I rode out on the Minuteman Bike Path from Cambridge to Walden Pond, and then came back on a southern route through Waltham and Watertown. Lots of roads involved, but not too well-traveled on a Sunday. I had a great partner, who asked directions at exactly the right time to keep us from getting hopelessly lost.
We basically ended up taking this route almost exactly. It wasn’t our intention to go the whole way, since it had been raining and we weren’t optimistic about the weather keeping up. As a result, I didn’t pack anything to eat or drink (which I would have, if we planned on the full route). Nor did I wear a rain coat for reasons not quite clear, but my companion had a spare which worked perfectly. Nor did we study the route carefully, since the plan was to go out on the Minuteman Trail and come back once the weather started to decline.
But the weather didn’t decline, and so when we made it to Bedford, we decided to forge ahead to Walden Pond, our original destination. There is a bike shop right at the end of the trail, and the man there gave us two alternative routes. The first took us directly to Concord Town Center and then a short hop to Walden Pond. The latter, “more scenic ” route, would have taken us back through Lexington Center and then (by way of Hartwell Ave, Wood St and Mass Ave) through the Minute Man Historic Park, and then through Concord Center.
Walden Pond was quite lovely, although the water was reportedly cold (I didn’t want to get soggy for the trip back, so I report from others), and there was obviously no sun.
I had only a vague sense that the route back involved Trapelo Rd – one I simply assumed, incorrectly, would meet with the road through Walden Pond. This was a poor assumption, and we ended up a few miles south of this “direct” route. Instead, a kind person told us to simply take Route 117 all the way back through Weston, Waltham, and Watertown from the West with wishes of wellness. While this got us there, the map makes it seem a little indirect. It’s also got a decent number of rolling hills.
Somewhere in Weston my companion got a flat. While she had a spare tube, it was of the variety that needs an adapter, which she lacked (as well as a pump). Luckily, after my run-in with a pothole in the Bronx last month, I had my own flat fix kit, including a spare and the compressed air. I would say she did it like a pro (except getting the tire off, which I helped with). On Memorial Drive, the tire had deflated again, and there was a clear hissing and piercing in the tire. A case for a patch kit?
It reminded me of the ride I took out to Bonnelli Park in San Dimas with some friends in college. I got a flat – competely off my radar – and a stranger used his flat kit to fix it for me (minutes before my friend Gen arrived with a spare).
Unlike the map, we took Mt. Auburn Street and not the Charles river route. That latter has separately been recommended to me, so I pass that on: you are probably going to enjoy the river route the most. The one caveat is that if the path is anything like other bike paths around here, it may be craggy and narrow. In the worst case, you can backtrack or detour and take the street. But if you’re considering the route, you should know that already.
In the end, I’m surprised we traveled only about 35 miles. I suppose the total biking time was about 4 hours, which gives you an average speed I would have expected given the terrain and the pace. But not knowing the landmarks and constantly worrying about directions and cross-streets made my perception much longer.
Some other observations. There are a lot of Lexington Roads. I feel like we passed half a dozen on the way back. Watertown has a very big Armenian Community, as we passed quite a number of Armenian businesses, including some kind of Armenian festival. The bike shop we stopped at had these laminated bike routes, which seem really handy and a nice balance between having nothing (adventure!) and having a map (tedious). I’m thinking I may look at them to get some other trip ideas.
