Boston Rides

[false_Aest]

Hey,

It seems like a few of you are in/around the Boston area. I've one 20 mile loop that I've been doing for a while but it's getting booooorrrrinnnnngggg.

I'm wondering if some of you might be willing to share one of your loops. If so, PM me.


Thanks
T.

[rsl]

Boston riding is great in my opinion! I used to live in Cambridge and rode in the western suburbs all the time.

Depends on where you're living, and whether you want to be able to just ride right from your doorstep, or if you're wanting/willing to drive somewhere and then ride.

If you're anywhere near Cambridge, I'd suggest hooking up with the Harvard group for some of their early morning rides. They leave from Peet's coffee in Harvard Square around 6:00 or 6:30 if I remember correctly. That'll get you familiar with the standard "Silver Hill Loop" out to Lexington/Lincoln, and once you know that you can create all sorts of other loops going to Concord, Carlisle, Weston.

They're a nice group of folks - mostly grad students and at varying levels in terms of cycling.

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/huca/

Man, I miss those rides.

[Ti Designs]

I miss those rides too - not that I've stopped riding, but the students don't show up any more. I was there on Wednesday morning, it looked like old guy on fixed gear day, three coaches in wool on fixed gears, no students. I would check to make sure they're riding before showing up...

As for local rides, I do plenty of them. There are hill rides on the ridge between Arlington and Winchester, flatish tempo rides around what's called the Allis loop, longer rides heading out to Acton or Harvard. By mid April I could be talked into heading out to Wachusett which brings the day's total mileage over 100 with some pretty good climbs.

As for learning good rides, there are these maps which have cue sheets on small cards which we sell at Wheelworks, it'll get you started on learning new routes. I have no sense of direction and I'm too stupid to read maps, that's how I get most of my base mileage.

[benb]

The harvard group is likely saturday morning world championships right now...

You can't go wrong heading out through lexington into concord, carlisle, weston, lincoln, acton, maynard, sudbury, etc.. not many bad roads out that way.

There are also the charles river wheelmen rides.. might want to hook up with them and you'll learn some good routes. A lot of their rides leave from needham out by Well's Ave. They tend to have a mix of speeds but the faster group always turns into a disorganized "race".

[dauwhe]

Charles River Wheelmen have zillions of rides on their web site:

http://www.crw.org/CueSheets/index.htm

Dave

[davids]

Where are you, exactly?

My morning rides are just south of the city - Milton, Quincy, Dedham...

[1centaur]

And I'll round out the Hub by praising North Shore rides- Hamilton, Topsfield, Groveland, West Newbury, etc.

Two tips for Massachusetts newbies - Rubell's bikemaps (at any LBS -worth their weight in gold) and motionbased.com, click on trail network,search for the towns you might want to ride through, select the road biking hits that come up and study those maps. The good/well-liked routes and roads will quickly become apparent.

[myette10]

And I'll round out the Hub by praising North Shore rides- Hamilton, Topsfield, Groveland, West Newbury, etc

These are nice areas. I've also ridden Gloucester/Essex/Ipswich/Rowley and there are lots of cyclists but the roads can be narrow and rough at times.

Central Mass is a bit better imho. Less traffic and fewer main roads required to get around. Plus we have some hills. NE Conn is better still, even less traffic and they actually repair their roads there (incredible, I know!). Western Mass... now that is the good stuff. Country roads, long climbs, light traffic, & great places to eat.

[Climb01742]

agree that many boston area roads are pretty beaten/chewed up right now. whether the towns and state will have the dough (or spend it) to repair will be an interesting question.

a simple route to find is rt. 117 beginning in waltham. take it west. you can take it all the way out to harvard (the town, not the college) for a good long ride, or detour off of it at all sorts of places to explore the western suburbs. i'm biased but it's a nice, varied area in which to ride.

[false_Aest]

Wow thanks guys!

I'm in JP and don't have access to a car but I'll definitely check the sites you mentioned.

I gave up riding a few years back in order to get myself to and through grad school. Now that I'm almost done it's time to get back to some serious riding.

God bless that very specific soreness one experiences the day after your first ride on a racing saddle--I had forgotten about it.


Cheers,
TommieT

[samcat]

...by picking up one of the CRW Fitness Rides out of Newton. Well cued, lovely scenic areas, varied terrian and distances, lowish traffic.

PH

[DRZRM]

Hey Tommie,

I'm in JP as well, and am pretty far out of riding shape, though I commuted most of the winter, so I'm not totally foreign to a saddle. I'd love to hook up for a ride. PM me, maybe we could even get a ride in this weekend. And if you are really fast, I'll bring you a cue sheet so you can head off on your own.

Wow thanks guys!

I'm in JP and don't have access to a car but I'll definitely check the sites you mentioned.

I gave up riding a few years back in order to get myself to and through grad school. Now that I'm almost done it's time to get back to some serious riding.

God bless that very specific soreness one experiences the day after your first ride on a racing saddle--I had forgotten about it.


Cheers,
TommieT

[Boundgear]

There are also new fast and slow rides that start at Cambridge bike at 8 am on Sunday. Some fast former and current messengers and some noodle legs like me. Slow ride splits off whenever people feel like it. Fixed, or multigear bike. All comers. The good stuff is that we start early enough that long rides (5 hour and up. Rides to worcester, RI, NH, etc) will happen as the season warms up.

[paczki]

I can show you a few really nice routes from JP. Basically go down the Arboretum, take Weld out to La Grange towards Dover. PM me.

It's the southern part of this, my favorite route:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/93423


And you're right near the Chestnut Hill Velodrome ( a great little route where you can do circles without stopping):

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/73222

[Alexi]

if you don't mind consumption of beer before and after a few members of Team Gigantic meet up wensday nights at The Otherside Cafe, current rides are 10 miles, but we'll be picking up as it gets warmer and we start to shed the winter fat