The high winds and torrential rains of a typical late Victoria fall have hit. The cruise ships are still arriving - a few a week -- but the Inner Harbour streets have only a smattering of tourists, wrapped in gortex and struggling with umbrellas.

I am back at my desk in my office, now,  seven to eight hours a day. I try to ride my bike to work - if the weather is good enough. Or I try to zip up to the  Y on my lunch hour for a 50 minute spin class on stationary bikes, at least three times a week.  But these days it seems I often don't get there - telephone calls, a pressing deadline or some other work-related task keeps me at my desk.

I am determined not to let the fitness I built over the summer ebb too drastically and vow to make regular trips to the gym. But somehow I know it will  and must -- ebb. I simply can't devote six to eight hours, three times a week, being so active. And I miss that about pedicabbing.

Would I spend a summer doing it again? That question is often asked of me in the past few weeks.

Yes - most definitely. I loved the freedom. I loved the fresh air and the interaction with people. I loved feeling strong and healthy. I loved feeling my metabolism burning like a well-stoked fire. In fact the whole summer made me feel the way I felt as a teenager at summer camp. Here, just shy of my 50th birthday, I didn't think I would ever feel that way again. And that was one of the best gifts of the summer.

These days almost all the pedicabs are off the street. The barn is locked up tight. But Chico, who has been driving a pedicab for 13 years now, has a key. He leases his pedicab on a yearly basis. And when the sun is shinng this winter  he will come down to the barn, let himself in and take out his cab onto the streets. Sometimes he is the only one. But he does it year in and year out.

"It is a great way to spend a day. How could you not love it? You bring joy to people," he says.

And on that I would concur: at least it brought joy to me. And I hope on some days I brought joy to those I gave a ride.

Good bye pedicabbing --- at least for now. It was fun. And who knows, I may be back.