Where to ride around Boston?
 

I'm a new cyclist living in Boston and wonder where my fellow Bostonian cyclists ride. I have a Rubel bike map, but the maps doesn't tell me the conditions of the roads, how scenic they are, etc...

If you live in or near Boston, what are some of your favorite routes? I don't have a car, so please don't recommend somewhere too far. :)

Thanks.

i'd like to title this post "there are places i remember...."

i used to ride a lot downtown, but it's not for the faint of heart...i also used to charge up and down the "hills" in allston/brighton late monday/tuesday/wednesday nights (like, after 12). not very scenic, but it's fun if you're into riding at night by yourself with barely any traffic, i'm talking about down harvard from brighton ave to beacon, up beacon to beyond washington, right around where the D and C lines come together/end cleveland circle, i believe it's called, turn right on whatever street that is and up to brighton ave right on brighton and back down to harvard again. it's a pretty fast loop with a decent hill. three or four times around that would usually tucker me out...once or twice i turned left onto comm. and rode out to BC/newton and headed back to harvard ave. comm. is quick going in that direction (toward the city), and there are probably still a lot of cracks and holes in the pavement, so if you go that route, watch yourself, especially on the steep hill (do it once and you'll know which one i'm talking about). the arboretum out in jamaica plain is super nice, but getting there on your bike can be sketchy. the esplanade is nice, sometimes, but usually (especially during summer) it's way way overcrowded with moronic rollerbladers going two by two down the path, or joggers who are completely oblivious to the world. they close down memorial drive to cars on sundays, i think. i also used to ride from like, copley square all the way to davis and beyond in sommerville...i rode from copley to lexington at least three or four times, all under cover of darkness of course Mass. ave. goes all the way to lexington and beyond, and it's a pretty nice ride at night, especially when you get way far away from the city and you realise that it's pitch black and completely silent and you can't even SEE the city anymore and it's just you...and your bike, and the occasional motorist...i remember charging around the boston common 7 times late at night, then sprinting home to packard's corner in allston...tremont-charles-beacon-boylston-tremont, over and over again late at night when it's just you, the bums, the emerson or suffolk kids and the cops...then home again up beacon to kenmore, and change over to comm. all the way to packard's. my best time on the last leg (commons to packard's) was 15 minutes i think, WITH stop lights.

financial district at night is fun as all get out, and beacon to huntington between mass. ave and charles is okay too. if you do venture out at night, be sure to go toss a nickel into the reflecting pool at christian science plaza for me, and appreciate the beauty of the archetecture from the third planter section from mass. ave. on the huntington side.

a lot of the roads in and around boston are complete crap though. definitely not a place for low spoke count wheels. 32 spoke, 3-cross, with sturdy hubs and rims is the only way to go. the thing to remember is just play it safe. be aware of your surroundings and anticipate stupidity from drivers/peds/and other bikers...basically expect anyone you see to behave in a sub-human manner at any time. in boston, it doesn't matter if it's a business man, a punk, a thug, another cyclist, a homeless person, or a college student. all bets are off when it comes to intelligence and civility in that town.

I live in Arlington, just north of Cambridge. If you can make your way out Mass Ave through Cambridge without getting killed, you will be at a really good starting point for western suburb rides. My usual no-brainer ride is to head up Mass Ave into Lexington, then take Route 2A out to Concord. 2A can be a little busy, but it is a very popular bike route. A nice variation is to turn right onto Hanscom Field road and follow Virginia Road towards Concord.

If you are ambitious, from Concord you can take Monument Street past North Bridge to Route 225, then up to Carlisle and back around to Concord Center.

Even just looping up around Lexington and back is a nice ride.

If you like hills, Arlington has a lot of them. The access road beside Route 2 is a nice 1 mile long climb that will get the blood flowing. Park Avenue from Mass Ave in Arlington Heights up to Route 2 is also a nice climb.

For a list of rides with cue sheets, visit the Charles River Wheelmen site, www.crw.org where they have a repository of rides in a lot of areas around Boston.

Good luck and welcome.

