Today I test rode the bike Tomas commissioned me to build for our touring trip of Hokkaido in late May. I may never ride again; after all, when an artist reaches perfection where else can they go?

I was truly astounded at how nicely it rides on the bitumen, stiff but supple. And the Rohloff seems to be silent, quieter than mine and mine has done somewhere near 15,000 km!!  I could ride this thing forever (minus the rock hard sofa sized Brooks though!).

So here's the result of three packages of parts from around the world and four hours of labour in my garage.

Still to come is the silver Middleburn chainring, and of course once Tom gets to it the saddle will be at full grown human height. Other than that she's ready to climb the mountains, chase the bears, take in the coastline and eat up the miles in Hokkaido.