Boston rides?

[archibella]

Hi ladies- I was wondering if anyone's ever vacationed in/around Boston and taken one of the bike tours I've been reading about? I'll be there around the 4th of July, and will have one day where my friends all have to work... a bike tour sounds like a fun way to see some of the city or countryside. I wouldn't mind doing some road riding at the city edges if its available. I'm not planning on flying with my bike however, so It needs to be a tour that supplies bikes (although I'm planning on taking my own helmet and riding gear). If I have a choice, I'd like to do one with more adults than kids... Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[DeniseGoldberg]

I don't know anything about tours in Boston other than bike club rides, and you'd certainly need to have a bike for one of those. I just checked the Belmont Wheelworks site, and they appear to have rentals at their Wheelworks Too store, which is just around the corner from the main store. It's probably worth a phone call to them to check it out. (Wheelworks is a pretty major bike shop located in Belmont, MA. There may be other shops around that rent bikes too - I just really don't know where to send you because I've never needed to rent a bike here!)

Here's a link to the rental information: http://www.wheelworks.com/repair.htm#Rentals.

Charles River Wheelmen (http://www.crw.org) is a big Boston area biking club that has rides every Saturday & Sunday. The July rides aren't on the web site yet since they only show the current and next months, but you should be able to see if there is a ride that appeals to you that weekend within the next couple of weeks.

Good luck, and if you have other questions - ask away! There are a number of Boston area riders on this board; maybe someone else has a better answer for you.

--- Denise

[petals]

If you can get a ride to Cape Cod-Hyannis, take the Ferry to Martha's vineyard. Just off the Ferry they have a bike rental shop and you can bike tour Marthas Vineyard. Beautiful Bike Ride!! It follows the shore! :D :D

[Crankin]

Another option would be to take public transportation to Arlington and ride the Minuteman Bikeway to Bedford and back. This is a heavily used bike path, but during the week it would be fine. I know there are bike shops along the path in Lexington and Bedford that rent bikes. I think there is one in Arlington; you could check that out. This would allow you to stop and see some of the historic things in Lexington. It's a fairly short ride to Concord from there, if you were really adventureous (not on the path, though).

There is a commercial bike tour of Boston that leaves from the Common; they provide bikes. However, this is city riding. I am sure this is listed on the web somewhere, under tourism things. I see it advertised in the Boston Globe every week.