Boston Cycling Information

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Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

There is a chance that I will be moving to Boston within the next month.

Has anybody lived there recently who may have information about cycling clubs, shops, advocacy groups, bike lanes, bike safety, etc? Thanks, any links would be much appreciated.

Anonymous's picture
Carol (not verified)
Do a Search...

...on this message board. There was a thread a couple of months ago about bike shops in Boston.

Anonymous's picture
brain (not verified)
Boston

Lived in Boston a good while back (95 - 98). Visited more recently and bought a bike from Wheelworks (www.wheelworks.com), which is the 2nd bike I've bought there and always treated me well.

Was riding mountain bikes back then and there are much better options than in NY for mountain biking.

Don't remember any bike lanes to talk of, but the bike path along the Charles is nice if it fits with your commute. I lived on the Arlington / Cambridge border and had a nice commute along the Charles in the summer.

Boston drivers are the worst I've ever seen. I've lived in London, lots of other places in the UK you've never heard of, Paris, New York, Seattle and Boston, and Boston still is by far the worst for drivers. We recently moved to Seattle and my wife and I are still shocked at people stopping their cars to let us and the kids cross the road. Even more shocking when they actually let me as a cyclist cross the traffic lanes and give me space!

I guess the road bike scene isn't quite NYC. Central Park still has the best collection of expensive bikes I've ever seen ;-)

Really enjoyed our time in Boston, but as I said it was more mountain biking than road. Sure there are great road biking opportunities though and it's a smaller city than NYC which means less riding to hit the country.

Anonymous's picture
Steve (not verified)
Boston Bike Clubs

Here are some links to Boston Bikes Clubs.

Charles River Wheelmen with good links to other resources
http://www.crw.org/

Crack O'Dawn Riders - daily rides from Newton, leave at 5:45am, strong riders
http://www.crackodawn.com/

The Carles River bike path is roughly a 17 mile loop from The Museum of Science to Watertown along the south and north banks of the river. Getting on road in Watertown will take you out pretty quickly beyond I-95 (Rt 128) where there outs lots of good roads. There is also the Minutemen bike path which is about 15 -17 miles and takes you through Cambridge, Arlington, Lexington to Bedford. From Bedford you can take a nice loop through Carlysle to Concord and back to the Minutemen Trail. It is relatively flat and is very full of cyclists. The drivers are very bad in the city.

Steve

Anonymous's picture
fhacklander (not verified)

i underscore steve's suggestions...the weekly Charles River Wheelmen fitness ride is a great oppty to meet other riders in the area. The ground covered also overlaps a portion of the crack o' dawn routes (at least, in part on the weekday rides). i would point out, though, that many of these rides, especially the crack o' dawn rides, originate in newton. and, based on ride schedules, i would venture to say that you almost need a car to get to the various starting points (unless, of course, you live in newton).

one ride not mentioned is the harpoon brewery b2b ride. this is a great ride that takes you from boston to harpoon's brewery in vermont and is not to be missed. details can be found on the harpoon brewery website.

finally, wrt the comment regarding boston drivers, it is truer of drivers in the city itself rather than the surrounding suburbs, especially in those areas where cyclists are common. w/ few exceptions, i never had any issues while riding in the area.

cycling trips