New member introduction

[Ryan Schlichting]

Hi all,

I'm Ryan from Moraga, CA in the Bay Area.  I'm new as of late last year and finally now getting around to introducing myself and my bikes.  I've been a Rivendell user for many years now.  I started off with Sam Hillbornes and then switched to my Appaloosa a few years ago.  The Appaloosa is definitely my favorite and most comfortable bike I've ever had.  I took it bikepacking this fall in the Santa Cruz mountains on a mostly off-road route and it was a blast.  

I recently picked up a Charlie Gallop and am still getting used to it.  It definitely has a LONG top tube!  I knew going with drop bars was against the bike's intended use but I wanted to give it a try anyway.  The jury is still out on whether it fits me but it's a super fun bike to ride.

I also have a Cervelo Aspero gravel bike which I use primarily as a road bike for weekend group rides with the Berkeley Bike Club, and a 1984 Bianchi which I take out when the weather is nice.  I'm a firm believer in that you don't have to pick what side of the playground to play on.  I enjoy all my bikes and they're all a joy to ride in their preferred element.

I also joined the Bay Area Rivendell Google group hoping to meet up with others on local rides.  Let me know if you're in my area and want a fellow Rivendeller to ride with!

Ryan

P.S. Hopefully my attached photos come through.  I'm not very tech-savvy!

[John Rinker]

Hey Ryan, Welcome, and very nicely kitted bikes! The Appaloosa seems like the perfect bike for the Santa Cruz mountains.

Cheers, John

[Stephen Durfee]

Welcome Ryan - if you're ever interested, I've been thinking of putting together a Napa Valley Riv ride...

[Evan E.]

Welcome, Ryan!

Evan 

San Francisco

[Ed Fausto]

Welcome Ryan :-)

Tell us more about your bikepacking in the Santa Cruz mountains.
What tire/size did you use for your Appaloosa?

On Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at 3:04:07 PM UTC+8 Evan E. wrote:

Welcome, Ryan!

Evan 

San Francisco

[Ryan Schlichting]

Sure Ed, I'm happy to talk bike packing!  This was the first time I'd used the Appaloosa for bike packing.  It was a lot of trail riding so I thought it'd be the perfect choice.  I used the 50mm Soma Cazaderos which were wonderful.  50mm seems like a good size for this bike as I do a lot of around town riding as well as trails.  The Cazaderos are pretty grippy on the sides and are pretty supple.  No flats on this trip which was great (I was using tubes, not tubeless).  Because I was going to be on trails which would be bumpy, I decided to skip panniers and simply used bags strapped to the racks to keep things nice and tight without any rattling.  While not as convenient as panniers, this was a good call.  My gearing was important too because the Santa Cruz mountains can be very steep.  My lowest gear on the triple crank is a 28 and paired with a 40 in the back was super nice.  I think that works out to somewhere in the high teens for gear inches.  Even so, I still had to hike-a-bike a few sections.  I'm looking forward to another trip hopefully this spring.

Ryan

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[Patricia Crespo]

Hi Ray,

Beautiful bikes! I'm jealous!

What route did you do in the SC mountains? My boyfriend and I are considering doing something like that this year but don't know where to start. He's a mountain biker, I'm more of a road and gravel rider. We're both familiar with the mountains, having hiked or ridden (or lived by) big sections of them. He lives in Santa Cruz and I live in San Jose.

Happy riding!

P.

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[Andrew]

Hey Ryan.  I just moved to Santa Cruz.  Can you share your route or at least a rough idea of your route?  Sounds like something I might want to try this summer.

Thanks,

Andrew

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[Ryan Schlichting]

Hi Patricia, I more or less followedthe bikepacking.com route called SF peninsula traverse. Although the pacing was a lot faster than I could do, and so I did some modifications on the route based on how I felt. The only other thing I would mention is that riding a bike on skyline really sucks because there’s minimal shoulder and it’s used as a racecourse by motorcycles which is quite terrifying. There’s a trail that parallels the road and I think the route uses it. Here’s a link to the route:  

https://bikepacking.com/routes/sf-peninsula-traverse/

Good luck! Ryan 

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[Ryan Schlichting]

Hi Andrew, I more or less followedthe bikepacking.com route called SF peninsula traverse. Although the pacing was a lot faster than I could do, and so I did some modifications on the route based on how I felt. The only other thing I would mention is that riding a bike on skyline really sucks because there’s minimal shoulder and it’s used as a racecourse by motorcycles which is quite terrifying. There’s a trail that parallels the road and I think the route uses it. Here’s a link to the route:  

https://bikepacking.com/routes/sf-peninsula-traverse/

Good luck! Ryan 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAKieuNZoKbA9chMb%2B%3DxjatyOMMaoqcEc2rGoJchXzycaF-Ccng%40mail.gmail.com.