn’t seem to be open yet. Registration is now open.
1 Saturday. Sacramento Century Challenge. $85-55. 101-, 60-, 35-, and 15-mile routes. Flat rides in the Sacramento River delta similar to TOSRD. Registration is open.
8 Saturday. 3F Century. $60-40. 100-, 63-, and 39-mile routes. Out of Colusa, CA. Flat rides near and around the Sutter Butes. Limited to 600. Registration is open.
15 Saturday. Foxy Fall Century. $70-35. 100-, 62-, and 31-mile routes. No information yet. Limited to 1,500. Registration is now open!
15 Saturday. Tour de Lincoln. $65-45. 100-, 50-, and 25k routes. Riding in the hills north of Lincoln, CA. Registration is open.
?. Tour of the Sacramento River Delta (TOSRD). No information yet. Annual ride from Brannan Island to Sacramento via the Delta on Saturday and return on Sunday. Stay at La Quinta near old town. Includes lunch on Saturday and a post-ride bbq on Sunday. Brannan Island State Recreation Area is closed without an operator, so the event is in question for the moment.
1 Sunday. Grizzly Peak Century. $80. 52-, 76-, 102-mile road routes. Capped at 1,000 riders. Starts in Moraga so very easy to get to except not by BART because BART doesn’t open up early enough. The GPC is most definitely not a flat route–it’s a climber’s ride. The end-of-ride meal is most definitely homemade and delicious. Registration is open.
7 Saturday. Wine Country Century. $100-70 Registration opens January 14 is now open. 100-mile, metric, and 34-mile routes. Another club fave. Good lunch, great after-ride meal, awesome tandem friendly rural roads. SOLD OUT as of 3/31.
7 Saturday. Siskiyou Scenic Bicycle Tour. $65-45. Registration is open. Limit of 450. 85 registered as of 3/15/22. 101-, 67-, 40-, and 21-mile road routes and a 39-mile gravel route. End-of-ride meal. This ride is run by the Yreka Rotary Club and takes you on rural roads north of Mt. Shasta. Just 218 registrations as of 5/1 so still room.
7 Saturday. I Care Classic. No information yet except date. $90. 100-, 62-, 31- and 10-mile routes. $20 discount if you register before March 13. Covers the valley and hill roads from South San Jose to Gilroy.
7 Saturday. Mr. Frog’s Wild Ride. 55-, 45-, and 21-mile routes. $75-40. Sheep Ranch Road and Jesus Maria–say no more! Awesome hills in Calaveras. Limit of 300.
13-15 Friday to Sunday. Climate Ride Green Fondo. $40 registration with a $480 minimum fundraising commitment. Limit of 200. 101-, 65-, and 33-mile routes on Saturday; 67-, 36-, and 19-mile routes on Sunday.
21 Saturday. Davis Double. $140. Information will be available at the end of January and registration will open in early February. Registration is now open. This is one of the easier double centuries as long as it’s not hot.
14 Saturday. Tour delle Vigne $75. 100-, 50-, and 30-km routes. Formerly the Lodi Sunrise Century. Registration is open. Online registration is now closed but you can still do day-of-event registration. Starts in the Valley in Lodi and tours the flat ag roads.
15 Sunday. Strawberry Fields Forever. $100. 30-, 61-, and 101-mile routes. Registration is open. A pleasant ride in the Santa Cruz and Watsonville area.
27-30 Friday through Monday. Paso Robles Cycling Festival. Registration not yet open; no current information. 3/10/22: Not happening; now on indefinite hiatus.
?. Devil’s Slide Ride. $?. No information on whether this ride is taking place. A benefit for PARCA. Now definitely cancelled for 2022.
June
5 Sunday. Sequoia Century. $150-130. 101-, 68-, and 57-mile routes. Registration opens February 2. is now open. Price includes the 2022 Sequoia jersey.
5-11 Sunday to Saturday. AIDS Lifecycle. $75. $3,000 minimum fundraising amount; $5,000 suggested. You know the routine: raise money for the SF AIDS Foundation or the Los Angeles LGBT Center to fight AIDS by riding 545 miles from SF to LA. Registration is open. SOLD OUT.
