MrCrassic 

Hey, everyone!

I have a pretty tough decision to make. School for me is ending soon, and I haven't had a relaxing vacation in about two and a half years. My body has finally gotten to the point where it needs a break from everything, and now that I have gotten more into cycling, I figured that my bike would be a great start.

I really want to get out of NYC (Hoboken, anyway), but only have a week to do it before I start my internship in NYC (technically, a weekend). I haven't gone far out of the tri-state in a while, and the last time that I did was not as relaxing as I would have hoped (was definitely not a vacation). The two cities that I have in mind (and that seem reasonable in price right now) are Boston and Philadelphia. However, I don't know which one to choose.

For anyone who has gone to one or both of these cities (as a cyclist, and as someone looking for some time off), I have some questions for you. First, which of these cities has a better bicycle trail? By this I mean one that is LONG, is not (too) dangerous against other vehicles or people, and is enjoyable (with a road bike). I'm definitely open for anything, so long as it won't put me in a bad position.

Second, which is less dangerous? Safety is a concern, and I will not know these cities very well, so I do not want to find myself in places that I shouldn't be in.

Lastly, which is just more fun in general? I'm not 21 (so no drinking for me), but I am definitely open to try anything that my budget will allow. Both of them have baseball parks, which makes the decision even harder (I'm neutral as far as team loyalty is concerned).

I'm sorry for the long post, but I hope that someone can help me. I really want to find a way to just relax, have a good week (or weekend) off, and not get myself into any scrapes while doing it. Any advice is appreciated!

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KevinF

Bike paths? Boston? Yeah right. There's a few around, the most (in)famous being the Minuteman Bike Trail. It's usually insanely crowded though; in fact, there was even an article in the Globe the other day regarding how congested that trail has become.

Riding on the roads of downtown Boston is something I've done only once, and you could never get me to try it again. Absolutely the scariest cycling-related thing I've ever done in my life. But if you enjoy navigating a spaghetti-like maze of streets while sharing those roads with drivers that consider traffic laws to be mere suggestions... Maybe it's for you.

The Boston area has some great riding, but you need to get out of the city a little ways to start enjoying it.

I don't know squat about baseball, other then don't wear any sort of NY Yankees clothing to Fenway Park. Which city is more fun? Boston is a really cool city. The downtown area is pretty small; i.e., you could easily walk clear across town in 30 minutes, so walking can easily be the fastest way to get around. There are tons of colleges around, so Boston just has a very "young" feel to it.

Namenda

+1 to everything KevinF said. A lot of people ride in the city, but I'm not one of them. Too congested, very cutthroat. I rode part of the Minuteman the other day. It was much less crowded than usual, but only because the heat/humidity was high.

If you go to Fenway, I don't think bringing your bike would be a good idea. Even if you lock it up tighter than Ft. Knox, some drunk is liable to use if for a urinal, or worse.

labrat_62

My take, you are going to be in NY, which is close enough to philly to pop down here for the day, ride around, and go home, or to just ride down to and skip the train all together. I would say, go explore boston, don't get killed by traffic, then come visit philly for a weekend.

lrzipris

Philadelphia and suburbs share a noted (~22 miles one way) MUP that runs from near center City (starting near the Art Museum--think "Rocky"), the Schuylkill Trail: https://www2.montcopa.org/trails/cwp/...54,q,40167.asp (follow the various links for maps and other information). At its northern end, it connects with the Perkiomen Trail, which is paved for about 4.5 miles, then continues as a crushed gravel path for many more miles. The trail is heavily trafficked--kids on trainer bikes, rollerbladers with earphones, pedestrians, dog-walkers with 20-foot leashes, cycling club training groups. I stay away, as I find the trail crowded and boring.

