Perhaps one of the flattest and safest courses I've ever encountered is the Borrego Springs, CA, 18 mile rectangle. Borrego Springs, CA. An average grade of 0.1%, 341 cumulative feet of climbing with only 19 feet of climbing per mile. Excellent road surface. Nothing but right turns (eliminates need to stop or cross lanes). Almost no traffic.
Recently I've found a nearby (well, 98 miles away) training course that is almost identical. Even less traffic. The Vulture Mine - Aguila Road course is south of Wickenburg, AZ, by about 25 miles. An 18 mile out and back course, an average grade of 0.1%, 356 feet of climbing with the same 19 feet of climbing per mile. It is an `out and back' course, which would require coming to the equivalent of a full stop every circuit (making it less desirable than the BS course for setting records or competitive events). Excellent road surface as well.
What may distinguish these two locations is the wind. BS is at the base of a sudden 3,211 drop from the coastal mountains. Such an abrupt change in elevation creates wind - simple as that.
Yet, the VM-A route has an equal wind problem but for the opposite reason: it is in the middle of hundreds of miles of flat desert basin in Arizona. The wind can howl to great delight with no protection given to surface dwellers.
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