?. Castle Crags Century. Mt. Shasta Rotary is assessing whether to hold this ride this year. They’ve decided not to host a 2022 event but hope to be back in 2023.
11 Saturday. Gold Country Cycling Challenge. $80-70. Registration is open. 100-, 75-, 55, and 33-mile routes from Grass Valley north to the South Yuba River and back. There are three road rides and two “gravel” rides.
18 Saturday. Mile High 100. Formerly the Lake Almanor Century. $85-55. 108-, 56-, and 33-mile routes. Registration is open although website erroneously still says “2021”.
25 Saturday. Alta Alpina Challenge. $150-90. The other “Death” Ride. Registration is open.
18 Saturday. Climb to Kaiser. $105-75. 155 or 95-mile routes. If you enjoy heat and climbing, this is the ride for you. “Only” 15,000 or 7,500 vertical feet ascents but you have the pleasure of baking in the Central Valley. Starts in Clovis.
?. RBC Gran Fondo Silicon Valley. $?. No information yet. In case you’re unfamiliar with this ride, it costs $725/$245. Yes, $725 for a 71-mile ride from Palo Alto to the San Mateo coast and back along the roads we ride all the time—Kings Mtn., Tunitas Creek, Stage Road, Pescadero Creek, La Honda Road. For the venture capitalist in your family. Well, you don’t have to drive far to do this one. Or you could just do the Sequoia, which is not only way less expensive but supports a great local club, Western Wheelers who donate their proceeds to local non-profits, instead of lining the pockets of profiteering carpetbaggers. Doesn’t seem to be happening this year.
June 18-25. Sierra to the Sea. $1,500. Registration is now open. opens January 18 at 6 PM. Awesome eight-day supported tour from the Sierras to the Bay Area run by fellow club Almaden Cycle Touring Club in San Jose. Limit of 90 or 130 (website has contradictory information); 62 registered as of 6/15.
July
16 Saturday. Death Ride. $149. Registration is open.
16 Saturday. Fall River Century. $75-50. 200k, 100 mile, 100k, and 25 mile routes. Registration is open. Limit of 500 riders. Ride in the area near Mt. Shasta.
16-17. Saturday-Sunday. Seattle to Portland (STP). $170-190. 206 miles. “The largest, most iconic and fully supported group ride in the Pacific Northwest, with up to 8,000 riders pedaling from Seattle to Portland over one or two days. Reg. fee includes luggage transport, SAG support, five free food and hydration and aid stations, mechanical and medical support, camping at halfway point in Centralia, WA, on grounds of Centralia College.” You can ride it in one or two days. Registration is open.
23 Saturday. Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge. $70-55. Still in planning but hope to Will offer 45-, 62-, 100-, and 135-mile routes. Registration opens February 1. is now open. This venerable event not only got hit by Covid but also by the CZU fire last year that burned portions of the route. Limit of 650.
“The club is having a fabulous time! Wish you were here!”
Clubs and organizations that have regularly mounted century rides mostly got burned in 2021 and 2020. Only the earliest rides in 2020 got off the ground before the Pandemic hit and shelter-in-place orders ended all public events. Thinking that COVID-19 was going to be one-and-done, quite a few decided to postpone rides to the fall only to have to cancel them altogether when the summer surge put paid to regathering. Time and money spent on planning and logistics were in vain; upfront expenses were likely a complete loss. With vaccines being introduced at the end of the year, there was hope that spring rides could take place and that by late summer 2021 we’d be back to normal. Not quite. In the end most rides that took place were virtual rides and the few that actually took place were far away from urban centers with one exception being the 2021 Foxy Fall up in Davis.
What’s going to happen in 2022? In our favor, rides take place outdoors and social distancing and mask protocols have become commonplace. Public events are even taking place indoors so it’s likely that state and local mandates will not preclude permits for century rides. Whether clubs and organizations will want to risk planning and putting on an event only to have to cancel or postpone it later is another story. But at the moment a few are going ahead with publicity and advance registration even though they don’t know whether there will be a winter surge and a subsequent clampdown let alone interest from cyclists with the shadow of the Omicron variant.
Here’s what we know so far for the first months of 2022. April is when the calendar really starts to get packed. As new information becomes available, this listing will be updated.
