Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Baltimore People - where to go, what to do

Since I had such good luck posting something like this when I moved to DC, I figured I'd do it again now that I'm in Baltimore.

Just wondering where people like to ride bikes, buy (used, if possible) bike parts, eat good vegetarian friendly foods, and drink not-too-expensive booze in Baltimore. Oh, and my roommates would be happy if you know of any good thrift stores for the collecting of collectibles (records, old fabric, etc.).

I live near the Avenue, so I know about the stuff there - or some of it, anyway. But I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks again bike people!

What's the Aveneue?

Bike shops:
Mt. Washington Bicycle Shop (AKA: Joe's Bike Shop)
Fleet Street Cycles
Light Street Cycles
Broadway Bicycles

I don't know any shops that sell used bike parts. That's bad for business.

avenue = 36th street, hamden. Fraisers on the Avenue is good...

The Club Charles across from the charles theater, on charles street, one block south of north avenue.

One World Cafe, 100 West University Parkway (http://one-world-cafe.com/), great vegeterian/vegan food.
Yaba Pot, 2433 St Paul St.
Liquid Earth, 1626 Aliceanna Street
Holy Frijoles, rad burrito's.

Reptillian records, 403 S. Broadway (http://www.reptilianrecords.com/

ps, most thrift stores are either in hamden (on the avenue) or fells point (off of broadway), others are scatterred around though....

pss, don't forget about the block ;)

I think he means the Avenue (that's 36th St, I think) in Hampden, but I could be wrong. I used to live right over near that when I went to Hopkins.

Mt. Washington always seemed pretty cool. I went there on a few occasions. There was another one further up Falls Road whose name I can't remember. They helped me get my dad's old Schwinn 10 speed up and running and seemed reasonably priced, helpful, etc.

For vegetarian food, you might find your options a bit limited, but there is stuff like One World Cafe, Paper Moon (Diner), and of course the Indian restaurants further downtown on Charles St. (my favorite was Akbar).

As for bars...to be honest, I didn't go to too many bars, as I had less money then and was more motivated to get seriously crunk (translation: house parties). There is a pretty cool lounge on top of a relatively blue collar bar down near Peabody with Communist/Soviet decor - its name escapes me. On occasion, we'd raid PJs, which is in the basement of the Charles apartment building (across from the JHU library, on Charles St.), especially when they have 25 cent wings and $2 pints of Yuengling. Solid. And we'd frequent CVP (Charles Village Pub) on St. Paul too. Just be prepared for a deluge of annoying JHU students (I tried to be only semi-annoying).

Random thing to do - check out the American Visionary Art Museum downtown. That's pretty cool.

The aquarium is cool, if you're into that sort of thing.

oh for small shows, The Charm City Art Space, right around the corner from the Club Charles, on Maryland Avenue.

when I move back to baltimore (less than a month now, I HOPE), we'll have to attack some streets.

for cheap drinks go to the rendezvous lounge on howard and 27th( near the ottobar) or the Mt Royal Taven by MICA (the art school).

im not a veggi. so i dont know too much about that, but Red Emmas on st pauls has some good sandwiches.

Theres a good thrifts store of north ave and eutaw pl that has a plethora of good things, theres some more on greenmount/york rd on the eastside, but i havent been there in a while since i live on the westside kinda

for shows, i usually go to the talking head or the ottobar. I like the talking head a bit more b/cs they have foosball, but the ottobar is nice

oh yeah... welcome to Baltimore.

its a pretty rad city

The Avenue at White Marsh? If so:

That's not to far from Route 40 (East) where there is a bike lane on that 55 MPH hiway. If you continue east, you can ride for an hour to Havre de Grace, but if you get much further than that, you'll get stopped by the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge that crosses the Susquehanna River. There are roads and trails along the Susquehanna, so I'm told, as I've not biked there.

There's some decent roads around White Marsh, but then there are some that the shoulders have not been kept up. Riding around the mall can be crazy sometimes due to traffic.

Also, if you drive to Hunt Valley using York Road going North(?) there's a rail-to-trail known as the Northern Central Railroad (NCR) trail. The trailhead is off of Ashland Road. There's only bikes and peds (occasionally horses) on that trail.

