Bike and Brunch Tour | Baltimore, MD

I was on vacation visiting Philly and decided to make the best of my east coast experience, so I drove to Baltimore. Touring a city while riding a bike and getting the opportunity to enjoy food and drinks at the end sounded like the perfect way to get the most of my short trip. Bike & Brunch Tours was the perfect choice for a creative and fun experience. Plus as an added bonus it's Black Owned! I stumbled upon this adventure via Eventbrite. B&B Tours has a few tour options, tours not only in Baltimore but in Richmond, VA, and Charlotte, NC as well. The Baltimore location has three tour options. I decided to go with the 'Baltimore Harbor to the Heights: Black Arts District & Neighborhood Tour'. If you select this tour be prepared because it is 10 miles.

The Black Arts District & Neighborhood Tour is simply just that. It embraces the rich Black culture of Baltimore, from arts to history to culture to even the "nitty gritty" of urban communities. Our tour guide, Lakesha (not sure if this is how she spells her name), was awesome! She was insightful and energetic the entire time, keeping the energy of the group elevated. Especially during the moments where I wanted to call it quits due to my bike not being in the best condition to ride. I couldn't get the gears adjusted for nothing in the world and I felt like I was paddling just to go nowhere. Now, I've ridden a bike for long distances before but the added struggle was the multiple hills that we went up and down. Imagine paddling on an unadjusted bike going up hills-- not the funnest. A fun struggle, it was! It is noted on their site and Eventbrite that their bike options are basic models, you do have the option to bring your own. Choose what works best for you.

Typically the tours have tech support riding for any quick malfunctions that occur, but that day they didn't. One of the rider's paddle completely broke off and our guide, Lakesha rode it back to base and got another bike, talk about dedicated! Riding a bike with one paddle, 'pure talent.' Although this left us stranded momentary, everything was fine. It provided time for us riders to share conversation and talk about the things we were looking forward to seeing.

The tour starts off downtown and then goes into the West Baltimore neighborhoods. Downtown held the well-known Black Soldier Memorial Statue and it is also where the Freddie Gray March took place in 2015. A list of stops in the West Baltimore neighborhoods were The McCulloh Homes (known for its appearance on the infamous HBO TV series The Wire), the Thurgood Marshall House and a Memorial dedicated to inspirational Black leaders. My favorite stops were the Druid Hill Ave stop because my favorite RnB group is named after it, well they are named after the park but this was the closest I'd get since we didn't go to the park. My other favorite was Thurgood Marshall House. When you can stand near something so historical with no gates to separate you, it 'hits different", because I had no idea before the tour that Baltimore was so rich in Black history. To be such a small city makes it even more of a prize.

At the end of the 10 miles we outside dined at Teavolve. Another Black Owned entity; I love to see it! There aren't many black owned tea places in general so I'd say this place is a gem in itself. The location is great, near parking and walking distance from the harbor and other harbor attractions. I ordered a mango/passion fruit smoothie which was definitely delightful and scrambled eggs with a side of fruit and bacon. You have the option of ordering from the Bike & Brunch Tour selected menu or the general menu.

If you're a frequent rider or just want to do something fun out of your zone Bike & Brunch Tours is something you should definitely do. Getting exercise is a bonus but the real prize is getting a taste of Black culture in the city of B-More!