JohnBrooking

A co-worker and I are going to be in Burlington MA for training all next week (we are from Maine) and will be bringing our bikes along. We're staying in the Burlington Mall/Middlesex Tnpk area. Anyone familiar with any nice riding in that area?

gear

find some quiet roads heading west.

buzzman

pick up a copy of the Rubels Bike Maps (Eastern Massachusetts) and you'll be able to plan some nice rides. Going west is good but working your way up towards the North Shore can be nice too.

Have fun!

[edit] ha! just saw that the above poster is a North Shore rider! They want to go west but they've got some nice rides up there, too.

spokenword

I live in Watertown (close suburb of Cambridge) and commute up to the Burlington Mall / Middlesex Tnpk area) I would second the suggestion for getting a Rubel's map. There's a Landry's Bicycle shop on Rt 3A (in the strip mall with a Panera Bread Company) and they should be able to sell you an Eastern MA bike map.

Alternatively, you can take Rt. 62 west then make a right when you get to Great Rd. (Rt. 4/225). Make a left at the next light (intersection of Great Rd. and Loomis St., you'll see a CVS on your left). Follow Loomis to the next major intersection and you'll see the Bedford Bike Depot on your left. They will sell you maps, too . If you're feeling leisurely (and if the warm weather holds and thaws the remaining snow) the Bike Depot is also located at the western terminus of the Minuteman Bike Path. You can ride that straight into Cambridge if you so wish. Now's also a good time as the path tends to get lousy with rollerbladers and baby carriages walkers when the summer arrives.

A favorite of mine is to go further north and west on 4/225, then follow 225 as it splits off and heads into Carlisle. You'll eventually get to a rotary, and you can take the north branch of Lowell St. Follow Lowell St. north and then make a right on N Rd. to enter the Myles Standish State Forest, ride through the forest then turn right on Rutland to bring you back to the Carlisle rotary.

If you want to go further, follow Lowell Rd. south this time, and take it to Concord Center. From the Concord Center rotary, take Rt 2A east. Follow Rt 2A until you get past Minuteman park, then head left on Mass Ave. and follow Mass Ave. into Lexington Center. From there, head straight to Hancock St, then left on Adams and Adams will take you back to the Middlesex Turnpike.

buzzman

these are great suggestions and really once you get you out into that area you can't go wrong if you use the Rubels and stick to the secondary roads out there. The Minuteman is pretty good early in the am but as pointed out it can get pretty crowded on a good day and as the day wears on.

JohnBrooking

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm actually looking forward to being able to remain a "bike commuter" for the week, even though it is only about a mile from the hotel to the training center and there is a shuttle. I don't want to have to stop bike commuting just because I'm out of town! My co-worker, who is not a bike commuter, seems excited about the prospect of after-work rides; he got his bike out of winter storage just for this. We'll let you know how it goes.