No offense but Boston sucks to live in. It's only my opinion and a lot of people like the city. I used to ride up and down the charles river all the time. That is the nicest place to ride in the city. Just stay away from the streets. The streets are horrible and the drivers are bad. I was one of the drivers that gave the Boston drivers a bad name.

Outside of the city, there are a lot of reservations where you mostly mountain bike. There are a few paved areas though. There is one that heads out west for a long distance out towards lexington.

Thanks, all of you, for your replies. OneTinSlot, you were an urban warrior! Those areas you described are just crazy during the day, and I have never really tried riding at night. My battery only lasts one hour or so. But perhaps I'll try those routes one of those early mornings. I live in the Fenway area, so they're pretty close. (And I agree with you that bike paths suck. The Charles River path is full of inconsiderate pedestrians, runners, and rollerbladers.)

Friedman, I've heard much about Concord and its nice roads. I did check the CRW's website, but again most of their loops are kind of far from where I live. I'll check out the Mass Ave, Rt 2A route you suggested. What about Mt. Auburn, Trapelo, and Concord Ave? Is it nice to ride around there?

CRSO, not good Boston experience huh? :) I hear you. I'm new to cycling around here, but I've lived here for almost 6 years. But I'm still amazed at how people can just make a left turn in front of you as you clearly have the right of way to go straight. And many streets have no freaking street name signs!!! If they do, there'll be tiny, barely readable signs hidden far in a corner. Rude drivers, no lanes, millions of potholes, suicidal pedestrians--this is a different world from my home town in California.

But Boston has Harvard, and that's why I'm here. ;-)

Avoid the Esplanade on the weekends. As for the roads, they're all in terrible condition... so prepare yourself for a headache if you miss standing up for just one of the potholes. Financial District on the weekends is dead in terms of traffic - like a ghost town.. can be fun if you don't want to mess with much traffic. The drivers are bad, but predictably bad ;) ... god I can't believe I'm still here. Oh well, much worse places to be...

i did most of my riding around boston on a track bike too...didn't get a road bike until my last winter there. now i live in berkeley and i really, really miss the traffic, my friends, and those places.

I'd stay off Mt Auburn..not pretty and it's a long-ish ride through Watertown and Waltham into Weston and Lincoln.

Trapelo is better. After you pass Belmont Wheelworks you can follow Trapelo out to Lincoln. Not a bad ride, but traffic is a bit heavy until you cross 128. Past there it is a nice ride to Lincoln.

Concord is a good ride also. If you are a climber, make sure to follow Concord up the hill from Belmont Center. It's one of the best climbs around. Not real long, but it is a challenge. At the end of Concord turn right to meet back up with Route 2A in Lexington.

But try to find another rider with a car and bike rack and drive out to Arlington, Lexington, Lincoln or Weston and start your rides from there. It'll be a lot more fun than inhaling exhaust fumes through Boston and Cambridge.

How can you miss the Boston traffic? ;-)

I'm originally from San Jose, not too far from Berkeley. There are plenty of nice roads around there. Have you tried the famous Mt. Hamilton climb? It's near where I used to live. Climbing all the way to the Lick Observatory is one of my goals in life. :)

I was actually born and raised in Baastin. You hit the nail on the head by the way you described it. When I drove (don't need a car in Manhattan) I always had the right even when I technically didn't. That theory is burned in their heads. I think it's actually easier to ride in NYC than there.

But again, if you are in Boston, you can't beat riding along the Charles River. If you're at Harvard, it's perfect to start there and ride towards the North Station area. You might even see some college frumpy honeys. The girls in Boston are also a lot different than the ones in Cali. Did you notice that yet?

Is that the hill near the intersection of Concord and Pleasant? On my Rubel Map there's a warning: "Caution: very steep hill plus sharp turn". :) The topo lines are dense there!

And where exactly is route 2A? Isn't it Mass Ave? But Mass Ave changes from route 2A to route 3 around Arlington right?