January 1 Saturday. Resolution Ride/New Year’s Day Up Diablo. This isn’t a century but it’s the first “big” ride of the year and practically a club tradition. See the listing in the club calendar.
February 12 Saturday. Tour of Palm Springs. 100-, 50-, and 25-mile routes. $90-30. This is by today’s standards a huge ride—thousands of cyclists. It’s a long drive south but hey, it’s Palm Springs! Masks required outdoors when social distancing is not possible. Registration is open.
13 Sunday. Velo Love Ride. 63 miles. No fee. This event has been put on by Chico Velo for ages—at least going back to the mid-aughts if not earlier. It’s a much lower key event than their Wildflower attracting only a couple hundred cyclists in a good year. But it’s pleasantly flat and tours the scenic valley area around the Sutter Buttes. Unfortunately Chico Velo hasn’t been able to find a member willing to organize this long held ride. But Different Spokes is going to go up there to ride it anyway as long as it doesn’t rain. See the listing in the club calendar after January 1. You can read about two previous rides here and here.
19 or 26? Saturday. Pedaling Paths to Independence. 65-, 45- or 20-mile routes. The Community Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired puts on this annual fundraising ride out of Linden, which is just east of Stockton. It’s a small event of about 250-300 riders. It tours the rolling ag land south and east of the town. It’s unclear if CCBVI will run this event in 2022 but last year they announced their virtual event late. You can read about a previous ride here.
March 5 Saturday. Solvang Century. 96-, 68- and 52-mile routes. $125-105. Now limited to 1,000. As of 2/26 still not sold out.SOLD OUT. After not being allowed to run the Solvang in 2020 and 2021, Randy Ice, the longtime organizer of the Solvang Century, has passed the Solvang Century on to Planet Ultra, a business that puts on ultramarathon events and tours. Post-event meal (tacos or hot dog) is an extra $18. Tentatively planned for March 5 but not confirmed. PU is also putting on the Solvang Double Century on March 19 as well as a Solvang Spring Tour March 21-26. A side note: it’s probably a good thing that Randy Ice is no longer involved with the Solvang since he believed that COVID-19 is a hoax. Although the Solvang has never been short of participants—several thousand is the usual number—it’s always been priced at the high end of curve and provided disappointing, perfunctory food and then had the gall to charge extra for a post-ride meal. Planet Ultra will have its work cut out for it to improve the event’s reputation. Looks like Planet Ultra is following the same script: gouging. Seriously, a hot dog for $18? Bite me.
27 Sunday. King Ridge Supreme. 80- and 60-mile routes. $125. This is a mixed terrain ride. The 80-mile route has timed segments so it’s a race with age groups and podium places. But if you don’t want to compete, you can ride at your own pace. The 60-mile route is not timed. Starting in Duncan Mills you go to Occidental and then up Highway 1 to Fort Ross before returning to Duncan Mills. Perfect for you gravel bikers. Registration not yet open is now open. Limit of 500. Sold out as of 3/16.
April 7-10 Thurday through Sunday. Sea Otter Classic. 91- and 49- mile road routes; 30-mile gravel route; and 19-mile MTB route. $115. Sea Otter returns to its usual April slot. Registration and exact schedule not yet available is now available. Gran fondos and tours are on Saturday and Sunday.
9 Saturday. Cinderella Classic &Challenge. 100-, 65-, and 31-mile routes. $65-40. Limit of 800 riders; women/girls only. The Classic starts at Las Positas College near Livermore and traverses a big loop counter-clockwise through Danville, Dublin, and Pleasanton. Registration opens January 12, 2022 is open.
10 Sunday. Primavera Century. 90-, 63-, and 25-mile routes. $90-25. Starting in Fremont the 100-mile route heads up Calaveras, around the reservoir and then out to Patterson Pass before turning west and going over Palomares to Fremont. Registration is now open. 100- and 65-mile rides are sold out now.
16? Saturday. Mr. Frog’s Wild Ride. 55-, 45-, and 21-mile routes. $75-40. No exact April date set yet. Mixed terrain ride. NOW SET FOR SATURDAY MAY 7.
