Soon, Aaron and I Will Be Biking the Paths and Parks of Southern California

So many of our clients, friends, and acquaintances bike, including for pleasure, exercise, and/or commuting to work, and we had grown so accustomed to seeing people on their bikes all the time out here given the near year-round perfect weather, Aaron and I decided that one of these days we were going to visit a nearby bike store in Costa Mesa, California.  Yesterday, we finally checked this off our task list and we’re so happy that we did.

First, the backstory: the past week at Kennon-Green & Co. has been intense.  We’ve been getting a lot done.  The firm is growing rapidly.  I’ve been working on a new private client letter that I want to send out sooner rather than later.  The portfolios are doing great (as value investors, a little too great over the short-term for our taste – the increase in quoted market value over the past six months has been fairly incredible on the equity side.  Yes, there are still assets we are buying and that we believe are attractive but it’s much more difficult than it was when I sent a letter out on Christmas Eve telling people we might deploy significant amounts of money with ease if they wanted to deposit it into their accounts).  We’re racing to get as much accomplished as we can before we become parents (I’ll try and post an update on that at some point in the future but the short version: the agency with which we are working is now actively searching for the women who will be carrying the babies as part of our gestational surrogacy journey.  This means there is a near 100% probability that, present known factors considered when considering their typical matching timelines and the medical process itself, we have two babies by Christmas next year.  To say we are happy, and excited, is an understatement.)

By the time the afternoon rolled around, we realized we hadn’t eaten lunch so we combined lunch and dinner into a single, late meal, grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant called Babette’s in Crystal Cove between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.  It has one of the best atmospheres of any place we’ve ever visited – you are across the street from the water, the breeze blows through the open doors … at a certain time of day, and a certain type of sunlight, it’s magical.  We first ate there on a whim back in the autumn and knew it’d be a place to which we would likely return.

After we finished, we decided to run some other errands and work late, instead.  I needed to reset my mind and knew that once I hunkered back down at my desk, I probably wouldn’t be getting up for awhile.  One of those errands was going to down the street to Costa Mesa and visiting a well-reviewed bicycle shop called Two Wheels One Planet.  Aaron had been doing some research in his personal time and they carried a line of bikes he wanted us to try.

The store was amazing and the staff was knowledgeable and helpful.  The person who assisted us was fantastic – you could tell he really cared about bikes and explaining why one bike might be better under certain circumstances than another as he wanted people to enjoy cycling.  We tested out a couple of models in the parking lot and it was like being a kid, again.

When all was said and done, we ended up deciding to go with a matching set of Trek Dual Sport 2 bikes, in black, because they felt great, seemed like a natural fit (we really like how light they were), were a type of bike known as a “hybrid”, which fits our needs for now, and … also … if I’m being completely real here …

… they kind of reminded us of the bike Do Min Joon rode in the Korean drama 별에서 온 그대.  Obviously, it’s not a perfect match but the similarities probably caused a halo effect.

I am thrilled we decided to do this.  I am also grateful to those of you who have, at various times, extolled the virtues of bike riding to us, planting the seeds for us to even considering doing this.  Thank you for sharing your passion about it with us!  It made a difference and contributed, both consciously and I’m sure subconsciously, to us being willing to give it a try!  I think it’s going to be an amazing addition to our lives.  I am looking forward to setting up playlists on my iPhone and biking a few miles while I think in the mornings or evenings; to enjoy the quiet as I look out water or mountains, thinking about whatever company I’m considering buying at that moment.