The Charles bikepath is just too crowded, and I frankly feel much more comfortable on the roads than dealing with little kids on tricycles swerving left and right. But occasionally getting stuck behind some tall-legged rollerblading lady does provide a nice respite. :)

Hey CrimsonCyclist. I live in the Washington Square area in Brookline and am new to cycling this year as well. I have been taking some nice rides out in the Weston, Wayland, and Lincoln area's which I find relatively easy to bike to. I just following Commonwealth Ave towards BC (once you get here there is a nice carriage lane on your right to utilize all the way to rte 16) and go until you hit Washington Street (aka Route 16). Take a left here past Newton Wellesley hospital to Newton Lower falls & take a right onto Concord Street. Follow this past Leo J Martin Golf course (you’ll go over the mass pike) and you’ll hit Route 30 again (aka commonwealth). From here take a left and then an immediate right onto Newton Street (Past pine Brook Country club). Take a right onto Wellesley Street and this will take you to Rte 20. Cross rte 20 onto Boston post road and you’re in Weston Center. From here there are endless roads and bikers everywhere. It’s really not that hard to get to at all. Check it out on a map.

Good luck.

Be aware of everything around you and yet do not backdown. If you are riding down Comm ave then take a lane. If you are riding down Boylston then take a lane. On any of the major streets here you should take a lane. Riding through Cambridge? See that bike lane that the city painted for you? No? Oh thats right it's not a bike lane it's a "why don't you just double park you car here lane". I love riding here but I also like riding here and causing a bit of justified trouble. I also like to ramble on and on. I guess I can boil it down to "use the force".

i often felt very jedi-like on my daily battles with cars and drivers and peds...maybe i was more sith-like, now that i think about it...i guess i jsut miss the excitement about riding in traffic. berkeley is pretty much completely boring. i need to ride in SF more often i guess...

Biking the Charles is quite nice... but like I said, not on the weekends... that's when the weekend cyclists, kids, rollerbladers, joggers, stereo headphone junkies, etc literally swamp the path.

Its perfect for an early evening extended ride home though... especially if the clouds are just right and a storm might be brewing -- I used to live on Beacon -- so I would walk (or ride and leave my bike locked under a ped-overpass) and just stand on the bank and watch/feel/let the wall of water roll over me... also ride to castle island in dorchester and the wharf over by the aquarium, charlestown navel yard is cool too.

Yes, the Concord Ave hill starts at the intersection of Concord Ave and Pleasant St (Rt 60). It's less than a mile long, but it does go up!

2A only coincides with Mass Ave for a short distance in Lexington before it veers left and is named Marrett Road. At the other end, 2A stops in Arlington at the intersection with Route 3. 2A runs parallel with Mass Ave through Arlington and then crosses it in Lexington. Mass Ave also coincides with routes 4 and 225 for a while in Lexington.

Ah, got it! I looked at Yahoo!Map carefully and saw where exactly Rt 2A was. (My paper map doesn't show it all the way.) But why all on earth do all these numbers and names get mixed up like this? I remember a few years ago driving on Rt 9, which is also known as Boylston (well, the zillionth Boylston here), westward and trying to look for an exit to 128, but I couldn't find one. Later I learned that 128 was actually 95 around there!!! I saw the sign to 95 but nothing pointing to 128 so I kept going straight. Duh!

Now I've resigned to the narcotic-induced creativity of Mass traffic engineers and would feel lucky if there is a street name sign, of course unreadable, at all.

But you should feel lucky to be riding/driving in the Bay Area after having lived in Boston. Here are some reasons:

1. There are lane markings on the road.
2. There are huge, readable street name signs hanging right in front of you.
3. There are huge, readable street name signs for the street you're currently on. (Trust me, I challenge you to travel down Mass Ave and find any sign that says Mass Ave).
4. There are not craters every five yards on the road.
5. Drivers do understand what stop signs mean and do understand right of way, i.e. left turners have to yield.
6. People don't honk you if you're 0.00001 second late when the light turns green.
7. There is no Big Dig!
8. You don't go over your handlebar after your front wheel gets caught in the stupid Green Line track.
9. There's no ice on the roads in winter.

