Heading South on the California Coast with the New Scott Addict

20 April 2026

By Brennan Wertz

It’s been a great winter of preparing for the season to come. I’ve been at home in Northern California for the most part, and the excitement for the upcoming season has been building with each passing week. One of the biggest highlights this winter was receiving and building up the all-new SCOTT Addict. This bike is one I have been extremely excited about ever since learning about it ahead of the launch last year. As soon as I first saw a pre-production sample, my eyes lit up and I immediately thought of all the adventures I wanted to take this bike on.

The Allroad Experience

I love long adventure rides that are predominately paved, but also include the occasional dirt connector, bit of singletrack, or logging road. This allroad style of riding is my absolute favorite way to train and experience the world by bike. It combines the best of all worlds and is a great way to cover large swaths of ground while staying constantly engaged and excited by the terrain.

Brennan Wertz cornering at speed on a SCOTT Addict 10 road bike, wearing a white helmet and black kit, riding a shaded, tree-lined road.

The Annual Coast Ride

Every year in the winter I get together with a few friends and local training buddies and we ride down the California coast on Highway 1 for our annual ‘Coast Ride’. The days are long, the scenery is incredible, and the training stimulus is ideal for this base training period. This year our group was comprised of Ted King, Bradyn Lange, Anthony Palicci, myself, and our good friend and trusty photographer Jim Merithew, who drove sag and documented the whole trip. We also had numerous cameos from other local pros and friends as we passed through their respective locales.

A New Route South

This year, our group was a bit smaller than years past, and a bit more adventurous. Seeking a new challenge and with a desire for uncharted territory, we decided to change up the route a bit and add some new dirt sectors to the route, which historically has always been Highway 1 almost exclusively. We set out from Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco and rode all the way to Los Angeles over the course of five massive days.

Conditions: Glorious

Each day featured unseasonably warm weather, making for glorious days on the bike. The hours ticked by each day with ease as we enjoyed the beautiful coastal views, sinuous backroads, and the occasional dirt sector.

Brennan Wertz riding with a group of friends on a coastal road near the Golden Gate Bridge, alongside a portrait of him standing with his SCOTT Addict 10 road bike on a quiet neighborhood street.

Day 1: Golden Gate to Monterey

Day one took us over the Golden Gate Bridge, along the westernmost edge of San Francisco, through Pacifica and Santa Cruz before arriving in Monterey for the night.

Brennan Wertz riding a SCOTT Addict 10 on a dirt road through wooded terrain, alongside a distant view of him and three other riders descending a winding mountain road.

Day 2: Inland Through Big Sur

Day 2 was by far the least ‘coastal’ day of the Coast Ride as we spent a considerable portion of the day riding through remote inland valleys to the east of Big Sur. We had planned this route before Highway 1 had reopened through Big Sur and were all quite keen to check it out. Even though Highway 1 reopened just before we departed, we opted to stick to this option for day 2 and were all very glad we did!

We started with a long gradual climb heading east out of Monterey up Carmel Valley. After cresting the first pass of the day, we descended into the Salinas Valley to King City. From there we rode through the Fort Hunter Ligget Army Base to Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. This narrow, remote road brought us up to the ridgeline above the Coast Line in Big Sur, followed by a ripping fast descent with some of the best views of the California Coast. We rolled along the coast for the last hour before arriving in Ragged Point, where we spent the second night.

Close-up of mini muffins in a plastic container, alongside Brennan Wertz in cycling kit browsing snacks in a convenience store aisle.

Day 3: Fast Miles and Tailwinds

The third day was the flattest of the whole trip, and fortunately we were treated to some stiff tailwinds later in the day. We departed from Ragged Point in the morning and made our way out of Big Sur and back into civilization. We passed through San Luis Obispo before entering the flat and very windy Santa Maria Valley. We ripped this long, windy valley section before entering the Los Olivos wine region. We stopped in the town of Los Olivos to meet a friend of Ted’s who owns a winery to taste some local wines before rolling into our hotel in the neighboring town of Solvang.

