Gregory Wright - Best Bike Rides Cape Cod and the Islands: The Greatest Recreational Rides in the Area

For Rachel and our children
Hayley, Emma, Lukas, Myles, and Sophie

FALCON GUIDES

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Photos on pages 145, 160, 215, 268, 275, and 289 courtesy of Hayley C. Wright; photo on page 121 courtesy of Rachel S. Lajoie. All other photos are by the author.

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ISBN 978-1-4930-0755-4
ISBN 978-1-4930-1427-9 (ebook)

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The author and FalconGuides assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.

One of my best memories is of summer vacation and my familys many trips to Nickerson State Park and Coast Guard Beach. The first bike path I ever rode was the one at Salt Pond Visitor Center at Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham. I couldnt have been more than 10 years old, and it was a roller coaster of a ride that opened up to a beach with big surf. That ride is etched in my memory, one of the greatest joys of my life. The annual trip to the Cape almost always included swimming at Coast Guard Beach, a kettle pond in Brewster, or a hike along massive cliff beaches or through forest. I can still smell the scent of pine needles baking in the sun on those hot, summer days. Our daytime activities were often followed by a dinner of fresh lobster, steamers, or fried clams, and ice cream with my brothers and sisters. Always the ice cream. My father was a connoisseur of chocolate ice cream and clam shacks. One summer we finished with a bonfire and traditional clambake on the beach, with singing, laughter, and roasting marshmallows under the stars. I was hooked. Ill always remember the laughter.

My parents were eager to explore the vast outer region of Cape Cod made famous by so many writers and artists and preserved as a 43,500-acre national park in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. The Cape Cod National Seashore was an easy trip from Greater Boston. I remember seeing the Sagamore Bridge for the first time, which soon became synonymous with the real beginning of vacation. When I was a little boy, I actually believed our car tires would travel on top of the curved steel arches of the Sagamore Bridge. They looked like tracks to me, and it was an exciting possibility. Crossing the Cape Cod Canal was entering into another world, the symbolic separation from school, work, and the stresses of life on the other side. I can still remember feeling the sudden change in temperature upon crossing the bridgecooler in summer, warmer in winter. I remember my young nose and face filling with salty air, car windows always open in summer. I loved it here as a kid. Its why I moved here over twenty years ago, married here, and am raising a family here. I still love it. Its a great place to live and a great place to ride a bike. It is a place that is best seen riding a bike. I hope to see you out riding on the roads, trails, and beaches when you visit us and our large, friendly cycling community.

When given the opportunity to map, write, and photograph the forty best bike rides on Cape Cod and the islands, my first thoughts were, How much has already been written on the topic? and, What new could be written? After all, Cape Cod is only 65 miles long from Sandwich to Provincetown along its inner coastline, 20 miles wide at its widest, and only 1 mile at its narrowest near the end of the hook. While Cape Cod is a breathtakingly beautiful place, thats not a lot of room for bicycle routes. The roadways on Cape Cod and the Islands have changed very little in the past several decades, even centuries. Indeed, some road rides here are so scenic and beautiful no one would ever want to change them. I decided not to try. Striking a balance between old and new became important in deciding which rides could not be left out, even if weve all seen them before. Fortunately, there are more back roads and rides on Cape Cod and the islands than meet the eye, and the combinations of rides one can put together are surprisingly varied. I also chose to highlight in new and different ways some of the sights and attractions that have not changed. So much of the history and beauty of this place deserves a fresh look.

And while there are some things about this region that are timeless and never seem to changeelegant historic houses, gorgeous sunsets, and seemingly endless miles of barrier beachesthere also have been several changes in the cycling landscape over the past ten years, as well as the landscape of Cape Cod and the islands themselves. Cape Cod has become a much busier place, with heavy traffic in summer, especially during the peak vacation months of July and August. Many of the previously well-established routes cannot be recommended anymore due to the heavier traffic on those roads in summer, with some of those old back roads now resembling main roads year-roundrepaved and widened, the vehicular traffic increasing in speed and number. But positive changes in the areas cycling landscape have occurred, too.

For one, Massachusetts is consistently ranked as one of the most bicycle-friendly states in the country. Bicycling is getting friendlier on Cape Cod and the islands, too. The Cape Cod chapter of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) has played a very important role, educating children and local organizations on the Cape and islands, providing advocacy for cyclists and safe cycling. The Massachusetts Department of Transportations GreenDOT initiative promotes bicycling as one of its central goals. And Cape Cod National Seashore and the Cape Cod Commission are currently working on making Cape Codparticularly the stretch from Wellfleet to Provincetowna more enjoyable and safer experience, with input from the community and plans for a safer route between those towns. Cape Cod recently held its first-ever Bike Summit, which was organized by the Barnstable County Department of Human Services, the Town of Barnstable, the office of State Senator Dan Wolf, and the Cape Cod Chapter of MassBike to promote better and safer bicycling on Cape Cod. The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority recently published its Getting To and Through Cape Cod map to promote multimodal transportation, including bicycles. The political landscape for cycling on Cape Cod looks very bright indeed.

Another good change in the cycling landscape is an ever-growing number of bikeways, both on Cape Cod and the islands. I have included all the best ones in this book. The Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth has been extended and the newer Old Colony Rail Trail extending from the Harwich Bike Rotary to Chatham provides access to those two towns without vehicular traffic. The long-awaited westward extension of the Cape Cod Rail Trail looks like it is finally going forward, with bids having gone out in 2014 for the first phase of building from South Dennis to Yarmouth. The Province Lands Bike Trail in Provincetown has also recently undergone a great number of improvements since its original design in the 1960s. And the Nauset Trail in Eastham has been repaved and widened, with a new bridge over Nauset Marsh to replace one that was blown away in a recent storm. On Nantucket, there have been several miles of bike trails added since 2004, including the Hummock Pond Bike Path, the South Shore Bike Path, and an airport bike path that links to every other path on the island. Nantucket now has more than 30 miles of paved bike paths and Marthas Vineyard more than 40, with more scheduled to be built in the near future. Between Cape Cod and the islands there are more than 155 miles of paved bike (multi-use) paths, most of them family-friendly.