Clutching a copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Mark’s “dorking out’’ by underlining timeless passages. It’s Monday and he’s playing hooky from lawyering. It was a big weekend down in Austin at a wedding, and then last night he drank his face off at the staff party at Hodges Bend across the street that’s downstairs from where he lives and where my bike is parked.

The owner of this craft cocktail bar happens to pass by and Mark pulls him in. He owns Hodges and and a tiki bar called Saturn Room, where he invites me for a tropical drink before excusing himself.

Mark and I begin to chat and he explains why he, a native Okie, likes it here.

“It’s exciting to be in a city that’s in the building phase rather than already built out. To be part of that building is really energizing.”

He then throws out a line that I will repeat to many others: “Tulsa is like the younger brother of Austin that no one knows about.”

Opportunity knocks

In addition to the good chemistry I have with Tulsans, business opportunity abounds and support is strong. Tulsa ranks among the top U.S. cities for startups.

My first host Cathy has house guests coming the next two nights, so I Airbnb it at Margot’s place. Margot is an attractive young yoga instructor who is well-known in the community. Cathy knows her because she taught Margot kindergarten! Cathy first drives me to Lee’s Bicycles to pick up the flat-fixed bike, and then leaves me with Margot who will be out the rest of the day. I stay home with Patrick Swayze, the sweetest dog in the Midwest whose happiness depends on constant hugs. I can’t bare to leave him home alone.

That night Margot returns and we stay up late chatting. She shows me business plans to open up her own yoga studio.

“I’m 25 and I have no idea what I’m doing,” she laughs, pointing to floor plans and spreadsheets scattered across the dining table. Bite marks scour her pencil. Her yoga studio inside a renovated historic building will have rooftop space. A rooftop!

I can’t help crunch numbers or measurements, but I reassure her that she’s going to succeed because she’s already proven herself in the field and is following a passion.

Her two friends, also in their 20s, opened a boutique bakery in the heart of the Brady Arts District. If they can do it, why can’t I? Not a bakery or exercise studio, but something else. A chance to create something, and as a result look forward to waking up each day like I did when on the road.

I’ve already done the improbable—bike commute across the country (update: 55 miles from the Pacific Ocean). Maybe Tulsa will give me the hospitable new beginning I was searching for when I left New York where jobs didn’t lead to anything except stress and disappointment.