A half-mile portion of the Minuteman Bikeway in Lexington Center recently reopened after a three-week repaving project. To celebrate its reopening and the thirty-first year of one of the state’s most popular rail trails, here’s a plan to eat well while riding the full 10.1-mile path for a 20.2 mile out-and-back ride.
Kickstand Cafe
Whether you’re a fifty mile weekend rider or newer to getting mileage on two wheels, it’s always nice to start on a flat road. Lucky for us Lexingtonians, the five mile ride from Lexington Center to Arlington Center is just that — flat. Lexington’s highest point on the Bikeway is at the Revere Street intersection, about ¾-mile north of the Lexington Historical Society; from there to Arlington Center’s Kickstand Cafe it is a gradual 171-foot descent over 5.6 miles. In other words, no need to caffeinate beforehand — just hop on your bike anytime after 7:30am; Kickstand opens at 8am every day except Monday when it is closed.
Breakfast offerings are standard American cafe fare made with a level of attention that makes the early wakeup worthwhile — especially when you can land a coveted table outside on a beautiful day.
Kickstand’s egg sandwich is almost architectural in its design. The generous portion of a firm egg muffin frittata stands tall between the pillowy brioche bun halves. In between bites — when most sandwiches begin to fall apart — the Kickstand egg sandwich acts more like a free-standing punching bag that returns to center, standing tall and composed. If you’re doing the full 20.2-mile bikeway ride, your muscles will appreciate the addition of extra protein — sausage, bacon, or ham all available for a $3 upcharge.
On hot days, overnight oats make for a satisfying biking breakfast — quick, cooling, and a steady and sustained source of energy for longer cardio exercise sessions. Kickstand’s version uses rolled oats which keeps the texture feeling more like oatmeal than mush. It’s hard to imagine that a cafe with a bicycle reference in its name would include superfoods like banana, blueberries, and chia seeds by accident — besides being delicious, banana in particular also helps to prevent muscle cramps; score!
Open Tuesday – Sunday, 8am-3pm. 594 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA 02476.
Wicked Bagel
For the early risers who just can’t wait for their first bite or sip of coffee, head out an hour earlier and make your first stop at Wicked Bagel in East Lexington, where the coffee by Peabody-based Atomic Roasters is intense and fresh bagels are out of the oven by 7am. From Lexington Center, Wicked Bagel is at the halfway point to Kickstand — just a gentle 56’ descent over 2.5 miles — or in other words, a practically flat road.
Between the eight cream cheese spreads that range from savory to spicy to sweet and the fifteen different sandwiches which can be made on any of the eighteen varieties of bagels, it’s easy to customize your order to not only match your appetite but also the current phase of the moon.
Wicked Bagels are made in the New York tradition — boiled in plain water, baked in a conventional oven, and typically spread with butter or schmear, a cream-cheese based spread. For anyone who may have grown up double spreading their bagels with jam and cream cheese, Wicked Bagel presents a strawberry spread; three cheers for a less sticky eating experience!
New York transplants: Wicked Bagel offers a smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese, red onion, cucumbers, and capers – ask for it on an everything bagel and for extra allium flavor, request scallion schmear. Russ & Daughters or Ess-a-bagel it is not, but at $13 and a short bike ride away, it’s a delicious and worthy steal compared to the $17 New York nova experience. The portion of smoked salmon is generous and the thick slices of cucumber double as edible scrapers of cream cheese and other garnish that inevitably drop from the overstuffed bagel.
To go full Boston, try the Northender — layers of three different cured meats, provolone, lettuce, and tomato. The staff recommended this on an egg bagel which sounded suspicious at first, but proved to be a great absorbent of the oil and vinegar dressing that brings this combination — all the best parts of an Italian American picnic — together inside a bagel.
Finishing any Wicked Bagel sandwich may provide more inspiration for a mid-morning nap than for a long biking adventure –— luckily, the Northender travels well, so if you have the discipline, save half for later. No way to ride and save your half bagel? Next door neighbor Battle Road Bikes opens at 10am (11am on Sundays) and has baskets and panniers galore.
Open Monday – Sunday, 7am-2pm. 171 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA 02420.
Revolution Hall (Lexington)
From Kickstand Cafe or Wicked Bagel, enjoy the flat road as you continue south towards Alewife Station. If you prefer to digest on two feet rather than two wheels, take a scenic pit stop at Spy Pond in Arlington or at the dog park at Thorndike Field in Cambridge. When you’re ready to ride again, know that from the Cambridge terminus of the Minuteman Bikeway, it is 10.1 miles of a gentle but mostly continuous climb to the Bedford terminus, and then a flat 1.4 miles back to Revolution Hall in Lexington for a celebratory refuel.
When you arrive at Revolution Hall, treat your body to water and electrolytes — there are eight organic fountain sodas on tap, as well as a selection of cold-pressed juices, kombuchas and Lexington’s finest filtered water. Head to the bar and trade your ID to borrow a pair of table tennis paddles or bean bags for cornhole and enjoy movement beyond the sagittal plane (yes, your body can move left and right too!).
Once you’re ready for an adult beverage, beware the paradox of choice: with over thirty beers and wines on tap, it’s a lot from which to choose. On a day when it’s almost too hot to eat, the mango, peach, and passionfruit sour ale from Little Willow Brewing Company feels especially refreshing. Add an order of tater tots and you’ve hit on all of chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat’s four pillars of cooking: salt, fat, acid, and heat.
Cooler weather calls for ProjectX pizza… so too does the powerful air conditioning if you’ve been hanging out inside for long enough. The slowly fermented dough transforms into a light crust begging to be paired with beer: try the pepperoni pizza with a lager from Yuengling, a margarita pizza with the Belgian blonde from 67 Degrees, or a BBQ chicken pizza with an IPA from Athletic Brewing Company. All of Athletic Brewing Company’s brews measure at a 0.5% ABV, so you can refill those without fear of hangover-like symptoms tomorrow.
For a lower carb option, head to Vessel for a steak and blue cheese salad; add a splash of Malbec for full weekend vibes. If you’re more of a white wine drinker, the avocado falafel bowl finds balance with the acidity in the Chilean sauvignon blanc.
Open Monday 11am-9pm, Tuesday – Sunday, 11am-11pm. 3 Maguire Rd, Lexington, MA 02421.
Cake Niche
Some days call for an edible sweet ending. If it’s before 4:30pm on a day that isn’t Sunday or Monday, ride the three flat miles back to Lexington Center to land at Cake Niche — a postage-stamp-sized bakery that opened during the pandemic. Owner Mirette Iskandar’s specialty is cake and she is thoughtful enough to avail her cakes with those of us who haven’t gone through the trouble of ordering ahead or assembling a crowd with whom to share her delights. Introducing: the composed cake cup: beautiful in its own right and a generous portion to boot. Each cake cup comes with its own petite wooden spoon — perfectly sized for the rich mascarpone cream atop the tiramisu. Cake Niche does not shy away from the decadent — it embraces it. Two large jars sitting next to the register dare you not to leave without a New York style cookie for “later.” The Reese’s peanut butter cookie opts for a moist and chewy base that almost borders on cake-like — in other words, if you don’t get to it today, it will still be delicious tomorrow.
Open Tuesday – Saturday, 9am-5pm. 1707 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA 02420.