Intro
Start at any point
Fast, wise and fortunate
Ride records
The Milly will not be organized
Continuousity
Mt. Lassen
Eschew motor vehicles
The roads
Equipment
Lights
Certification
Maps
CSAA urban maps (starting from San Francisco)
CSAA regional maps (starting from San Francisco)
Milly checkpoints
Route variations
How to Begin
Upon completion of route
Bon Voyage
The California Millennium Bicycle route -- Milly for short -- is a 1,000 mile circular route incorporating much of the unmatched diversity and terrain of the Golden State, from valley industrial agriculture to snow-capped Sierra, from urbanity to Hill Muffin country.
This manual provides a guide to the route. It also describes standards to be observed in order for a rider of the route to gain recognition as a Milly rider. In brief, the standards require a rider to eschew motor vehicle use or support, to obtain minimal certification at points along the route, to register with Milly headquarters, and to send to Milly headquarters the certification along with a written report of any reasonable length about the journey, and to ride the route as a continuous journey.
Start at any point
There is no one starting point on the route. Milly riders are to ride from their residences (it is expected most will be North Californians) to the nearest section of the route, and begin there.
Fast, wise and fortunate
There is no time limit to complete the route. A rider who completes the Milly circuit in a week or less will be recognized as a very fast Milly rider. A rider who gets around in two or three weeks will be recognized as a wise Milly rider. And one who can afford to spend an entire summer along the route, seeing the sights along the way, visiting with the denizens at coffee-shops and ranches and lolly-gagging in cool creeks and thermal springs, will be recognized as a most fortunate Milly rider.
Those who complete the route in the 2000 year will be accorded status as inaugural riders. However, the Milly route is intended to be a permanent standard route, and records of riders and their accounts will be maintained for succeeding years.
Ride records
Records will be maintained at the California Millennium Bicycle Route website (www.milly.org). In the inaugural year a commemorative publication will also be issued. A similar publication will occur in some succeeding years, probably irregularly, but at least every ten years.
So far there is no intention to issue awards to the fastest, slowest, or wisest Milly rider of a year, or to recognize completion of a Milly circuit with anything beyond a simple certificate and entry into the Milly record. It is not intended at this time to issue Milly patches, medals or trophies. If at some future time an assembly of Milly veterans determines that such trinkets are desirable, well, let them strike medals and stitch patches. Actually, a rubber stamp to the forehead could be nice, if applied with appropriate ceremony.
The Milly will not be organized
The Milly is not an organized ride. In fact, it is just the opposite. It is deliberately disorganized.
The Milly is never to be a massed start event, with a slather of bicyclists gathered to a common point at an appointed time, to proceed at the sound of a gun or the wave of a flag up the road in an obnoxious, traffic-clotting mob.
The Milly rider is expected to be independent, and to travel alone or with only a few others. A cyclist who cannot undertake the Milly route without sizeable accompaniment is not a Milly rider.
This anti-collectivist, anti-group mandate is not an arbitrariness. Group cycling wreaks havoc on public roads. Groups of cyclists -- like groups of unsupervised teenagers -- seem inevitably drawn to boorishness. Group traffic manners sink to depths no rider would dare to practice alone. A group becomes an annoyance and hazard to other traffic. It is probably necessary to add here that "other traffic" includes bicyclists and pedestrians as well as motor traffic.
The insistence on non-collectivism on the Milly route is an attempt to prevent generation of animosity against cycling and cyclists among the inhabitants and communities populating the Milly Route. Establishing and maintaining the good will of the locals along the thousand miles is important to the success of the Milly endeavor.
Continuousity
In order to achieve recognition as a proper Milly rider, a cyclist, once having begun the Milly Route, must continue for the entire circuit, returning to the starting point. What this means is that riding for a week, then going home for a break, then returning to the break-off point a month or so later, riding for a week, taking another break home, and so on, won't cut it. Once having started, a Milly rider continues until the circuit is complete.
As previously mentioned, taking a break whilst remaining on route is entirely okay. If one chances to lolly-gag at a friendly dude ranch along the way, or perhaps to tarry with a friendly dude or dudette, as the preference may be, fine. Such sojourns are actually to be encouraged, as they will make for better reading in the rider accounts than reports on mindless day-after-day bicycling.
Undertaking the Milly is, after all, an adventure, not a mere bike ride.
Mt. Lassen
The Route runs through Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park (fee for bicycle entry to the Park is $5.) At the road summit (8512 ft. elevation) a 2 1/2 mile trail leads to Mt. Lassen peak (10,457 ft.) If the trail is open (not snowbound,) the weather congenial and hours of darkness undescended, a Milly rider is encouraged (virtually expected!) to park the bike and hike the mountain. To stand atop Mt. Lassen, view the terrain and be warmed by the sulphur ovens is a nearly essential part of the Milly experience.
