Distance: 17 mi. out and back
Elevation gain: 1184 ft

There are great rides worth driving distances to get to, and then there are perfectly pleasant rides that are worth doing if you happen to be right where they happen to be. This ride is one of the latter, and well worth doing if you find yourself in Willits, California, looking for a nice ninety-minute spin. It’s a mild climb up a little canyon you’d never find unless someone told you about it, as Bestrides fan Brian told me (thanks, man). The scenery is conventional Norcal woods, the road surface is good, there is next to no traffic, and there isn’t much else to say about it.

You could park at the west end of Canyon Rd., but I encourage you to follow my map and park on E. Commercial St. on the east edge of Willits and ride the 3 miles of flat, straight farmland to Canyon. This is usually not my way, but I found these miles relaxing and pleasant and I recommend them. I parked at the city library, but there is an abundance of secure roadside parking in that area.

Canyon Rd. climbs for 2 miles with a pleasing variety of contour and pitch, then descends easily for 1.6 miles to a large but unmarked intersection where Canyon ends and Tomki Rd. goes R and L. The only signage is a small sign reading “Milo,” with an arrow pointing L, posted on a tree trunk in the middle of the intersection. We’re going L.

Tomki turns out to be a surprise. It’s essentially flat, working its way up a small valley, and the road is wider and better-surfaced (pristine ouchless chipseal) than anyone has a right to expect, since there seems to be no one up there and the road goes nowhere (except, apparently, to “Milo”).

The road surface remains impeccable until it goes to hell, at a prominent horseshoe bend to the R, and in 100 ft. the pavement stops. You’d never know it, but Tomki is actually dead-ending into Hearst-Willits Rd., which you were on briefly at the beginning of the ride. Turn around and ride back to Willits.

Off the bike, there are a couple of features of Willits worth seeking out. First, the Loose Caboose is a charming, friendly sandwich shop serving topnotch food. Like a lot of sandwich shops, they tend to close early (4-ish), so schedule your ride accordingly. Second, Willits is the home of one of the West’s great train museums, the oddly named Roots of Motive Power. It puts on regular events where you can ride trains, watch magnificent old steam (real steam) engines move earth, and talk to old coots about the life. I loved it. It’s at a large park a stone’s throw from where I encouraged you to start your ride. You’ll notice the train cars across the street.

You can read about the mysterious Milo here.

Shortening the ride: It’s already short and fairly easy, but you can turn around at Tomki Rd.

Adding miles: Where we went L onto Tomki Rd. at the end of Canyon, you could go R and take Tomki south. It parallels Hwy 101 all the way to Calpella, and is a popular route for touring cyclists riding from Ukiah to Willits, but from our intersection it soon hits a major stretch of rough dirt, so unless you’re up for some serious adventure riding you won’t want to go that way.

Hearst-Willits Rd., which is the road our route takes to get to Canyon Rd., goes N just before Canyon Rd. starts and immediately leads to Reynolds Hwy, which is more of that flat-straight ag stuff.