Trip to Truro

I grew up on the coast, and I'm accustomed to many US beaches, particularly in the south. Recently I found the most dramatic beaches may be those of the outer cape along Wellfleet and Truro.

The outer cape is an easy place to get to from Boston with the ferry (Boston Harbor Cruises & Baystate Cruise Company), especially since it is easy to carry bikes on board, even cargo bikes fit easily. The corners getting on the ferry and through the ferry cabin are tight and require some rear wheel lifting, and the gangway in P'Town is on the narrow side. I've heard that a loaded Longtail will fit, but I'm not sure about a Workcycles Bakfiets. All in all very doable and easier than getting a cargo bike on & off the Downeaster.

Of course once in P'Town there are many activities and places to stay. We visited many times before but can be a bit crazy, and we were looking for something more relaxing. So, we headed south to the sleepy town of Truro. The ride along Shore Road is nice with views of Massachusetts Bay with numerous vacation cottages along beach line. It is flat and a little windy.

But once Shore Road leaves the shore it becomes very hilly and remains so through Truro and into Wellfleet. When riding an overloaded cargo bike (or with a kid and a full basket) the ride becomes more work and less fun. There are no mountains on the Cape, but don't let the hills on the outer Cape fool you, they are steep and relentless when it comes to casual touring. I haven't found a flatter route, which is frustrating since there once was a railroad to P'Town, much of which is now a rail trail. But that flat route across Truro was dissected by homes.

Worse than the hills was US 6, a four-lane highway that provides the only link through Truro. This is a one mile section along US 6 from Shore Road to Castle Road, with no parallel route. Despite the generous shoulder, this one mile of cycling with uncomfortably fast traffic sucks all of the enjoyment out of the bicycle ride. We won't cycle to Truro again until we find an alternate route, but many families are less daunted by fast traffic.

An ocean side alternate might exist using the Old Kings Highway, which may be less hilly but mostly unpaved. An exploratory trip is in order. Some good friends tried a similar route with mixed results.

And then we arrived at the Truro hostel and all was good in the world again. The hostel is an old life saving station, precursor to the Coast Guard where men were stationed to rescue shipwrecked crew and passengers. It is at the end of North Pamet Road, within sight of the beach. And a nice beach it is.

It was June and the water was very cold, but we enjoyed building sand castles, flying kites, watching the seals swim in the surf, walking along the beach and the nearby trails. Not to mention the book reading, and relaxing. Well, as much relaxation as can be had with a toddler running about.

The hostel, like most, is no frills and comfortable with a large sitting room and spacious dinning room/kitchen, with plenty of fridge space and cooking implements. We brought all of our food, but next time we would buy all of the heavy stuff, if not everything, at the upscale market at the corner of South Pamet and Truro Center Road (the premium is more than offset by not carrying as much).

The hostel is maybe 100 yards from the beach, and they have all of the beach stuff you could want, chairs, towels, blankets, umbrellas, buckets, shovels, etc. We would leave all that home next time too. The beach is a wonderful place to walk (in fact I walked my son out their both nights to lull him to sleep in the unfamiliar place). Along the beach I could easily imagine walking all the way back to P'Town. In addition to the beach, there are numerous inland trails, just on the other side of the dunes. These are mostly woodland, but often wind up to the top of grassy dunes (read small hills) with great views of the ocean, and sometimes back to the bay. I hear these trails parallel the beach much of the length of the cape.

All in all this was a great destination and trip. It will be perfect when I find an alternate to US6, so next time we'll stay in P'Town. It may not be soon, but we will go to Truro again. If you would like to hear a different perspective of a Cape Cod bike trip check out our friend's trip a couple years ago.

Portland

Portland, ME has become on of my more favorite nearby cities to visit. It is near and similar to Boston, yet the differences are striking.

Like Boston it was settled on a peninsula, unlike Boston they did not fill the surrounding harbors and bays. The city still feels like a peninsula with water surrounding three sides. The architecture is similar, but without the multiple high-rises. The streets are still narrow, and the traffic isn't overwhelming.

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I took our son to Portland, and one of the nicest things for him was the abundance of parks. There were many playgrounds, but the open space, fields, trees, ponds and hills alone were entertainment enough. Deering Oaks Park is particularly nice.

Our friends, Dorea & Angela, over at Carfree with Kids recommended the Eastern Promenade, above. They also noted that at the top of the hill is a great cafe and next to it is a little market where we also got lunch. This area is probably one of my favorites, with nice restaurants, beautiful old homes, the signal tower and an expansive view of the boats sailing across Casco Bay.

The promenade is near the top of a hill and it can be a long ride up to from the bike path, but well worth it. Speaking of bike paths, Portland has an ample supply. The back cove trail is nice with a crushed stone surface. Our favorite is the one along the bay just below the Eastern Promenade, it even has a narrow gauge tourist train, what more could one ask for?

The bike paths are primarily flat. The rest of the city is quite hilly. With modest traffic on a rather small peninsula with the abundant bike paths, cycling around the city remains a pleasure. Even the random cobble stone streets can be fun.

There is, of course, more to do than just bike around and go to parks. Here is a hand full of things we either did and would recommend, or would like to have time to have done ourselves:

• The Standard Baking Company, down by the old port, by far the best bakery I've been to.
• Portland Velocipede, a pleasant bike shop and they carry just about any urban utility bike that you may want, which includes a couple different bakfietsen!
• Local 188, a fabulous dinner and even better drinks. I would recommend a reservation.
• Children's Museum of Maine, we didn't get here but I've heard many good things.
• Casco Bay Lines, which is the local ferry service. Of particular fun in Portland as there are so many islands that you could go visit.
• Duck Fat Restaurant, after we returned I heard of this place and was sad that I missed it.

