My new (to me) bike!

One of the things I've been wanting to do since moving to Baltimore is buy a bike. I want to be able to ride to work. I want to be able to ride on the nearby trails. I want to be able to dodge through crazy Baltimore traffic. (Okay, maybe not that one.)

My friend Rachel visited me last week on her way to Florida. She's an avid biker, and so we had a conversation about bikes. She asked me, "What's your budget?" I said, "I don't really know. $200?" I'm glad she didn't laugh, because it was obvious I've never bought (or seriously shopped for) a bike before. While she was here, we went to a nearby bike shop and started the bike shopping process. (That's when I learned that, no, actually $200 won't get you very far in the new bike market.) We also started looking at Craigslist.

I emailed about a couple of the bikes we found on Craigslist. They had all been sold. I kept looking. I'd check about once a day for new bike postings, email whenever I found one that looked decent, and I always got the reply, "Sorry, I just sold it." Turns out if you post a decent bike on Craigslist for a reasonable price, it will sell FAST. Seriously, I'd sometimes email people within 24 hours of their posting of the ad, and the bike was already gone.

So I started checking more frequently. And I broadened my horizons. Instead of just the Baltimore Craiglist, I included a search in the Washington, D.C. Craigslist too. Today I found a listing for a nice bike on the DC list, for a REALLY great price. I emailed her within about 2 or 3 hours of the ad posting, and set up an appointment to check out the bike tonight.

She was in Gaithersburg, MD, which is about an hour from Baltimore. Fortunately traffic was relatively light, for a Friday evening. (And I got to drive by the beautiful Washington, D.C. temple, which makes a spectacular appearance as you're driving on the beltway.) And success! The bike seems like it'll be a great fit for me. It's a hybrid bike, which is a cross between a road bike and a mountain bike, able to be ridden on paved roads and unpaved trails. It's blue. Both wheels are quick release. (Which is especially good since I don't have a bike rack; I can take the front wheel off easily and fit it in my back seat.) The seat is easy to adjust, and it is well padded and in great condition. No rust on the chains, and only a few scratches on the body. She mentioned that she'd gotten two more emails about the bike this afternoon. Good thing I jumped on it! I bought the bike. I'm really excited about it!

AND! I came in way below my original, though ignorant, $200 budget. Woo!

I'll take it out for a spin this weekend so we can get to know each other a bit better.

Now I just need a name for it. I'm open to suggestions.