and thus

10. You can ride your bike all year long!!!

1. i don't need no stinking lane markings
2. i always got where i needed to be...
3. i never had any problem with the street signs on mass ave.
4. it's not really all that bad...i got to like it.
5. i go when it's my turn, regardless of whether the cars yield or not.
6. oh, people honk here, trust me, they do.
7. what's wrong with the big dig?
8. don't ride with your wheels parallel to train tracks, or don't get close enough to them that your wheels get caught in them.
9. i kinda liked the ice. it made things interesting.
10. i DID ride my bike all year long. get some mittens and grow a pair.

i'd rather be in boston, where there are actual seasons, than this place, where it's always just "nice" and the drivers aren't so much assholic (as in boston) as they are completely oblivious to what's going on around them. that said, i think anywhere is better than the east bay. this place bites.

Years ago I did a bike tour in Wales and, like Boston, there were virtually no street signs anywhere. Theory was that this would serve to confuse the Germans if they ever invaded. So in Boston it must be to confuse the Redcoats if they ever invade again.

Here's another interesting tidbit that could help on occasion. In a lot of towns, the same street will change names once you cross the town line. So in Lexington, Waltham Street will take you to.....Waltham. Once over the line into Waltham, that same street becomes known as Lexington Street.

But, like everything else around here, there's no consistency to it's applicability.

Maybe the Redcoats will bring better street signs.....

The best way to avoid the potholes in this city is to ride in the middle of the lane. Potholes like the side of roads so if you stay in the middle you probably won't have any trouble with them. As for the cars and drivers that honk and scream at you, well they can go to hell. I will not put myself at risk just so they can get to a red light 15 seconds faster. OH and next time you are in the area SLOTH you should email me and maybe go for a little terror ride.

word. i don't know when i'll be back that way again. i don't fly, so i need like, three weeks free so i can take the bus, spend a week, then take the bus back out here.

A good way to get to the Arboretum is to take the linear path that parallels the Orange Line. It starts at Back Bay but you can pick it up behind the Orange Line Mass Ave. station. (If you don't want to ride Mass Ave down from Cambridge you can take sidestreets or become the first person to ever put their bike on one of the CT bus front bike racks--*someone* has to do it.) The path has one lane for cyclists and one for pedestrians, although they keep flipflopping. Occasionally the path turns into sidewalks and you have to find where it picks up again, but it's in good condition and takes you all the way down to Forest Hills. Scenery is old-brick-and-gardens for the first bit and industrial-chic as you go down thru Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. (You can one-up Cambridge Liberals by starting a sentence with "The other day when I was biking thru Roxbury Crossing...") On the way down you pass near Bikes Not Bombs (www.bikesnotbombs.org). Franklin Park, which has a zoo, and the Forest Hills Cemetery, which has installation art, are also down there next to the Arboretum. Not sure you can bike in the cemetery, you can't in Mt. Auburn Cem.
You can go back on the older, multi-use paths that take you thru the Emerald Necklace (park network designed by Olmsted). I seem to remember the path tries really hard to lose you at the Rt. 9 crossing. When you come out at Audubon Circle, if you do not want to try rotary cycling you can walk across...& shop for bike doodads at the new REI in the Landmark Center. The CT2 goes by there and could take you & bike back across the river, although it heads for MIT rather than Harvard.
Enjoy!
Neon

Thanks, Neon. I did try both those bikepaths, the one parallel to the Orange Line and the one that runs from Jamaica Pond to the Landmark Center. Yes, crossing rt 9 is tricky. I think bikepaths are great for commuting, but when I go for a fitness and endurance ride I don't want to deal with pedestrians and others who share the same path.

I did check out the CRW website more carefully. Having looked through their cue sheets, I found a few nice rides that are not too far from Fenway, where I live. There's one ride that runs from Harvard Square to Belmont and Waltham and back via Concord Ave. And then there's another nice one that runs around Newton and Needham.

Has any of you Bostonians checked out the websites of university cycling clubs around here? MIT and Harvard have really nice sites with maps and cue sheets. Those college cyclists seem to love riding to Concord. Perhaps I should try their routes out.

Again, thanks all for your valuable input. Ride safe and, who knows, I might run into you on the road. :-)