Red Canoe: A Rare Saturday Coffee Ride

This Ride: 48 miles
Month: 155 miles
2011: 6,697.1 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 12816.8 miles

Lori went in to work this morning which was a perfect excuse for a ride. Clint texted me last night asking if I wanted to go to the Red Canoe, a coffee shop/bookstore in northern Baltimore, and I jumped at the chance. We were able to enlist two others, making it four of us pushing off from the Rusty Bridge at 7:30 am to negotiate the awful streets and traffic of Baltimore on a Saturday morning. I decided to ride the fixie.  It was cool (38°F) and clear with all the color of autumn in our neck of the woods.

The trip into Baltimore was uneventful.  We negotiated potholes, dangerous storm drain grates, traffic, and some shady sections of town without incident and arrived at the Red Canoe shortly after 9:00 am.  We were very warmly greeted by the owner, who was excited to have us come all the way from Severna Park.  Clint had called ahead to let her know we were coming, and she had informed other riders she knew that we were making the trip.

The Red Canoe is well known for it’s marvelous muffins and great small batch roasted coffee.  I had a honey drizzled pumpkin muffin served on a red plate and a nice cup of coffee served in a red mug.  The shop was constantly busy.  We sat in the room with the fireplace.  I’m glad I don’t live in this neighborhood.  I might be at the shop all the time.

All too soon it was time to push off again.  We dealt with the inevitable chill that comes from being slightly damp in a warm cozy building and then climbing on bikes in the chill of the air.  We negotiated our way to Lake Montebello and then back to the busy streets of Baltimore.  That’s when disaster hit for me.

My right cleat was giving me trouble because it was very worn and needing to be replaced.  I forgot to pick up some new cleats when I was at the bike shop yesterday, and decided to push on thinking the cleats would last at least one more ride.  I went to clip in after stopping for a traffic light, and the cleat did not lock into the pedal.  As I put weight on that pedal and stood up, my foot slipped out and my momentum caused me to fall onto my right side in a heap in the intersection.  It was not a pretty sight.  I laid there for a moment, assessing the damage and the pain.  I tried to get up and simply fell back down.  I waited for another few moments as someone moved my bike out of the street, then helped me up.  Clint started asking questions about concussion symptoms even before I got sat down on some convenient steps.  My helmet does have some scrapes.  My right elbow and right knee have a bad case of road rash.  My right ribs are sore … I think my side landed on my arm bruising some ribs.  I sat for about a minute or two, trying to decide whether or not I could continue the ride, then as the pain subsided, climbed back on the bike for the 20 mile trip home.

This hurts as bad as it looks

As we moved into Baltimore, we decided to stop by Light Street Cycles, and while there, I bought new cleats and attached a new right cleat.  Problem solved.

The trip back home was painful.  The fixie doesn’t absorb much on rough pavement, and every bounce and jiggle sent pain into my chest and elbow.  There were no other incidents along the way.  I arrived home around 11:40 and immediately climbed into the shower for the heat and to clean my wounds.

Except for this one part, this was a great ride.  All told, it was about 48 miles and a good workout for me on the fixie.  I do notice on these longer fixie rides that my legs feel the aftermath of the ride in a way that doesn’t happen on the other bike unless I do twice the distance.

Lesson Learned: Replace cleats when worn.