“Tour de Cupcake”, as she dubbed it, was a ride to five local “cupcakeries” (bakery that only sells cupcakes). The day was beautiful as we gathered at Gravelly Point, overlooking the Potomac, to pick up our maps, team up, and apply the temporary tattoo designed for the occasion.
It quickly became apparent where people’s priorities lay: those who were there for the bike ride showed up in their finest gear and soon whizzed off in a peloton that would make Lance Armstrong proud. Those were there for the socializing lingered—some going straight to the last stop with their friends. And then there was me, somewhere between socializing and the love of an experiment. Here were the questions I wanted to answer:
- Could I bike this far (hitherto not attempted on my “new” bike)?
- What would be my favorite cupcake?
Who doesn’t love this kind of research?
We set off at an easy pace, cruising down the Mall, and landed at Red Velvet in Chinatown, where I tried their namesake and wasn’t disappointed.
Next, we pedaled to Hello Cupcake up near Dupont Circle, biking past the White House.
The flavor here was a lemon raspberry, the frosting piled on top like a beehive hairdo. It was good, but perhaps my expectations were too high.
As we biked to shop 3 in Georgetown, I was grateful to be in a large group that increased our visibility as we attempted to share the narrow and crowded street with cars, buses, and stylish shoppers who weren’t always looking where they were going. We took one look at the line and decided to pass—there were still two shops and plenty of miles ahead. With that, we left DC and pedaled back to Virginia, following a trail I’d never been on before. I’d seen it over the years as I drove on the highway it runs parallel to, but never ventured over that way. The hills of the Virginia Custis trail may only be moderate, but my lack of training and the two cupcakes in my stomach were both making themselves noticed. This time, I was grateful for friends who encouraged and pushed me through this portion, refusing to let me get off my bike (until the chain came off). I was grateful when we returned to a flatter trail, and was delighted to see Boy Scouts working on their cycling merit badge—perhaps we should design a badge for this with a bike and cupcake?
Stop 4 was the Shirlington location of a DC institution and the first cupcakery I’d heard of: Cake Love.
Their Springtime cupcake looked cute and sounded seasonally-appropriate, but left something to be desired. I’m not a fan of their frosting, generally, but I sampled a chocolate one with orange frosting that could change my mind next time.
I found my second wind as we pedaled to our final stop along familiar trails, and finally realized how much this resembled “The Sound of Music’ when Maria takes the kids out to explore Salzburg by bike. Our ringleader even has short blond hair and plays the guitar! Before I knew it we’d arrived at Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Old Town Alexandria. It’s just a few blocks from the main part, yet I never knew it existed. This was the Platform 9 ¾ of cupcake shops, and was by far my favorite. All of their flavors sounded good (confirmed by my teammates), but my selection was S’Mores (rumored to have the best chocolate flavor of those on offer).
We lingered for a while, relishing in our accomplishment, before racing home as the sun set and the chill increased.
The answers: yes, I can ride that far and my favorites are either Red Velvet or anything at Lavender Moon.
author’s note: the next group ride is rumored to be “Bikes and Pies”, a tour of Brooklyn’s pizza places. I just went back to Lavender Moon last week and tried the Blood Orange Dreamsicle and Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds flavors. It appears you can’t go wrong!
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