Low 40s this morning, so for the first time this year I wore shorts to work. A little nippy, but adversity is good for the soul. Serious headwinds downtown, 35 mph gusts all day.

Had a unique experience at work today: a customer asked if I'd be willing to sell my bike. I keep it parked right out front of the restaurant, which is glass fronted, so that my co-workers can see it and, theoretically, tell me is someone if messing with it; it's also in full sight of the customers. I've been sucked into conversations with customers before about my bikes, but never had someone wanting to buy one off of me.

I didn't get to talk to the guy personally (it was lunch rush and I was slammed), but he asked his server if she thought I'd sell, and she, knowing me pretty well, was skeptical of the idea. She said that she was pretty sure that I'd built the bike, and the dude's dining companion said "why don't you just build the same bike" (which was my initial response when the server told me all of this), and the dude responded that he wanted "that bike" and was willing to "go ridiculously high" on the purchase price, and left his phone number.

I love my bikes, and had never considered selling any of them. I had planned to ride this bike until it broke, because after over a decade of bike commuting, I've got a really good idea of what I want out of a bike, and this one meets all of my criteria, plus is a fun, smooth, good looking ride. But if this guy is willing to go "ridiculously high" on the price, depending on how high "ridiculously high" is, I might be able to recomp the time spend building and tuning the bike, the emotional investment that I have in the bike, and end up with plenty of money to buy an equal replacement and then some.

On the other hand, I like the bike, I worked hard to earn the money to buy every piece of the that bike, spent my own time putting it together and dialing it in, and I really enjoy riding it. I kind of resent the idea of some money'd up d-bag (which I kind of am myself, but I grew up poor and those attitudes stay with you) taking this thing that I made for me and love, in exchange for a stack of cash. I have a job, and it isn't building bikes. Tinkering with bikes is my hobby, and riding them a passion, and while I greatly encourage everyone to give these amazing machines a try, I do think that you need to go get your own. This bike is mine.

I see moose all the time, they're ubiquitous in Alaska, even in Anchorage. I just rarely/never see them so close.