Soundtallica

I am leaving for California at the end of this week, and I can only take one bike with me. During my trip I will make stops at Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, Napa, and Fresno. I am mainly a roadie with a strong love for gravel riding but will mountain bike on occasion. My steeds are a carbon XC race hardtail, a carbon road bike, and a carbon cyclocross bike.

So my questions are what kind of riding is better in those areas and what bike should I bring? Is there a lot of gravel or unpaved roads in those areas? I am currently leaning towards the road bike, but if there are enough rough/unpaved roads in those areas I'll take the cross bike. Thanks!

cthenn

We've got it all here. The Marin Headlands is where the MTB was born. The road riding around here is also fantastic. Honestly, if I were you, I'd just figure out what type of bike you feel like riding and then figure out your rides afterwards. You aren't going to go wrong with any choice. I'm not a CX guy, so I don't know much about that, but road/MTB you will not be disappointed either way.

HIPCHIP

Currently it's fairly warm down here, so going into the back country that you don't know might not be a good idea. Pacific Coast Highway in just about all those areas, so I'd stick with the road bike and check with some of the local shops or do a web search when you get where you are for some nice roads. Lots of hills in L.A./Ventura area and most of the areas you listed if you like hills. Can't beat a nice ocean view ride.

yochris 

I suggest your CX bike with a couple sets of tires. Marin/SF has great mixed surface riding all over and LA does as well. Great road riding in pretty much the entire state of CA, so throw some slicks on the CX and find a nice 50 miler somewhere...

RushFan2112

I'm a roadie, so my biased opinion is to bring the road bike.....and we have fantastic roads to ride here in the Bay Area. Be sure to bring your climbing legs!

Good luck and have fun!

anotherbrian

Being from Sacramento/NorCal and having ridden all of those areas, I'd probably take the road bike. So many places to ride (Fresno this time of year ain't the greatest (ok, anytime of the year)), but search out Climb to Kaiser.

There are some dirt/gravel you could ride in all of the locations, and if you wanted to most flexibility take the CX with road tires and something gravel oriented. If you are comfortable riding real CX though you could probably make due on the tamer stuff with the road bike alone.