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Foxy’s Fall Century is a ride through California history
Join the fun
What: Foxy’s Fall Century, attracting more than 1,000 riders on three courses of 31, 62 and 100 miles
When: Saturday, Oct. 15
Where: Start/finish at the Veterans’ Memorial Center, 203 E. 14th St.
Info: All riders must pre-register; go online here
By Scott Alumbaugh
Foxy’s Fall Century is an annual event hosted by the Davis Bike Club. Riders have a choice of three courses: the traditional 100-mile century, a metric century (100 kilometers or 62 miles), and a 50-kilometer (31 mile) Family Ride.
Though most riders don’t realize it, all three routes pass through areas rich in California history.
Putah Creek: Riders on all three Foxy’s routes travel along Putah Creek. The trip from Davis along Putah Creek Road to Winters is one of the most popular for local cyclists. It is one of the first long rides for new riders.
Putah Creek’s name comes from the Lake Miwok “puta wuwwe,” which means “grassy creek.” In 1842, Gov. Juan Bautista Alvarado granted land on both sides of Putah Creek to William Wolfskill. The rancho was called Rio de Los Putos.
Riders cross Putah Creek over Stevenson Bridge, a local landmark covered in graffiti. The bridge was built in 1923 and has been identified by the state of California as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. It’s one of only three bridges in California that utilizes an architectural design known as the overhead tie arch.
Putah Creek is being restored thanks to the efforts of the Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committee and other groups.
The Four “S’s”: South of Stevenson Bridge, the 100-mile and 100K routes continue in a pattern well known to Davis riders: the “Four S’s.” Stevenson Bridge Road, Sievers Road, Schroeder Road and Silveyville Road.
Stevenson Bridge Road ends at Sievers Road, which riders follow west for a short distance. Part of Sievers Road was on the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, dedicated in 1913. In 1927, Lincoln Highway was realigned to pass through Davis and incorporate Sievers Road as part of its route.
From Sievers, riders turn onto Schroeder Road, which takes them south toward Dixon before turning west on the last of the four S’s, Silveyville Road. On the southeast corner of the intersection of Schroeder and Silveyville road stands a house built in 1873 by Joachim Schroeder. It is the last remaining structure of Silveyville, one of a number of bygone towns between Davis and Vacaville: West Plainfield, Allendale and Buckeye, to name a few.
Near this same corner stands a Pony Express monument memorializing Silveyville as a stop. Express riders were supposed to ride a ferry from Sacramento to San Francisco. Occasionally, however, a rider missed the boat and would have to race to Benicia to catch a ferry from there. Standing halfway between Benicia and Sacramento, Silveyville was a natural Express stop.
The town began in 1852 when Elijah Silvey built a corral and hotel and hung a red lantern to attract miners on their way up to the goldmines in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The small town of Putah grew up around Silvey’s hotel. Residents changed the name to Silveyville because Putah sounded like the Spanish word for prostitute.
In 1867, the railroad track linking San Francisco to Sacramento was built just south of Silveyville through land granted to the railroad by settler Thomas Dickson. Dickson convinced Silveyville residents to relocate their town nearer to the railroad and the station (misspelled as “Dixon”). Three years later, all of the buildings that could be moved were relocated, turning Silveyville into a ghost town.
English Hills and Pleasants Valley: In addition to miles of farmland with relatively light traffic and few traffic controls, riders on the longer routes get to ride through the rural English Hills over Steiger Hill Road. A little further on, the route passes through Pleasants Valley, which offers 15 miles of beautiful rolling hills, orchards, and rangeland.
The northern portion of Pleasants Valley was part of the Wolfskill’s Rio de Los Putos rancho. The English Hills and remainder of Pleasants Valley were part of the Rancho Los Putos grant given to Juan Felipe Peña and Juan Manuel Cabeza Vaca in 1843.
Since that time, Pleasants Valley has been a ranching and farming area. The open vistas and low population are two reasons it’s such a nice area to ride through. In recent years, though, some Pleasants Valley’s ranches have been subdivided into “ranchettes,” occupied by non-farming residents who typically discontinue agricultural use of their property.
Fortunately, two ranches dating back to the mid-1800s will stay whole. In 2004, the owner of Martell Ranch placed 535 acres under a conservation easement with the Solano Land Trust. The owners of the neighboring Hoskins ranch also granted a conservation to the Land Trust. Together, these two properties preserve nearly two miles of land adjoining Pleasants Valley Road as open land.
The 100k Foxy’s route passes through these ranches. Not long after, riders cross the Edward R. Thurber Bridge. The bridge was built in 1907 by the Solano County Engineer Frank Alexander Steiger — whom Steiger Hill Road is named after. Steiger built the concrete bridge near the land of Edward Thurber who settled in Pleasants Valley in 1858. Thurber is credited with laying the foundation of the fruit industry of Vaca and Pleasants valleys. The bridge was renamed the Edward R. Thurber bridge in 2007.
Monticello: The 100-mile route returns from Napa County to the Central Valley via Cardiac Hill along the south shore of Lake Berryessa. Lake Berryessa was created in 1957 with the completion of Monticello Dam on Putah Creek at Devil’s Gate. The lake flooded Berryessa Valley and the town of Monticello, a ranching and farming region.
Prior to the flooding, anthropologists found Miwok, Patwin and Maidu artifacts. There is evidence of 100 to 150 Native American villages dating back 2,000 years.
In 1843 when Gov. Manuel Micheltorena granted brothers Jose and Sisto Berryessa (originally spelled “Berelleza”) eight square leagues of valley lands bordered by the hills. The Berryessa brothers lost some of their land to gambling, sold the rest to Edward Schultz to satisfy a debt of less than $2000. Schultz in turn sold the land in 1866 to a group of three men who subdivided the valley into farms and set aside land for a town of Monticello.
Roads out of the valley were impassable when Putah Creek was swollen. Napa County built a 300-foot, three-span stone bridge over the creek in 1896. At the time it was the largest stone bridge west of the Mississippi.
The area thrived as a major hub of agriculture. Nevertheless, the population was smaller in 1950 and when the town was founded in 1867. In 1948, Solano County Irrigation District formed to obtain irrigation water from the damming of Berryessa Valley. The only structure remaining at the bottom of the lake is the stone bridge.
More historical information, including pictures, articles and resources can be found at the Vacaville Heritage Council website, www.vacavilleheritagecouncil.org.
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