I woke up this morning in Baltimore, in a giant bed in a slightly run down but bargain basement hotel, and my first thought was about riding a bike. I’ve been staring at googleymaps of bike routes for months now, and I’m finally here–time to ride some roads. I had to wait until 11:00am for the bike shop to open, and I was there at 10:57, waiting. The shop had a wall of Surlys and another wall of my current fantasy bike, the Brompton, and a whole bunch of bike people. The set me up with a 3-speed Jamis Commuter and a bike map and I was on my way. A couple blocks in and I knew I was going to fit right in. Yes, there are hills, but uphills mean downhills, and my Surly has a zillion gears. I like learning new things, and I’m excited to learn how to have different conversations with my bicycle. Three miles of riding and I’d been through blocks of boarded-up row houses and mansions. I brought my bike into my new apartment building in Charles Village and got a ride from my welcoming committee out to the new office for an afternoon of paperwork-signing, office furniture-ordering, and project-planning. Oh, I got just the right job for me, and yes, I will figure out how to ride my bike out there. I spent my evening on the back deck of my new neighbors as K. cooked dinner and we waited for the rain to come. Nice view, eh? The rains were torrential, so I took a cab ride back to the hotel, happy to have another week of bike rides in Baltimore. But I’m also glad I get another month in New Orleans. I’m a lucky, lucky girl, blessed with bikes to ride and new cities to ride them in.