A Little About Me & Why I’m starting OMWO

My name is Aaron Delani, I’m an outdoor and cycling enthusiast. I recently moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 2024, and I love it here. The city has a kind of charm you’d normally associate with a very cute crab. One of the things I love about the city are the people, the bikes, and the communities. I’ve lived here for two years and have not had to drive for the most part, you'll normally catch me riding around on my bike.

The first job I acquired was working for one of the largest bicycle franchises in the USA. In the past year, four bike shops in Baltimore, including the one I worked for, had closed down. Most of these shops were rumored to have closed because of the rising cost of rent on their retail spaces. This was a huge blow to the cycling community in Baltimore. The city had six bicycle shops, down to two in one year. There are at least seven thousand bicycle commuters, a very conservative estimate, and they only have two shops left to go to. I want to change that.

I want to open a bike and outdoor gear retail store in the Waverly neighborhood, and hopefully open up a few more around the city within the next ten years. I want this first shop to be something Baltimoreans can be proud of. A place to have a bike serviced, and a place to go to on their way outside.

OMWO Mission

“On My Way Outside” or OMWO is a place where bicyclists and outdoor enthusiasts of any level would feel welcome. I would love the opportunity to get more people on bikes and outdoors… In nature or the city, everyone should feel empowered and equipped to go on adventures and live life with one less car.

I want to be able to employ like minded people, who are for equality, nature, adventure, community, and against fascist, racists, and people with outdated ideologies. I also want to be able to pay a living wage, and be able to create equity in our community.

I have really high hopes for this, though everything it takes to make this possible feels so daunting.

I’ll be using this blog as a place where you can get updates in a longer form about what’s going on with OMWO. I guess, for now, this is it.

I hope you’ll join me on this adventure.

Special thanks to Brian for the photo ♥.