Lauren has a bike!

After months of figuring out exactly what bicycle I would take on our adventure, it is here, and it is dreamy!  We decided to purchase a bike built by a small German company called Tout Terrain, which makes super burly, beautiful bicycle frames that have an integrated rear rack. "The Silkroad" is built specifically to incorporate a Schmidt dynamo hub and a Rohloff internal hub. If you want a bicycle built with these components in the United States, you have to go through a custom builder, which would have taken more time than I had, and a little more money. I started speaking with Tout Terrain two months ago, and couldn't be more thrilled with the company.

We went and picked the bike up at our local bike shop, Flanders Bicycle (one of our incredible sponsors),  and immediately went to the Bike Kitchen to start putting the lady together.   

At the moment, my little bike is a glorified "Scuut" with a Chris King headset. The bike should look like a bicycle by the end of this weekend. John Cutter, the custom builder of Brant's bicycle, is making my handlebars and front rack. And my brother Ethan (who graciously gifted me the rest of my bicycle's bells and whistles) has just mailed me the rest of the necessary pieces. 

Basically, I am a happy, thankful woman, with a bicycle to ride till I am an old lady.