Bonaparte’s in Fell’s Point

What better way to spend “Black Friday” than a breakfast ride?  This time, we chose Bonaparte’s in Fell’s Point.

Our plan was to push off at 6:30 am from the Rusty Bridge with an estimated travel time of 90 minutes into Baltimore to the French bakery.  We had seven to nine riders along our route, depending on where we were.  Seven made the whole trip.  Two of our usual riders were absent due to injury.  Turkey Day Touch Football can be hard on those of us north of 50.  It was a very chilly start, right at or just below freezing, depending on whose thermometer you trust.  I opted for regular cycling shoes with shoe covers and a hand warmer between the shoe cover and the shoe.  My feet never felt cold.

We had a nice, easy ride into Baltimore.  Traffic was light.  I was disappointed that I was the only one on a fixie.  Hey, this is Fixie Friday and urban riding!  It deserved a fixie.  We rode some of the cobblestones in Fells Point, which is always a challenge, and made it to the bakery just as it opened.  Perfect timing!

Hard to choose what to eat!

The decor of Bonaparte’s is old French.  The baked goods were tasty.  The coffee was lukewarm and bitter.  Some had tepid “hot chocolate”.  We sat and shivered (shouldn’t the word “shiver” have at least one set of doubled letters?)  having been much warmer on the bikes than we were in the shop, so there was no resistance in getting back on the bikes to head back home.

Our return trip was a little more event-filled.

We chose to take a route back along the waterfront as much as we could.  This meant many changes of surfaces (cobblestone, brick, concrete, asphalt, wood, etc) and may sharp turns, slow speeds, and at least one 4 inch “curb” where Chip took a spill.  Later, Marcus got a wheel stuck in a concrete gap and nearly fell when his front tire stopped immediately.  He handled it all.  We stopped at Light Street Cycles just as Penny pulled up to the shop and we stopped to chat until the shivering took hold again.

There was a stretch of road that played havoc with my fixie.  It was a downhill with very rough and potholed pavement.  Let me tell you that it is no fun going 20+ mph on a fixie that is in the air half the time because of rough roads.  I’m thankful I stayed mounted.

It was fun watching Marcus.  He was bunny hopping everything he could (he is an 11 year old cyclocross rider).  You never quite knew where he was going to be.

On the return trip, we quickly shed clothing.  Temperatures climbed into the low 50’s, and the gloves, hats, vests, etc. that were appropriate at freezing were way too much for 50 and sun.

This was a beautiful fall day for a ride.  Now to get busy and do some work.

This Ride: 42 miles
Month: 438.2 miles
2012: 5,413.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 19,267.2 miles