Amy, where and how far do you plan on riding? All the way up Diablo, Hamilton, Tam? Big mountains? Long miles? Northern California (except in the Central Valley) is not easy riding.

I have triples on all my bikes. My 26 chainring x 32 cassette is really nice on those 17-22% grades. If you have healthy knees, low fat percentage, and a strong climbing ability, a compact might be fine, but I personally couldn't do it as I'm older, not so lean and have had 4 knee ops.

Have you read up on gears and used the gear calculator on www.sheldonbrown.com? You can figure out the gear inches of your current bike and then enter the gearing you're thinking about. You will understand the entire argument around doubles and triples better if you understand gear inches.