Eschew motor vehicles
A tenet of the Milly approach is that a bicycle is not an accessory to a motor vehicle. Accordingly, a Milly rider eschews follow vehicles, equipment vans, sag-wagons and the like.
An object here is to put more bicycles on the roads, not more motor vehicles, of which there is an adequate surfeit. Another object is to establish in America the traditional French randonneur ethic, which provides that a randonneur rides independently of support other than that available from locals and businesses along the route.
The roads
Nearly every type of road is incorporated in the Milly route, from bikeway to freeway, from highway to backway. The vast majority of miles are surfaced. But a few are not. The unpaved roads are navigable with a reasonably shod road bike (700C wheel size). For those who absolutely cannot bear even the thought of rough-stuff, alternate paved routing around the unpaved portions is mentioned on the map and in the ride guide. The alternates are a bit longer and not as interesting as the main route, avoiding as they do Hill Muffin Country. They are included mostly to accommodate the unfortunates who have been sold road bikes that accept only the most fragile, undersized tires.
Equipment
Any sort of bike -- road, mountain, tandem, even recumbent -- is a potential Milly steed. Ability to carry some stuff is an asset (remember, a motor vehicle to convey gear -- personal or otherwise - is not acceptable.)
Carrying minimal spare parts and tools to apply them is recommended. These would include the usual tube, patch kit and tire irons, plus spare spokes and spoke wrench, spare brake and derailleur cables, a chain tool and some spare chain links. A flashlight is handy.
Putting the bike in top mechanical condition prior to a Milly attempt will minimize catastrophic equipment failure enroute.
Lights
Many long-distance cyclists plan never to ride at night. Therefore, they depart on bicycles sans lighting equipment. And yet, at some point or points on a long-distance ride, nearly every last one of these types departs from plan and rides at night without lights, drifting like a shadow along the motored roads.
This is foolish and dangerous.
Accordingly, both front and rear lights are recommended.
For the rear one or more of the widely available LED (light emitting diode) red tail lamps is excellent. Employed in a non-flashing mode (recommended) these units will run 50 hours or more on a set of batteries. This should be more than sufficient for most Milly riders (save for the most fortunate ones.)
A valuable addition to the tail lamp is an orange rear reflector. The preferred reflector is the 3-inch diameter round D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) type available at car parts outlets, or the slightly larger oval-shape reflector. Avoid the inferior C.P.S.C. (Consumer Products Safety Commission) reflectors purveyed at bicycle shops. A "fanny bumper," more properly known as an international slow-moving vehicle reflector, is also a worthwhile rear reflector.
An LED light is inadequate as a front lamp. The self-contained battery-powered front lamps with halogen bulbs widely available at bicycle shops for about $20 are a lot better than nothing. Due to the small size of batteries employed in these lights, the battery life is short and the lumen output marginal.
The ordinary bottle-type 6 volt, 3 watt generator sets, formerly widely available at bike shops but now almost absent from the American market, are better than the weak self-contained battery jobs. The sets (still widely available in Europe) are usually supplied with both head lamp (6 volt, 2.4 watt) and tail lamp (6 volt, 0.6 watt.) Total for both lamps = 3 watts.
A mild generator set hop-up may be achieved by dispensing with the set's tail lamp, substituting instead one of the long-lived battery-powered LED tail lamps. That leaves only the head lamp to be powered by the generator. The 2.4 watt bulb supplied with the set can then be swapped for a 3 watt bulb, providing a bit more illumination.
Perhaps the best long-distance lighting set is made up of a red LED battery-powered tail lamp in combination with a front hub generator supplying juice to a halogen bulb head lamp. These are very efficient (low drag) and satisfactory in every respect, save cost.
A German Schmidt hub generator (6 volt, 3 watt) together with a German Busch & Muller "Lumotec" headlamp equipped with a 3 watt bulb (Phillips HPR 64) is available in the U.S. from
Peter White CyclesThe hub (not built into a front wheel) plus front lamp and wire runs a ghastly $200.
666 Mass Avenue
Route 111
Acton, Massachusetts 01720
(989) 635-0969
www.PeterWhiteCycles.com
Another lighting option is the battery-powered lights developed for mountain bikers. These are very powerful but are heavy, must be recharged after a relatively short use (inconvenient whilst on the road,) and can cost about as much as the ghastly-priced Schmidt hub.
