Boston to Concord and Back

[kaboom]

Hi all,
I am heading to Boston this weekend for a conference, but I will have some free time, so I was thinking about renting a bike and heading out to Concord. Looking at the various routes on mapmyride.com, it looks like there is a 200-ft climb or so to get out of Boston. Is this a climb I can plug away at and crawl up?

Overall, I guess I am looking for a recommended route from the Back Bay area out to Concord.

Thank you,
Abbey

[SheFly]

There is a bikepath that runs from Cambridge all the way to Bedford, and then continues (as a dirt path) to Concord. Unfortunately, if the weather is nice, it gets VERY busy on the weekends, and you may want to avoid it...

There shouldsn't be any significant climbing to get from Boston out to Concord - just some small rollers. I live out closer to Concord and could help with that part of the route if someone could get you out as far as Lexington.....

SheFly

[Crankin]

If you do take the Minuteman Path to the end, the dirt path that continues definitely needs a mountain bike. It is very muddy. I would recommend getting to Cambridge, get on the extension of the Minuteman Path that starts in Cambridge and take that to Bedford. Then, you can ride into Concord on the road, on Rt. 62 into Concord Center.
Riding in Boston is scary and unless you are used to city riding, I would say stick to the paths, until you get at least to Arlington. I live in Concord and would be happy to help you in any way.
There shouldn't really be any hills on this ride. maybe a few rollers.

Robyn

[CycleChic06]

I live in Arlington and often ride to work in Cambridge and am constantly riding out to Concord and beyond from my house. As someone who rides in both directions, I suggest that unless you want to brave the Boston streets, I would suggest this. Bypass Boston and Cambridge and hop on the T. Take the redline to Alewife and either:

1. get on the minuteman bike path which goes right by the T stop and follow that out to Bedford then 225 to 62 to Concord like Robyn suggested. But I agree, the bikepath gets frustratingly busy on the weekends.

2. Another option would be to taking the T to alewife then taking Mass Ave. through Arlington and Lexington. Then my favorite part, in Lexington Center the road splits, stay on Mass Ave., go up then down a really fun hill. Make a right on 2A, follow this up and down the rolling hills through Minuteman National Park then make a right on Lexington Road staying on 2A and it takes you right into Concord Center past Orchard House and Nathaniel Hawthorne's House.

Seriously though, riding in Boston and Cambridge sucks, it's dangerous to drive here, and even worse to ride these roads on a bike. To make matters worse, the streets don't make any sense and it's extremely difficult to give directions and very easy to get lost.

Another option if you are staying in Backbay is to ride along the Esplanade. There's a bike path that runs on both the Boston and Cambridge sides of the Charles River and it's a really beautiful ride and it's totally flat. I would go for this ride instead, you get amazing views of Boston and ride right past Harvard's and MIT's campuses.

Good luck!