BicycleSPACE, one of D.C.’s local bike shops, has done an excellent job of building community through their group rides. Felkerino and I have attended a few of their evening social rides in the past and, while they were literally not my speed in terms of the pace with which they meandered through town, they were a fun way to meet other local bike riders and D.C. residents.

With our “big ride” of the summer complete, Felkerino and I decided that this last Saturday would be perfect to check out one of BicycleSPACE’s weekend rides. We rolled over to the shop to join the Cupcake Ramble, which is billed as a ride between 20 and 25 miles.

This past weekend was a bit on the dreary side so we made for a rather small Cupcake Ramble crew. Five people participated: Erik, Michael, Felkerino, and the ride leader, Sol. Our ride took us around through Arlington, up a fierce little hill Sol found especially for us, and back into the city– a total loop of about 20 miles.

The sun never shone and the rain fell in places. Even so, it was a good day to ride. Rainy gray days always seem to quiet the roads on weekends which made for a pleasant riding once we exited D.C.’s city center.

While the route was not anything epic, the Cupcake Ramble offers something very special to those who do it.

Sol, who I mentioned is the ride leader, is also a professional pastry chef and always brings a treat to share with the group. For our ride he had prepared a lovely coffee cake that he drizzled with his locally produced honey. And when I say local, I mean his back yard.

At about the midway point of our loop, our group paused to set up shop at a covered picnic table and break bread (i.e., coffee cake) together. We sat, chatted, talked bike rides, checked out each other’s bikes, listened to a few raindrops fall, and chewed on coffee cake.

How many rides have I been on where somebody made me coffee cake? One!

The Cupcake Ramble ended up being a fun way to spend a Saturday. Thanks so much to Sol for leading the ride and treating us to the delightful nosh. Also, thanks to BicycleSPACE for coordinating, and for making rides like these happen in our area.

Want to see more pics of the Cupcake Ramble? See the full set here.