While I check out the regional forum from time to time a lot of the talk in there near me just happens to be hill training. Anyone here from Cambridge area? Any good rides you know of? I ride the Minuteman path all the time but looking for some other recommendations.

From MA, but I live out in the woods west of you about 30 miles. It is hilly out here too. I miss living in the city, though. Used to live in Charlestown.

any good rides out west? 30 miles isn't that far

Check the Clyde/Athena Locater map in my Sig....

There are 2 pages of listings, so you'll have to zoom in on Mass on both pages.

There are a number of local loops that I do, and there are a bunch of longer rides that a friend of mine does (he is a roadie )

Flat riding around me is tough to come by, but you can get some on the South Shore, and a bit East of me, I think-I am in Upton.

I will dig up some links and get them posted back to you!

i am just south of brockton. there are some great fast flat sections around here. some of the roads have been repaved which has been great.

Nice one FFA! I grew up in Weymouth (before it was a city) and spent a lot of time on the South Shore!

I like the Southwest Corridor linear park from downtown out to Forest Hills (it basically runs above and to the side of the 'trough' for the Orange Line T and takes you through a bunch little parks and whatnot... from there you can cross over to the path that runs along the Arnold Arboretum and Jamaica Pond (and bike in and around Arnold Arboretum as well).

The problem with Sucker Park (Southwest Corridor park) and all other MUPs and parks in the Boston metro area is that they're stupid crowded, so unless you're hitting them at 6 am on a Sunday, you're going to be putt-putting along at low speeds. On the streets, similar problem -- you'll get stopped by traffic, so if what you're looking for is long distance, sustained riding, you'll probably want to get out of town. Take a look at www.bikely.com -- it's a good place to find routes, with info on the type of ride and level of difficulty.

I am in Melrose and there are a number of nice rides in my area up through Wakefield, Reading, North Reading, etc. Check out the Charles River Wheelmen website for their cue sheets. I also commute into Boston 4 times a week, so if anyone wants to meet up for a ride let me know.

dvon1981 I ride the Minuteman Path sometimes too. It is only about 7.5 miles from my house to Arlington Center. Also, did you happen to ride in the bike convoy on Bike Friday last week? I joined the ride in Arlington.

I'm in Hingham. There are a number of nice rides in Wompatuck and along the coast from Hull down to Duxbury. There are some hills in Marshfield.

I didn't know about the convoy on friday, i need to start looking up stuff like that.

The next one is on August 22nd. Here is a link with more infomation.

https://www.cityofboston.gov/bikes/bikefridays.asp

Here are some other good bike links for the Boston area

https://www.massbike.org/
https://www.crw.org/
https://www.nscyc.org/

If you are riding on Aug 22 please let me know and maybe we can meet in person.

thanks for all the links man, unfortunately my commute is reverse and i work outside of the city, cool that they are doing that though.

I live in JP and have found that you can make some decent loops in some of the roads in Brookline/West Roxbury. I haven't really been keeping track I just kinda pick roads I know have space for bikes or look like they do and go. Bikely is a good place to start plus you might want to check out the Rubel's bike maps they're a good way to plot your own routes with some consideration for better roads for cycling. I really try to stay on the roads that are "recommended" although they are kinda wrong sometimes it's a good way to start and you can figure things out for yourself once you're out there.

There's also "pocket rides" that I've seen at various bike shops (Harris Cyclery in West Newton has them, Bikes Not Bombs in JP, and REI) they're pretty decent rides that are based on location and or theme and each pack has laminated cue sheets with mini-maps of various length and difficulty rides. I've picked up some and done a few and they were pretty fun.