October 13, 2007
BBQ and Cupcakes :: A Saturday Bike Ride
A couple of weeks ago, I read a City Pages food review by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl about two Saturday only food events - cupcakes by Sheela Namakkal sold at LetterBox in Uptown and barbeque by Big Daddy's sold out of a parking lot in St. Paul at University and Dale. My mouth watered with hunger when reading this review and it inspired me to devise a Saturday Bike Ride with friends to visit these two locales. I sent out an email to see if there was interest. Christopher replied back that the cupcakes would not be available this weekend for some unexplained reason. After a momentary panic, I regrouped and rerouted the trip to make a stop at Cupcake on University Ave (near campus). With the two destinations confirmed, I set about planning the best bicycling route (click here to see the original route).
Saturday turned out to be the most gorgeous Saturday in a long while. It was cool but not cold, no wind, and sunny skies. I decided to ride Yuko (B'stone Eurasia) for this outing. The trip began at noon with two Greenway pick-up stops on Park Ave South (Mike/Kurt) and 18th Ave South (Christopher, Liesl, Erin, Ephraim, and Shannon). Shortly after starting our ride, it was decided that we needed to make a detour to pick up some beverages to help wash down the BBQ. All agreed. We made our way to Cupcake and met up with HW who could not do the full ride because of taiko rehearsal. After sating our appetites, we altered the course to swing by a liquor store and then to Big Daddy's for barbeque.
Liesl, Christopher, and me with our bicycles
Big Daddy's Flintstone Beef Ribs, Pork Ribs, and Pork Rib Tips
Our eyes were much larger than our stomachs. For some reason, we all thought we could each eat half a rack of ribs. Mistake #1. We also thought we could sample all three types of meat in the same quantity. Mistake #2. With about 10 lbs of meat among us, we loaded up our bicycles and made our way to Como Park. Kurt took the lead on this ride, as it was his excellent suggestion to eat our food at the park. And thus, we ate. Sarah joined us after work at the park and partook in the feast. Afterwards, we rested like bloated kings and queens.
Some leftovers
Photo taken by a stranger who walked by and kindly offered to snap it. She is not really shaped like a pyramid
Our return trip was with big smiles on our faces and full stomachs. We decided to ride along Como to the Intercampus Connector path which brought us through the West Bank of campus and back to the bike paths. Christopher led the way home.
In the end, everyone rode about 25 miles with a few of us riding a bit more to make it home. My final mile count was more like 34 miles. Here is a quick mapping of our final route.
Posted by richlee at October 13, 2007 06:43 PM