Yep, by the Avenue I mean 36th St. in Hamden. That's what they call it around here, anyway.

And thanks for all the suggestions so far. I have much better luck here than asking the proverbial man on the avenue.

hamden fest saturday. a celebration of white trash and drinking.

I work at Light St.Cycles in federal hill, live in waverly (probably moving to remington soon). Broadway bikes probably has more fixed gear/track bike stuff in stock, but I can see to it that whatever you need gets ordered (usually have to take it into my own hands). I hear Mt. Washington is nice too.
Definitely check out Red Emmas in Mt. Vernon. A very well run coffee shop/radical bookstore/worker's collective on St. Paul street. I mostly ride just to get around, but I've been trying to connect with other folks to start doing some longer, more fun rides. Let me know if you want to ride sometime.

Clayton Fine Books & Cafe on 317 N Charles St. - Pretty nice cafe with good food & free wifi.

Try little italy for some good italian. The corner bakery, not sure what it's really called, has really good gelatos.

For good cheap eats you can hit up the worlds famous lexington market.

mt royal tavern for cheap drinks, dougherty's irish pub for drinks and food. liquid earth in fells point for decent vegetarian food, also the yabba pot and one world cafe.

actually, while we're on the topic of bike activities in baltimore, is anyone going to the Jones Fall's Valley Celebration on Sunday the 18th? theyre closing down the northbound lanes of the jones falls express way for walkers, bikers and skaters.
"Footrace, bike race, frog race, boat the Jones Falls or just take a leisurely stroll along 6 miles of highway." for more info, check out http://www.jonesfalls.com/freestyle.php
Never been before, but it looks like a decent time. it would be interesting to get a bunch of baltimore fixers together for a ride that afternoon. ill definately be there

You have to go to Brewer's Art on Charles street. http://www.belgianbeer.com/ Best beer in bmore. list of house beers: http://www.belgianbeer.com/housebeer.html Resurrection is always in stock and is the drink of the gods. With colder months upon us Cerberus Tripel will be making its appearance @ something like 11%. The best deal on their booze occurs at happy hour when all of these fine brews are 2 bucks and some change. Messengers are always in the basement with the suits upstairs. It is two different worlds to depending on your attire or drinking mood. Garlic/rosemary fries will guarantee that you will not get any a** if you are out trolling because your breath will be kickin, but they are the perfect drinking snack.

is anyone going to the Jones Fall's Valley Celebration on Sunday the 18th? theyre closing down the northbound lanes of the jones falls express way for walkers, bikers and skaters.

I did it last year and it is a blast! It was nice to roll up 83 and actually look around at what the highway goes past not going 55+mph

If you are looking for other bike stuff to do go to www.onelesscar.org and register for Tour Du Port. I have not done this ride but I think I am going to do this year. I have heard nothing but good things from others about this ride.

If you are looking for other bike stuff to do go to www.onelesscar.org and register for Tour Du Port. I have not done this ride but I think I am going to do this year. I have heard nothing but good things from others about this ride.

This looks interesting. I may have to give this one a go.

Thanks.

I am down for a ride on the jfx on sunday. Anyone else? what's a good time?

I second the Visionary Art Museum. The exhibition on addiction blew my mind.

Also there's a bar, I think it's called the Thirsty Dog (I don't live in Bmore so I've only been there once). As I remember, they've got their own beer, it's pretty good (lots of variety), and they run some sweet specials on it. On St. Patty's Day there was a special that was two mugs of beer for one very low price.

Now if only I could remember where that place is...

the otto bar is the coolest

thats all i know about baltimore

I second the Visionary Art Museum. The exhibition on addiction blew my mind.

Also there's a bar, I think it's called the Thirsty Dog (I don't live in Bmore so I've only been there once). As I remember, they've got their own beer, it's pretty good (lots of variety), and they run some sweet specials on it. On St. Patty's Day there was a special that was two mugs of beer for one very low price.

Now if only I could remember where that place is...


Thirsty Dog is on Cross Street in Federal Hill between Light and Charles streets. It's VERY preppy/frat on thursday/friday/saturday nights. Any other time is pretty cool. Pizzas are great. Beers are 2 for $3. You can even bring your dog (even big dogs) inside.

Ottobar is very punk. Plenty of tatts and tight black pants.