Brennan Wertz standing with his SCOTT Addict 10 on a sunlit dirt road, alongside a shot of him riding the bike through rolling hills on a gravel road.

Day 4: Dirt and Ridgelines

On the fourth day, we faced the longest sections of dirt, venturing well off the beaten path as we made our way into Santa Barbara. We rolled out from Solvang and climbed up Refugio Road, which is more of a dirt single/doubletrack than a road. Upon reaching the top, we turned onto West Camino Cielo, a rugged ridgeline road that was part pavement and part chunky gravel. We rode this ridgeline for over 50km, enjoying the wide open, panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Barbara in the distance. We then raced down Gibraltar Road into Santa Barbara before a mellow cruise along the ocean into Ventura.

Brennan Wertz riding a SCOTT Addict 10 alongside friend and fellow SCOTT ambassador Alex Colorito on a sunlit road climb, paired with a close-up of Alex smiling in a white SCOTT helmet and mirrored sunglasses.

Day 5: Malibu to the Mountains

The fifth and final day started calmly, with many kilometers of flat coastal roads as we made our way into Malibu. After a quick coffee stop in Malibu, we climbed into the legendary Santa Monica Mountains. We linked up with good friend, fellow SCOTT Ambassador, and local Los Angeles rider Alex Colorito. Alex showed us a wonderful sampling of the many amazing climbs and descents this area has to offer. We finished the day in Calabasas where we all enjoyed a nice final meal together before heading our separate ways and returning north.

A Ride to Remember

The 2026 Coast Ride was a truly unforgettable trip and a great way to kick the winter training into high gear. It was also the perfect way to get acquainted with this incredible new bike. After logging many hours on this new SCOTT Addict, I’m already itching for the next big adventure.

Brennan Wertz standing in a doorway of a rustic log cabin in cycling kit, with his SCOTT Addict 10 leaned against the cabin wall alongside a detailed side view of the bike.

Bike Check

My personal SCOTT Addict is the Addict 10 model, with a few purposeful changed to better fit my riding style, my rather extreme proportions, and my other personal sponsors. This particular build features a set of Enve SES 4.5 wheels wrapped in fast-rolling Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass Endurance 35mm tires with OrangeSeal inside, many CeramicSpeed upgrades, a Shimano Ultegra Di2 2x groupset with 54/40t chainrings on the SRM Origin power meter, a two piece alloy cockpit to help me get my fit dialed, and a Form Cycling Throne RS Carbon saddle. From a distance, the bike very closely resembles my svelte and racy Addict RC, but as you get closer you see that while it shares its DNA with the Addict RC, it’s a build optimized for adventure and long days on new roads.

Three images showing the Addict 10's hidden storage options such as a frame-stowed Save-The-Day Kit that unpacks to rescue you with a tube, tire lever, and mini-pump. On the right is an image showing the bar ends with a T25 and 6mm tool combo in the left bar end and a double ended DynaPlug Covert Drop in the right bar end.

HIdden Features

One of my favorite features of this bike isn’t even visible to the naked eye – it’s all the hidden, tidy storage options it provides. Underneath the downtube, just above the bottom bracket there is a small ‘trap door’ of sorts. Underneath said door is a fairly cavernous compartment with a built-in removable sleeve that holds a spare tube, pump, tire levers, and a few patches. On the bar ends I have additional hidden tools, with a T25 and 6mm tool combo in the left bar end and a double ended DynaPlug Covert Drop in the right bar end. Beneath the Arundel Mandible bottle cage on the seattube, I have a dual Co2 holder that provides easy, quick access to the Co2 canisters. This all means I don’t need a saddle bag, yet still have all the spares I need for these big adventure rides in areas where I am sure to not find much outside support.

One Bike, No Limits

This bike is a true do-anything, go-anywhere road bike and is built for those rides that don’t necessarily fit in any particular box. The Addict is equally at home on high-speed tarmac and in fast paceline rotations as it is on those off-the-beaten-path backroads with somewhat questionable road conditions. This bike is all about going further and not being limited to any specific terrain.