If you will have a car and don't mind some driving, there is MUCH MUCH better riding out in the suburbs than in Philadelphia itself. Quiet country roads, little traffic, scenic routes, farms, rolling terrain, killer hills if you want them. I ride primarily in Bucks County, PA, and Hunterdon County, NJ, with Central Bucks Bike Club (www.cbbikeclub,org) or Suburban Cyclists Unlimited (www.suburbancyclists.org).

Here is a February 2007 thread on the Philly music/culture/food/etc. scene, introduced by someone about your age: https://www.bikeforums.net/northeast/268628-philly-month.html. As you can see, there's some disagreement about our town.

If baseball is a significant factor, the Sox and Fenway--all that history!--have it all over the Phillies--all that futility!

MrCrassic 

I did forget to mention that I don't have a car at my disposal; I'm basically relying on the train for everything. I'm not entirely sure as to how much this will limit my travel (or my enjoyability).

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spokenword

you can take your bike on the commuter rail in Boston so long as it isn't rush hour. A friend of mine actually does a car-free commute from Boston to Rhode Island where he rides his bike to the train station, hops on a forty mile ride, then rides three miles to work. In the past, I've done rides where I'll ride the train out to one suburb, ride to the coast, eat some lobster, then take the train back to the city. The only caveat with going intermodal is that the train doesn't run all that frequently, so you have to be careful about scheduling and planning your rides. Arrive five minutes late at the station and you're waiting for a couple of hours for your next ride.

Oh, and I commuted into downtown Boston for a year. Yeah, it's kind of scary, but I got some pretty great adrenaline rushes from the experience, and having to adapt to the free-for-all madness gave me great traffic skills and confidence. With that being said, if you're just coming to the city for vacation, there's no reason to ride into downtown (aside, perhaps, from doing some sightseeing, which you can easily do on foot anyways since the city is so small in scale)

Things you can do on a bike if you're visiting Boston

* ride with SCUL

* ride the Minuteman Bikeway to Bedford, then Concord, then head down Walden Pond and go for a swim, ride to the DeCordova to take in some modern art, return to the city via Bedford Rd. to 2A to go past Minuteman National Park, to Lexington's Battle Green. Return via Arlington to Somerville's Davis Square and get some barbecue at Redbones, where you can park your bike in their valet bike parking spot.

* visit the custom bike builders in Somerville (Independent Fabrication) and Watertown (Seven) and geek out.

* take the Red Line to Quincy then climb the Blue Hills.

* ride out to Newton, visit Harris Cyclery and the shop of the inimitable Sheldon Brown, head from there to Wellesley, then Natick. Feast on farm fresh fruits or home made ice cream from Sunshine Farm in Sherborn.

MKahrl

During a decades long gig in the Navy I spent a part of a year in Boston and two years in Philly. There is some good cycling in Boston but for ease of getting out of the city I have to hand it to Philadelphia and the East and West River Drives of Fairmont Park. Contact the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia or look at their website https://phillybikeclub.org/, for rides leaving from the Art Museum. They meet at the Italian Fountain located directly behind the Art Museum less than a mile bike ride from the 30th St train station. The suburbs of the (Pennsylvania RR) Main Line are spectacularly beautiful and great for cycling. (Look for rides with Welsh sounding names, Bryn Mawr, Bala Cynwyd, Narbeth, Gladwyne).

Lenore

I live in Philly and I took my bike to Boston last weekend for an alleycat race.