23 Saturday. Tierra Bella Century. 95-, 64-, 55-, 51-, and 33-mile routes. $75. Limit of 1,500. Starts in Gilroy and takes in the climbs and reservoirs in Santa Clara valley. New routes this year. Registration is now open. opens Dec. 14 16 22.
23 Saturday. Levi’s Gran Fondo. 81-, 69- and 32-mile routes. $263-140. New routes this year heading up to the Geysers rather than King Ridge. Registration is open. SOLD OUT.
23 Saturday. Bike Around the Buttes. 100-, 60-, 40-, and 20-mile routes. $55-40. No date set yet but they say they’ll be back in 2022. This ride covers much of the same area as the Velo Love Ride. Registration is open.
24 Sunday. Chico Wildflower. 125-, 100-, 65-, 60-, 30-, and 12-mile routes. $75-20. No exact date in April set yet. This used to be the ‘must do’ club ride qua getaway weekend. Terrific riding despite the incineration of Paradise three years ago during the Camp Fire. Note that the Wildflower is now on a Sunday, not a Saturday as it has been for ages. Registration opens in ‘early January’. is now open.
30 Saturday. Devil Mountain Double. 200 miles. $110. Cancelled in 2020 and not offered in 2021, no word on whether Quack Cyclists will offer their very challenging ride in 2022. The DMD might just happen this year if they can get permits–see their website. 194 miles and 16,000 vertical gain. Limit of 50. Registration is open.
29-1 Friday to Sunday. Eroica California. 108-, 81-, 72-, and 36-mile routes. $150. Limit of 1,500. Only ‘classic’ bikes—usually 1987 or earlier—are allowed. See site for detailed rules. Mixed terrain routes.
30 Saturday. SLO Wildflower. 100-, 80-, and 50-mile routes. $75. Limit of 1,000. SOLD OUT. New routes this year with all three doing the same 50-mile loop and then the 80- and 100-milers heading out to do different loops. This is turning into an ad hoc getaway weekend for the club with quite a few members heading south for this scenic riding. See the ride listing. Registration opens Jan. 2 is now open.
30 Saturday. Delta Century. 100-, 67-, and 26-mile routes. $65-45. Very flat rides in the Sacramento Valley just north of Lodi.
30? Mount Hamilton Challenge. 125- and 70-mile routes. The classic up Mt. Hamilton and down Mines and back via Calaveras, or climb up and down the front of Mt. Hamilton. This ride has not been taken place in several years but Pedalera keeps announcing it. No date set but usually the last weekend in April. Website says more information in February. UPDATE: Unfortunately no more Mt. Hamilton Challenges, alas!
Boys, this year is finally your chance to ride the Cinderella Classic & Challenge. How’s that, you say? Isn’t the Cinderella the women/girl-only century ride in the East Bay? Yes, for the first 44 years of its existence the Cinderella has been female (gender) only. But this year the live Cinderella has been replaced with a virtual event and anyone can ride it. All you have to do is register, pay the fee, and then go do a ride—it doesn’t even have to be one of the official Cinderella routes—and you’ll be entered into a raffle to win some great prizes. How many miles you ride determines your fee, $25 to $45. Those funds go to replace the funds lost by not having a live Cinderella and are donated by the Valley Spokesmen (sic) to a host of non-profits and women’s organizations.
In previous years Different Spokes boys were so envious of the girls who could do the Cinderella that they created their own counter-event, the Evil Stepsisters. But this year you too can be the Belle of the Ball so there’s no need to seek out evil on Mt. Tam.
The virtual Cinderella can be ridden from Saturday May 15 through Sunday May 23. If you haven’t ridden one of the Cinderella routes, the most recent versions have started at Las Positas College north of Livermore rather than the traditional Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. The Classic is a 65-mile jaunt that weaves counterclockwise on roads through Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore before returning to the college. The longer Challenge adds on Patterson Pass Road to the Altamont Pass before returning. There is also a very pleasant, briefer 31-mile route through Livermore.
Maybe someone in the club would like to volunteer to lead the club on the virtual ride this year? (hint, hint.)
You can read the details and register at the Cinderella site.
