The Radavist

Try it and you’ll be addicted. Kalimotxo, the Spanish drink made from equal parts red wine and cola. It’s unexpectedly refreshing. For 2016, the latest rendition of Santa Cruz’s fabled Bronson came dressed in a bright fuschia color and named after this tasty beverage. Now, normally bright pink isn’t my color of choice, yet there was something so appealing about this particular paint scheme that actually made me want to demo the Bronson more than ever before.

Since its inception in 2013, the Bronson has been one of Santa Cruz Bicycle’s most successful bikes. Last year, it got a face-lift, which drastically altered its stance and updated the Bronson’s geometry to fit in with where the industry seems to be heading with its all-mountain bikes. In short: It’s the reigning champion of trail or all-mountain riding and in a world of slacker, lower and longer, actually defends its title quite well.

No Reception in Northern California
Photos by Michael Armenta, words by Brian Larson

There’s never a perfect time to escape. Chores, obligations, monetary deficits, or priorities—it seems the doldrums of the day to day too often take hold with gripping force. We can’t always hop on plane to the backcountry of the Chilcotins or ride ribbons of trails through the Alps; sometimes planning a trip can seem more complicated than landing a rover on Mars.

And in some instances even more so.

But on the rare occasion a trip can manifest itself without a formalized plan or strategy. The right players show up with the right gear and seem to have a rare abundance of time to spare. It’s like watching ripples forming from the wind blasting a sand dune. From a seemingly chaotic environment comes a perfectly organized pattern: from entropy emerges order. We’re not going to pretend to understand it, but that is what happened with this trip. A few emails were sent to a handful of folks and almost magically we were standing speechless in awe of Northern California coastal viewshed. No itinerary, no schedule, no obligations, and no reception.

You’ll have to excuse the overdose of Santa Cruz Bicycles posts these past few days. It’s merely coincidence that they just launched a new Tallboy around the same time this bike was scheduled to be published…

The Santa Cruz Stigmata wasn’t always a flashy carbon race bike with clearance for 43mm tires and disc brakes. It began as a made in the USA aluminum machine back in 2007 with a very traditional cyclocross racing geometry and posts for canti brakes. While I loved the modern reincarnation of the Stiggy, I still absolutely love seeing its aluminum predecessor in the flesh. Especially one that’s so tastefully built.

There’s nothing super flashy or tricked out about this build. The owner found the frame, NOS online for a deal and built it with mostly used parts but some fancy DT Swiss 350 to H+Son wheels. Ultegra became the platform it’d be built upon and Paul Mini Motos would provide the stopping power. It’s still a new build, so he’s working on the fit, hence the “top hat” spacers, but other than that, this bike is dialed!

Oh and I love the green! It matches the mountains of Los Angeles right now.

Usually by the second day on a trip like the Rally Aysén Patagonia, your legs begin to feel all the climbing and hiking. For me, my back pain from carrying camera gear almost always adds to the pain. Not even the previous two day’s beauty, or the loud and obnoxious birds, nor the mooing cows could persuade me into leaving my tent. Needless to say, my usual rise-and-shining at 5:30am was pushed back a few hours on the morning of day 03.