I lived in Lakeview, OR for a year, and the scenery up in that part of the world is breathtaking. The 299 drive is epic, and on a clear day the Mt Shasta snow cap can be seen from the summit of Cedar Pass, all of 100 miles away. The Brass Rail in Alturas does decent Basque food.
I proposed to my wife in a little inn just north of Redding, but I hadn't planned everything out too well; when we asked the hotel staff for celebration dinner recommendations, there was pretty much just the one Italian place all the way back into Redding that they could hand-on-heart "recommend." It was ok. Too much garlic. For good food, go up the 97 a few hours to Bend.
As bad as Redding can be, avoid Susanville like a contagion.
My wife has family in Chico. The Wildflower century ride there is a good 'un. The route goes up to Paradise (or did the year I did it), which must be at least recovering a bit by now.
I'd love to get back up to the Shasta area with the freedom to just ride my bike when-and-wherever I'd like. Beautiful part of the world.