Almost all—but not all—spring century rides have been cancelled or converted into virtual events where you do a ride on your own; some are entertaining postponing their rides to the fall and the result is a very dense selection of events in September and October. Postponing is risky because the future state of the pandemic is not easy to predict. Will stay-at-home orders and social distancing still be in effect in the Bay Area and will local governing bodies refuse to give out permits for large events? Club or organization volunteers also need to feel safe enough to be willing to staff an event involving a lot of social contact.
The prospect of centuries during the summer is more likely than spring but that still doesn’t mean clubs are fully committing to hosting their rides. Despite problems with vaccine distribution approximately 2.5 million Californians, or about 6% of the state, has received at least one shot, which will provide them with at least partial protection. Those folks will receive their second shot within weeks if not already. It’s also good news that the current approved vaccines are providing some protection against the known variants such as the UK, Brazil, and South African. We can expect vaccinations to accelerate with more FDA approvals and the distribution system to improve with time. Even at the roughly current rate of about 6% per month, by end of June only about 40% of the state will be vaccinated; by end of September about 60% of the state will have been vaccinated, which is getting close to herd immunity. So things are looking good for fall. (But we thought the same last year and were blindsided by a surge in early summer.) The tricky one is summer: will the threat have abated enough that rides can proceed? These clubs and organizations have more time to ponder their future, so we may be pleasantly surprised come June with open events.
To view the current status of spring and early summer centuries, go to an earlier post. I’ll try to keep this post updated as I have the earlier one.
?Saturday, June 26: Giro Bello. No word yet. Rescheduled to Saturday, September 25. Registration to open on June 1. Due to the conflict with the Wine Country Century, the events have been combined. See listing for Wine Country Century below for details. SOLD OUT. Saturday July 17: Death Ride. $169-149. Registration is open. Saturday July 17 to Sunday July 25: Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge. 127, 102, 45 mi and 100k routes. Will either be cancelled or a virtual event. The 2020 CZU fire damaged sections of the routes. 100- and 50-mile options. Now a virtual event; registration is open. No fee but donations appreciated. Saturday July 17: Fall River Challenge. No word yet. 200k, 100-mile, 100k & 25 mile routes. $75-50. In 2020 this century was postponed from 6/14 to 7/18 and actually took place. Registration is open. Limited to 500 riders plus no more than 100 day-of-event registrations. ?Saturday August 7Saturday October 2: Marin Century. The sponsoring club, Marin Cyclists, is not yet hosting rides of any sort and the Marin is not on their club calendar. Unlikely to happen. Now calendared for October 2! Registration is open now. 122-, 96-, 86- 51- and 26-mile routes. $130-$90. Saturday August 7: Cool Breeze Century. 30-, 60-, 100-, hilly 100-, and 125-mile routes. $95. Registration is open. No Class II or III e-bikes! ?August: Crater Lake Century. 100 or 62 mi. No word yet. CANCELLED ?August: Tour of Napa. No word yet. CANCELLED Saturday Sept. 11 & 18:Ride The Rim. 33 mi. Registration is open, free but $10+ donation encouraged. Sponsored by Crater Lake National Park, Friends of Crater Lake, and the Klamath Visitors Bureau. About two-thirds of the route is car free. “POSTPONED to 2022” (ie. cancelled!) Saturday September 11: Best Buddies Challenge. 100, 62, 30, 15 mi. Raise $1,550 ($50 reg fee) reg is open. Event is capped at 50% capacity compared to previous iterations. POSTPONED TO OCTOBER 30. Saturday September 11: Mammoth Gran Fondo. $99-79. 102-, 70-, and 42-mile routes. Reg is open. Somewhat far away but riding on the eastern Sierra is scenic. CANCELLED. ?Saturday September 11: Tour de Fuzz. $79-99. 50-, 100k-, and 100-mile routes. No info yet except you can reserve a spot without paying. Registration is now open. Limit of 1,300 riders. SOLD OUT. Saturday September 11: : Gold Country Cycling Challenge. 