We built up Steph (who happens to help crust with financial maters) a really nice Atlantic Salmon Disc Romeo. Lets have her take over:

i do not claim to be a bike nerd, but i have ridden bikes for over fifty years which puts me at the unfortunate (or fortunate) upper end of the age spectrum. nonetheless, i have always believed that the most important part on a bike is the attitude of the rider (aka me.) as my cycling career has advanced over the years, there has been a lot of kicking and screaming through this process of developing and honing my mindset to feel confident, steady, adventurous and brave through the process of climbing hills trailing behind much more confident and physically fit riders.

and until now, i have been doing this on the wrong bike. not that any of my former bikes were absolutely terrible because they weren’t. i loved my little titanium speed racer bike that took me from Seattle to Portland, narrowly escaping a pit bull who ran into the road intersecting the path of a large group of riders along a busy four lane highway. i loved my city bike with the wraparound bars and basket that brought me from my house to my bakery every day, and inspired a summer of picnics and naps in those brief moments where it is sunny in Seattle. even more, i loved its successor, a Soma, mostly because that company was based in San Francisco where i left my heart. that very same Soma carried me from the city by the bay to Los Angeles some eight years ago on a trip that tested every angle of my character.

but you don’t want to know about the bikes i used to have, you want to know about the bike in the picture, my new favorite bike. i don’t claim to know any of the technical specifics of any of the components that make up my new bike. for that, i am lucky enough to have a personal bicycle concierge, my husband jdg, who curated and built this piece of art. in exchange, i simply have to provide him (and me) with amazingly creative and fun meals, some bread and farm fresh produce (he cooks too by the way.)

i do know that my new bike is larger than all of my previous bikes. at first, we were worried that it would not fit. BUT, it is actually better sized up. i think what john said is i am in a more natural position, i am in the bike not just on the bike. i simply feel more powerful, which is important especially if you are working on your confidence. assertive is the nicer way of saying aggressive though.

…and the looks. in the years i spent owning a bakery, ten of them i was surrounded by the color pink. at one point, my hair was also pink. when i closed that chapter, the last thing i imagined was owning another thing that was pink. technically, this bike is salmon, which brings in a little orange. thankfully, the color is not like those shorts they wear in connecticut. (ed. zing!)

i am leaning into the pinkness of the bike. it feels happy, girly and fun all at the same time. the bar tape is slick and clean and white and pearly, which i like. my first boyfriend gave me a string of pearls for my birthday. they were not real. jdg likes a more tacky bar tape because he says it helps his hands from falling off the bike and yet my hands have never fallen off the bike with slippery bar tape. i much prefer being able to lightly hold the handlebars and allow my hands to glide along them as i make adjustments to my steering and position. i move around a lot when riding, especially when i descend. i always take a moment to do a few yoga moves on the ride. well, not like triangle pose, but you get my gist.

i did have a moment in my cycling career where i clipped in. i also wore the shorts with the maxi pad in the crotch for a minute. these were two of the things i thought i was supposed to do to be a better cyclist. i never really did notice the benefits and much prefer the ability to move my feet around to different positions on the pedals. i like the feedback i get from allowing my feet to also be part of the dynamic act of balancing that is key to cycling mechanics. jdg just told me they still do not know why a bike balances which i believe! my preferred cycling shoe is anything converse. again, i like the control and feedback from being close to the pedal. and close to the seat if you know what i mean.

when i got my first “fancy bike” (the titanium bike), it came from a bike polo dude so it had a brake lever i could squeeze from the top of my handlebars. technically this is called a brake interrupter. i guess the brakes on the hoods are fine, but with the interrupter, it feels like i have a lot more control in those final moments when i’m trying to look cool by being able to sit upright while casually coasting to a stop and everybody at the brewery are watching. Also, the kickstand is also key. i don’t care how much it weighs.

building my confidence on gravel is something that will continue to be my practice. this time we added larger 2.25″ tires on this new pink (well, salmon) bike, and for i think this helps and feels really stable. i rode down the 1/4 mile hectic Appalachian gravel driveway yesterday while it was very muddy and especially soft and didn’t waver once. what a change!

to finish off the look of the bike, i went back to my favorite wicker fisherman’s basket which ran me $1.25 from goodwill several years ago. i think the rack which secures it to the frame cost way more, but i like that too. is it fisher person’s basket now? anyhow, i also felt flowers made perfect sense, part of the cheer, and part of letting go of the hangups of appearing too girlish in order to fit into the cycling community. i’m over 50, who the hell cares? i am a very complex person, and my feminine side is just one aspect of who i am. we are all complex by the way, and just one snapshot doesn’t even come close to telling the whole story.

you reading this could zoom in and see all of the snazzy things that make up my new favorite bike. i know y’all are nerds about that sort of stuff so have at it.

Full Gallery:

Build List:
Frame: Crust Disc Romanceür 55cm
Handlebars: Crust Nullar 48cm
Wheels: Crust Disc 650b
Stem: Nitto Pearl
Rack: Crust Rack V2 (sorry don’t know when we’re making this one again)
Brake Levers: Shimano 600
Shifter: Microshift 12 Speed Bar End for SRAM Eagle
Derailleur: SRAM NX Eagle
Cassette: 9-50t some off brand, i forget
Saddle: Rivet
Seatpost: Velo Orange Grand Cru
Tires: Schwalbe Thunder Burts 2.25
Bartape: Vintage Bubble Gum from eBay
Crank: Parts Bin Special
Pedals: Nice Ol Big Platforms

Stephanie is over at @spiceholler and http://www.stephaniecrocker.com