Certification
Certification of Milly route completion is by saved receipts
from store purchases along the route. The computerized cash registers
used by most stores and some restaurants and motels print store
identity, date and time of purchase on the receipt. A collection
of receipts, therefore, provides a record of ride progress.
The start of a Milly ride begins with a store purchase to certify date and time, and preferably finishes at the same store with another purchase.
Along the route purchases to provide certification must be made at locations listed in the Milly ride guide. Most larger towns have Safeway stores, which provide excellent receipts, are full of food, and are open 24 hours a day.
An alternative to store receipts, especially in very small towns when the only store is closed, is to enter on a postcard the location, date, time, rider name and a note, address to Milly headquarters, apply postage (bring stamps!) and deposit at the town mailbox.
Without at least minimal certification, a circuit of the route cannot be accepted into the Milly record.
At the conclusion of a circuit it is best to photocopy the collection of receipts before sending them off to Milly headquarters together with an account of the ride.
Maps
The California Millennium Bicycle Route has been developed
to be easy to follow. Large portions may be navigated with only
the aid of a California state map, and the additional map sketches
and mileage guide (cue sheet) provided in the Ride Guide.
Nevertheless, some portions of the route are devious, especially in urban areas. Route deviousness in urbanity is a fact of cycling life that cannot be got around. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that Milly prospects obtain detailed maps of urban areas.
It is worthwhile, in fact, to peruse detailed maps of the entire route before embarking on the Milly journey. A good source of maps is the California State Automobile Association (CSAA.) This is the Northern California affiliate of the American Automobile Association (AAA.)
CSAA maps are available at CSAA offices, which are widely distributed in cities and towns throughout Northern California. The maps are free to CSAA members. Those who are not members may prevail upon friends who are to obtain maps.
Lists of titles of current CSAA maps which cover the Milly route follow. There are two lists: one for urban maps (covering cities and towns;) another for regional maps.
CSAA urban maps (starting from San Francisco)
CSAA regional maps (starting from San Francisco)
An additional useful map to obtain, especially because it shows that the official state highway department-approved bicycle route between Mt. Shasta City and Castella is on Interstate 5, is
Pat Denton District Public Information Officer Caltrans District 2 P.O. Box 49603 Redding, California 96049 (503) 225-3260
These checkpoints are both mandatory and advisory. This means that the keepers of the Milly record are not going to be sticklers about a lost checkpoint receipt or two. At the same time, the record-keepers will be skeptical of those who claim to have completed the route, yet somehow never bought anything along the way that produced a cash register receipt, or managed to save only a couple of crumpled and doubtful-looking receipts, or could not be bothered to send a postcard or two to Milly headquarters from the Post Offices of remote towns.
Route variations
Riders are encouraged to adhere to the route as presented in this manual. However, some parallel deviations are permissible, and in some instances may be necessary.
A necessary deviation may occur when Milly roads are, for one reason or another, closed. One road likely to be closed to early or late-season riders is State Highway 89 through Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park. According to the National Park Service, this road is generally open only from June through October. To confirm road conditions the Park Service recommends telephoning its Mt. Lassen headquarters during office hours at (503) 595-4444.
A route around a closed Mt. Lassen is available on State Highways 36 and 44.
Two route variations are suggested to those who opt to avoid unpaved roads. The first bypasses the unsurfaced route between Castella (off Interstate 5) and State Route 3. This variation begins at Mt. Shasta City and proceeds north past Weed to Stewart Springs Road, also known as U.S. Forest Service Road No. 17. According to the redoubtable and well-traveled cycling authority Gunter Hemmersbach, Stewart Springs Road is paved all the way to State Route 3.
A second unpaved avoidance is available on State Highway 36 in Trinity County by continuing west past the town of Mad River and on to Bridgeville, then proceeding south on the Alderpoint Road to Blocksburg, Alderpoint and Garberville. At this point pavement-only types follow the State Bikecentennial Route to Leggett, then ride over the Highway One hill to Fort Bragg.
Unfortunately, this latter deviation bypasses Hill Muffin Country, leaving the deviant bereft of an appealing aspect of the Milly experience.
How to Begin
To begin collect maps, bike, gear, gumption and let Milly headquarters know your start location and date, or best approximation thereof. Give notice of intent by e-mail (Henry@milly.org), the Web form at www.milly.org or by U.S. mail to 2530 26th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94116.
Bring along a few 20-cent stamps, buy postcards along the way and send them to Milly headquarters, which loves Milly mail.
Upon completion of route
Pause, regroup, write account of journey and send together with route receipts to Milly headquarters.