100, 100k, 42 mi, 10 mi. $90-70; reg open now. Postponed from June. Sunday September 12: Eroica California. $220-150. Rescheduled from April. Registration is not open yet.Registration is open now. SUPPOSEDLY CANCELLED but website not updated as of 9/1. CANCELLED. Next Eroica is 4/29/22. Sunday September 12: Grizzly Peak Century. 50-, 75-, and 100-mile routes. $75. Rescheduled from May. Also a virtual ride from August 28-September 11. Registration is not yet open. Limit of 1,000 riders. CANCELLED; next one is May 1, 2022. Saturday September 25: Lighthouse Century. 100-, 75- and 45-mile routes. $75-85. Tentatively scheduled; final decision to be made by June 1 whether to cancel. Limit of 1,000. Registration is now open. SOLD OUT. Saturday September 25: Wine Country Century. 50k, 100k and 100-mile routes. $100-75. Rescheduled from May. Now combined with the Giro Bello. SOLD OUT. Saturday October 16: Tour delle Vigne. $55. 30k and 60k. Rescheduled from May. Registration is open. Saturday October 2: Best of the Bay. Double century through the East Bay hills and Diablo valley. No information yet except the date. CANCELLED. Next one is October 1, 2022. Saturday October 2: Konocti Challenge. 100-, 85-, 65-, 40- and 20-mile routes. $90-40. Reg is open. This is the last time the Konocti Challenge will be offered. CANCELLED October 7-10: Sea Otter Classic. $90-115. Registration opens June 28 is open now. Rescheduled from April. Saturday October 16: Foxy Fall Century. 100-mile, 100- and 50-k routes. $70-35. Registration will open sometime in June is open now. Capped at 1,500 riders and no day-of-event registration. October 22-24: Campovelo. $795. Women-only version of Chris Cosentino’s velo and food event.
Normally at this time of year we’d be looking at a roster replete with centuries and gran fondo rides for the following year. But the pandemic has thrown these events into question. That shouldn’t be surprising because it takes at least six months of planning to pull off a large public event. Clubs and organizations that cancelled 2020 events and looked forward to 2021 have been concerned and privately tentative as COVID-19 worsened in early fall and some have already hit the eject button in order not to waste club effort and precious funds on another cancelled event.
The news of vaccines on the immediate horizon, which we greet with relief, has probably led to even more decisions to cancel because it does not look like enough people can be vaccinated before summer to make these events viable. Not all events have been cancelled, at least to date. Below is the list of events and their current status. Some events are becoming “virtual”. This usually means that you can ride one of the routes on your own during the specified window of time. Some rides are partially supported. Keep in mind that events that are currently listed as taking place may still be cancelled or postponed.
Saturday Feb 13: Velo Love Ride. 60 or 100 mi. No word on this event but very unlikely to happen. Saturday Feb 20: Tour de Palm Springs. 102, 51, 26, 9 mi; reg open now, $40. This is a virtual event. Saturday Feb. 20: Pedaling Paths to Independence. 65 or 25 mi; $45-40. No word on this event but very unlikely to happen. $25 donation. Now a virtual event; ride a route between 2/27 through 3/7. Saturday, March 6: Blossom Bike Ride. 60, 45 or 20 mi; $50. CANCELLED Saturday March 13: Solvang Century. CANCELLED. Saturday April 10:May 15-23: Cinderella Classic & Challenge. Limit of 800; $25-45. But registration is not open. CANCELLED but there may be a virtual Cinderella–stay tuned. Now a virtual event. Sunday April 25: Mt. Hamilton Challenge. This ride hasn’t been held the last three years. CANCELLED. ?April. Eroica California. No word yet and no date announced. Now rescheduled for Sept. 12. Registration is not open yet. Sunday April 26 Chico Wildflower. $60-40. This ride was calendared but has been removed, which probably means it’s cancelled. It’s now a virtual event from April 26 through May 9. Registration is now open. You can choose one of the traditional century routes or do their (easier) Adventurer ride or their new Scavenger hunt. Saturday, April 17: Mr. Frog’s Wild Ride. 100 & 50k routes. $55-65. Registration is open. The roads near Murphys are incredible. Now the registration page is gone. (3/17) Sunday April 18: Bike Around The Buttes. No word yet and no date announced. CANCELLED. Sunday April 18: Primavera Century. CANCELLED May 20-23: Sea Otter Classic. reg not open yet; $90-110. Has been postponed