Ducks Unlimited

It's amazing how my opinion of Chico has changed over the years. When I moved here for graduate school in 2005, I just loved the quaintness and the beauty of the land surrounding this town. I spent my first few weeks jumping on my bike and exploring the canyons, the creeks and the swimming holes up and along Bidwell Park. It was a magical place to be. But then the students started returning...and graduate school started kicking in...and my joy for all things Chico disappeared in a heartbeat.

Besides grad school, one of the main factors that drew me to Chico was the fact that it was considered a "bicycle city." Back in 1997, it won the designation of "Most Bicycle Friendly City" from Bicycling magazine, and a lot of Chicoans took pride in this fact. From 2005 to 2007, however, I really couldn't figure out how it had ever received that honor. With all the biking I did back and forth between home and campus...on streets with no shoulders or bicycle paths to ride on...and a lack of bicycle racks around town to lock up your bike...this was not the "bicycle city" that had been promised to me. I was not a happy biker.

But now that my studies have finally ended, I've had the time to take a second look at Chico and its surrounding communities. Every week for the past two months, I've been taking my road bike on long excursions around Chico and surrounding Butte County, and I must say, I can see now why Chico is considered a "bicycle city." Hands down, Chico has some of the best places to go biking that you'll find anywhere. There's terrains that will fit all levels of bikers: from the great river valleys of the west, to the flatlands of the south, to the rocky canyons of the east, all the way to the climbing forests of the north. And the scenery that greets you along the way makes you really appreciate what Mother Nature has to offer. If that doesn't turn you into a tree-hugging, Earth-loving environmentalist, then nothing will.

Today I rode my bike along a new route that I hadn't done before. Southwest of Chico, there's a system of roads that takes you through almond and citrus orchards, along the Sacramento River, and then beside cow pastures until you finally intersect with an east-west road heading toward Dayton (California, not Ohio). After a few more miles down farming roads, you'll finally arrive at the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Created back in 1991 by a joint partnership between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy and the California Department of Fish & Game, Llano Seco is but one of series of protected areas up and down the Sacramento River that provides areas for fish and waterfowl to live. The ponds and grasslands around me were just filled with squawking ducks, as far as the eye could see.

As I walked the 1/3 mile path along irrigation canals to finally arrive at the wooden viewing platform, the clomping noise from my biking shoes sent a flock of ducks flying away in a panic. So much for bird watching. But I did manage to watch the sun setting in the west, casting a warm orange glow across the valley. I would have stayed longer if it weren't for the mosquitoes turning me into a bedtime snack, so I hightailed it back to my bike and bid Llano Seco adieu. The areas along the Sacramento River, as well as all around Butte County, are definitely worth checking out if you have the time. I'll continue to share with you more of these hidden treasures in future postings.