I'm not sure about enjoyable bike paths on a roadbike in Boston because I was generally riding in the city but Philadelphia has a great bicycle path that goes all the way out to Valley Forge. The Schuykill River Trail and Fairmount Park are great for road bikes (although the river trail can be crowded at times) and there are frequent group rides that lead out of there. I know the philly bike club has rides that meet on the river trail at least on sundays and thursdays. I also go to other rides in the city that are more for younger people like Pretzel ride Tuesdays, Water ice wednesdays, and thrashin' thursdays. If you're into alleycat races, the August Summer Slam series is coming up: https://www.phillyfixed.com/summerslam/
If this means anything, I didn't really see any bike paths riding around Boston except once when we were in Cambridge. Philly has a lot of bike paths in the city (whether cars obey them or not is another story). Philly is pretty easy to navigate unless you go way west or way north but if you have a map it should be fine. Boston was kind of a nightmare when we went up there for the race. But, then again, safety is not really that much of a concern in an alleycat race.
I don't think I'm qualified to answer how Boston's fun because I haven't spent alot of time there, but seeing how you're into bikes... people from out of town usually come out to the Tuesday pretzel ride: https://philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=13686
If you're looking for fun things to do in either city that involve "bike people" you might want to post either at https://bostonfixed.com or https://phillyfixed.com
And if you don't ride fixed, I'm sure they'll be understanding. I also know alot of Philly people read the the SSFG forum here on BF. Hope I was helpful!

ErinMoney

Bostons way better than Philly I live a half hour from philly and I'm about to move to boston in a couple months

ErinMoney

oh and ps Bostons way safer than philly HELLOO 1-2 murders a day it gets really creepy at night and you can def get shot for doing something very insignificant if it pisses someone off

Spartan112

Just a bit of advice, if baseballs an important part of your trip you may be out of luck in Boston. Unless you want to pay scalpers prices getting tickets in nearly impossible.

Ih8lucky13

Toronto FTW.

SpongeDad

Went to UPenn for college and Boston U. for law school. Boston absolutely stinks for riding if you are in town. Once you get outside of Boston, there are some beautiful areas to ride in, but the same is true for Philadelphia.

Socially, Boston is probably a bit more fun - the bars aren't quite as spread out as in Philadelphia and the subway is more developed (although it shuts down pretty early). Fenway is in a better neighborhood than the ballpark in Philadelphia.

jupiter422

I've been in Philly for 7 years now, and the cycling community is HUGE here. There's a free timed time trial every saturday morning, tons of racing, clubs, and other stuff. Of course, we have our big pro race every year too. It takes no time at all to be riding out in the country - 15 miles from concrete to cow patties.

Overall, it's pretty damn good.

njm

I wanted to say that riding in the city of Boston is not *too* bad if you're used to riding in urban/semi-urban areas. I find that taking the lane and doing the VC thing seems to help.

As for bike trails, the Minuteman Trail is awfully crowded, although I recently went on a weekday and it was better. There's also a path along the Charles River that can be pretty scenic, although it's narrow at points and crowded until you get away from Boston/Cambridge. It also doesn't go as far as one might want. If you want to search, it's the Paul Dudley White trail (or part of it is...), or you can check out this thread https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-354889.html .

As for a baseball game, Phillies tickets are much easier to get, and I like their new ballpark, but I haven't been to Fenway after living two years in Cambridge....

grahny

You can ride on trails (paved/gravel/hardpack) literally all day if you wanted to, including mountain biking, all accessible from the city. The better rides are off the trails though. Cycling is pretty big here for sure, especially when you head west out of center city towards manayunk, fairmount park, and beyond.

If you come next weekend, Sunday is the wachovia international commerce bank triple crown corestates championship mega super whatever the hell they're calling it this year pro race. It's an awesome time. I'll be BBQ'ing and downing beers at around 10am up top of the wall

BAH! Old thread

MrCrassic 

Wow; I had no idea that this thread was resurrected from the dead!

For those interested, I decided to go to Philadelphia instead. Their bike path system is amazing and puts New York's implementation to shame. The trail was beautiful, and had some challenging parts as well. I might go there again if time allows soon for a day ride.

I wish I could go to that race, but I'm going to be down in North Carolina instead for that weekend.

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grahny

Are you serious? Where are you hanging out?

Jasper Storm

Do you want to end up like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q205Q1z6phk

Sorry, this link ain't workin'... enter "Jack intern" in youtube search box..pretty funny

grahny

... all he's missing is an Iroc-Z