Gunnar Sport - Riding For Pumpkin Muffins

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Gunnar Sport stopping at a Redbox

Having a bicycle that has the ability to carry some cargo provides even more opportunities to ride your bike.  Sunday afternoon it was cold and windy. I wanted to go for a bike ride, but just wasn't very motivated to get out in the uninviting conditions. My Gunnar Sport has a small bag on the front of it. This seemed like a perfect day to do some errands at a leisurely pace.

 It has been a long time since I had been to Old Salem and the Winkler Bakery. So I bundled up and headed out. To go to Old Salem meant that I would be riding on city streets for most of my ride instead of out into the country side as I normally do. This bike is equipped with both front and rear lights to make me more visible to traffic. On the way to Old Salem I stopped at a Red Box to rent a movie. 

Main Street in Old Salem

When I got to Old Salem there were a surprising number of visitors walking around and enjoying the historic district. My destination in Old Salem was the Winkler Bakery for some of their traditional pumpkin muffins. 

The town of Salem was founded in 1776 by the Moravian Church. The Winkler bakery was established in 1807 and named for it's owner Christian Winkler. The original bakery is open daily for visits and offers for sale - fresh breads, cakes, tea cakes, famous sugar cake and the original paper-thin Moravian cookies. It is one of the oldest bakeries still in operation in America. Click here for more information on Old Salem.

Gunnar Sport at the Winkler Bakery

Pumpkin Muffins are one of my favorites from the bakery. I bought a half dozen of them and ate one. The rest fit in the bag on the front of the Gunnar Sport with room to spare. Below is Winkler Bakery's recipe for pumpkin muffins:

2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup soft butter or margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 beaten eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add raisins and stir to coat. Cream sugar, butter and molasses; add milk, eggs and pumpkin and blend well. Stir in dry ingredients, blending only until flour disappears. Fill greased muffin pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Makes 12-15 large muffins.

A half a dozen pumpkin muffins before they are stowed away

My ride ended up lasting about 2 hours, despite the cold windy conditions. It was an enjoyable ride. I did have one fender bolt that kept loosening up as I rode. The fender would begin to rattle as the bolt loosened. I had to stop a couple of times to tighten the bolt the best I could without any tools. Before I left for my ride I had laid out a multi tool that I had intended to take with me. My main concern when preparing to ride was bundling up for the cold. Once I stopped to see what was rattling, I was aggravated that I had forgotten the tool. It worked out OK, but I will not forget to take some tools with me on my next ride.

 Besides enjoying sight seeing, I fetched some pumpkin muffins and a movie to watch later on. Errand running is a good way to get in a ride and save some gas. 

Poor ole' Joe kept me company while I wiped my bike down and tighten the fender bolts on my Gunnar Sport after the ride. 

Poor ole' Joe and my Gunnar Sport