to October 7-10, 2021. Saturday April 24: Tierra Bella. CANCELLED Saturday April 24: Wildflower Century. CANCELLED ?Saturday April 24: Devil Mountain Double. No word yet and no update on website as to whether it will be offered in 2021. Saturday May 1: Siskiyou Scenic Bicycle Tour. 103, 90, 68, 38, 21, 8 mi routes. $65-20. Reg is open. [This event took place, the first one in northern California!] Saturday May 1: Wine Country Century.Has been tentatively postponed to October. Now scheduled for Saturday September 25. Sunday May 2: Grizzly Peak Century. Will either be virtual in May or possibly postponed to fall. Will be a DIY event early September as well as a fully supported ride Sept. 12. May 7-9: Campovelo Napa Valley. $2,995-$175. Also offered weekend of June 4-6 and a women-only event October 22-24. Chef Chris Cosentino’s orgy of food and cycling. Registration is open. You need to provide a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination. SOLD OUT! ?May: Delta Century. 100, 62, 25 mi routes. $35-55. No word yet on whether they’ll proceed. CANCELLED Saturday May 8: I Care Classic. 100, 62, 33, 10 mi routes. No update yet on whether this will actually happen. It’s in Santa Clara County, which has been cautious with reopening, so don’t count on it. CANCELLED Saturday May 21: Davis Double. No word. A third party site claims the ride will be on “Saturday May 21” but this is obviously incorrect. (The third Saturday in May is May 15, 2021, not May 21, which is a Friday.) Now it looks like the DD is going to be done as a virtual event this May. Saturday May 15: Tour delle Vigne. Reg is open; $65. Now postponed to October 2021. Sunday May 16: Strawberry Fields Forever. Reg is open; $75. CANCELLED Saturday May 22: Devils Slide Ride. 100, 64, 40k; $90-45. Reg not open yet. CANCELLED May 28-31: Paso Robles Cycling Festival. Reg is open; adult: $73; camping: $18.50/night. Now tentatively postponed to October 15-17. Sunday May 30: Levi’s Gran Fondo. CANCELLED ?June: Supertour. No word on whether Supertour will take place in 2021. Saturday June 12: Gold Country Cycling Challenge. 100, 100k, 42 mi, 10 mi. $45-70; reg open now. Now postponed to Saturday September 11. Sunday June 6: Sequoia Century. 100, 72, 59, 44 mi; $95-45. Reg was supposed to open 1/2/21. WW may cancel this event. Virtual event from June 1 through June 6. Saturday June 19: Mile High 100. $85-$55. 33-, 56- and 108-mile routes. Reg is open. Saturday June 19-June 26. Sierra to the Sea. CANCELLED Saturday June 19: Castle Crags Century. 141, 99, 62, 79, 37 mi. No word on this event and website is currently “suspended”. Website is back up and it’s tentatively scheduled for June 19. CANCELLED. Next version is June 18, 2022. ?Saturday June 26: Climb to Kaiser. No word on this event.
If not for the pandemic we would have hosted the annual Orinda Pool Party & Ride by now. The Orinda Pool Party & Ride started in 2009 but longtime club members know that from 1997 to 2001 Sue Melly in Walnut Creek hosted the first East Bay Pool Party. We resurrected the event and we’ve held the event every year except for 2011 when we were too busy riding our bikes in Austria. Well, now it joins the list of missing-in-action club events for 2020.
The ride is usually the Pinehurst loop, a well-known training Berkeley training ride, or a near-variant except in 2017 when the Canyon bridge was out due to the previous winter storms and we rode towards Walnut Creek and Alamo rather than up to Skyline. If we had held the OPP this year we would have been able to ride Pinehurst over the not-quite-completed new Canyon bridge which is currently being repaired from the storm damage of winter 2017.
The ride has always been followed by the pool party and lunch when those who don’t want to bicycle could instead demonstrate their breast stroke and professional CPR skills at the pool. Until last year we had always served the same old, same old—homemade pesto with pasta, a Caesar salad, and Aidell’s sausages. Last year Roger got a hankering to smoke ribs instead, and since we were changing the menu we went ‘whole hog’ and subbed in homemade potato salad and cole slaw just to Make Brunch Great Again. Who knows what we would have done this year although last year several people approached me afterwards and opined that they did indeed miss the pesto. This year we also grew a big batch of Italian sweet basil just for the Pool Party only to have to hoard it for ourselves. Sigh.
Hopefully next year the pandemic will subside and we have vaccines and better treatments so that we can host the OPP yet again.
Having been made impossible by the pandemic some spring centuries were postponed to this fall rather than cancelled outright. Now cancellations of the postponement dates are starting to trickle in. The uncertainty about the pandemic and whether large groups will be allowed has also led to some fall rides being cancelled and others to remain in a holding pattern and hope for the best.
Only a couple of one summer century still remains un-cancelled: the Alta Alpina Challenge set for July 25 and [Alta Alpina Challenge is now cancelled for 2020] the Fall River Century on July 18, which is just two weeks away. After that you’ll have to wait until September for your next chance of a big ride. The former is in Alpine county, home of its mate the Markleeville Death Ride (cancelled), and which has had only three COVID-19 cases to date. However the Alta Alpine Cycling Club has adjusted the event so that rest stops are almost unsupported to minimize contact with staff. However there is still a chance that permits won’t be issued and the event will be cancelled at the last minute. The Fall River Century takes place in Shasta county, which until a few weeks ago had hardly any confirmed COVID-19 cases and then a superspreading event occurred and it now has 92.
[9/3: Other than the Fall River Century in July every other century/gran fondo ride in Northern California through the end of 2020 has been cancelled or ‘postponed’ to 2021 (= euphemism for ‘cancelled’–I doubt they’ll be called, for example, “the 2020 Wild Turkey Century on July 4, 2021!”)]
5 Saturday. Mile High 100. $55-85. 33-, 56-, and 108-mile routes. A beautiful ride around Lake Almanor near Chester, CA. If cancelled your reg fee minus processing will be refunded. Now cancelled. (When you attempt to register, then you are told the event is cancelled.)
12 Saturday. Best Buddies Challenge. $50 fee plus $1,550 minimum fundraising. 30-, 62-, or 100-mile routes but will be different than in past because of closure of Hearst Ranch. The event has gone virtual for 2020; see website for details.
25-27 Friday through Sunday. Eroica California. $200. 40-, 73-, 87-, and 127-mile routes. 1,500 riders max. Mixed surface routes. You must have a vintage bicycle to ride the classic route. [7/22: Now “posponed until 2021” (sic). Note no date in 2021 has been announced. If you registered for 2020, it will be carried over to 2021.]
27 Sunday. Jensie Gran Fondo. $140-195. Registration opens 9/1. 40, 70-, 100-mile routes. Rides through West Marin on a route similar to the Marin Century. [9/3: finally cancelled!]
October
Chico Wildflower. Was postponed from April 26 to an indefinite fall date. It is now cancelled.
1-4 Thursday through Sunday. Sea Otter Classic. Postponed from April 18, it is now cancelled for 2020.
3 Saturday. Best of the Bay. Postponed to Oct. 3, but now registration is “delayed” due to COVID-19 uncertainty. Event has NOT gone virtual but format has now changed: do the ride by yourself from 9/12 to 10/10 for $50. No support unless you organize it yourself as part of a team.
3 Saturday. Konocti Challege. $70-90. 40-, 60-, and 100-mile routes. Nice ride around Clear Lake. Note no refunds if cancelled. [7/22: Ha ha, it hasn’t been canceled–just “postponed” to 10/2/21. Good luck getting a refund.]
11 Sunday. Strawberry Fields Forever. $75. 30-, 61-, and 101-mile routes. No refunds. Routes take in several of our Pajaro Dunes weekend roads! [7/22: Nope, not happening! Next edition will be 5/16/21.]
17 Saturday. Devil’s Slide Ride. $110-65. Registration is open. 101-, 64-, and 42-mile routes down the San Mateo coast and up the Coast Range and back. A benefit for PARCA. Cancelled. Next event is May 22, 2021.
17-18 Saturday to Sunday. Tour of the Sacramento River Delta(TOSRD). $127. Annual ride from Brannan Island to Sacramento via the Delta on Saturday and return on Sunday. Stay at La Quinta near old town. Includes lunch on Saturday and a post-ride bbq on Sunday. [7/22: Now cancelled for 2020, alas.]
The Chain Letter 