As for lodgings, we stayed at the Holiday Inn downtown. They had a small bike rack in the parking garage, which wasn't secure but was out of sight. It also had a door directly into the hotel and elevators making loading & unloading easy. The indoor pool was an added bonus.

The price was reasonable, and on the lower end for downtown lodgings. Some of the B&Bs are similar or less expensive. On past trips, we once stayed at the The Inn at St. John, which is inexpensive, quirky and a little far from the center of downtown. On another time we stayed at the The Percy Inn, which was a nice B&B on the border of the arts district and the west end neighborhoods, but a little far from the Old Port where most of the action is.

Portland is a fun place to be, and so is getting there from Boston. The Downeaster, an Amtrak train from Boston to Portland, is a great way to get there. The seats are comfortable, the conductors are helpful and the cafe car has decent food. For those, like us, wishing to take their bikes, well that is easy. The train has a large baggage car with bike racks, which we had used on a previous bike trip to Maine.

But this time we also had a cargo bike instead of two standard sized bikes. I knew it could fit in the baggage car, but I wasn't sure that would all work out. Luckily the train crew worked with us to get the baggage car open so we could get the two bikes in. Initially they wanted to put both bikes into the coach section; maybe they do not use the baggage car for bikes once summer has passed. Once in Portland the crew helped us get the bikes off the train, which would have been difficult to do it alone since the platform where the baggage car stops is 4' lower the car deck.

Worried that I would have to lift the bike back up the 4' when we left, asked the station agent for extra time to load. The agent requested that we load with business class. To our pleasure, they stopped the business class and baggage cars at the high section of the platform so we didn't have to lift the bikes.

I would definitely take large cargo bikes on the Downeaster again. Though I would definitely ask the Boston agent to let us board earlier.

Guest Post: Family Biking - Cape Cod

Brian was kind enough to invite my wife and I to write up our Memorial Day bike trip through Cape Cod on his fine, fine blog, so I (Kyle) will give it my best shot and try not to break anything in here.

First, a tiny bit of background.  We are a couple in our mid-30's with a 21 month old girl, we own no cars and 6 bikes, and we're chiefly practical city bikers.  The young'un has been in a bike trailer from 5 months old, and now in a Bobike seat for the last 2 months.  Thus, in contemplating a multi-day bike trip with our daughter along, we had a fairly good idea what to expect from her.  The longest trip with her in the Bobike prior to this was probably 3 hours of seat time in one day, possibly 4.  For this Cape trip, we were estimating more like 6 a day, with breaks of course.

 Next, a quick blurb about gear and setups.  My wife rode a 70's Phillips 3 speed with a new Sturmey-Archer 3 speed rear hub and an added front caliper brake.  Her bike has a big steel + cedar japanese front rack, and a cheap aluminum rear rack.  I rode a new Trek Belleville which comes with a Shimano Nexus 3 speed rear hub and a generator front hub to run lights.  The Trek comes with stout front and rear racks, and the whole thing is powder coated.  Each bike cost us about $700 with everything on it, in its current state of tune, I would guess.  Each weighs around 40 lb's, I am guessing, and mine is heavier than hers... I know I don't want to actually weigh mine, for fear of being cripplingly depressed.  I'm happier not knowing.  On each of our front racks, we tossed on a big open Coleman aluminum-framed basket, held on with one bungee cord (visible below). On the rear racks we brought 3 panniers, and a bungee net containing a huge beach blanket.  So, the trip...

We took the Provincetown ferry out from Boston friday afternoon at 5:30, which put us in P-Town by 6:30.

The ferry was a pleasant experience, and we'd both strongly recommend it.  The bikes are secured by staffers using stout rope, and I didn't see anyone's bike so much as twitch during the ride, though we did have calm seas. There is basic food in the galley, a full bar, enough seating for everyone, and the views are spectacular.  We even saw a whale!  I got no picture of it, sadly, but I saw the back and the fluke, and it was my first real whale sighting.

Once on shore, we biked to the motel we'd found.  If you're going to do this, finding places who will rent to you for just one night can be tricky.  The hotels, motels, and b&b's of the cape would really, really like you to stay for 3 nights at least on Memorial Day weekend. You, on the other hand, would not like to stay for 3 nights... you have places to bike.  What we did was book it all last minute, literally the day before, and Google/Yelp/call like hell until you track someone down who has vacancy.  At this late point they're pretty happy to get one night's worth of dough from someone instead of nothing for any rooms available. We had to find places with a crib, too, so if you don't have that hangup you'll have even better luck.  A basic understanding of Guest Industry economics and some blind faith will serve you well here.

Depending on how many days you have to do this and where you will end the biking portion of your journey, you could be doing anything from 20 to 60 miles a day.  In our case, we did 30-something a day, roughly, plus excursions, and it was very manageable even with the kiddo and the slow bikes.  Also, we lucked out on heat - it was cloudy but dry, with temps in the 60's and 70's for the most part.

Loaded up and ready, Saturday morning in the fog:

6A leaving Provincetown:

The northern section of 6A from PTown to North Truro is pretty pleasant to bike.  The traffic was minimal for us, drivers were slow and considerate, and people are generally not in a giant rush. There's really nothing else to choose from, so you'll wind up on it. The cape feels skinny here - you can see the water on one side and sense that it isn't far off on the other side. Up here it's still really VacationLand.  Soon it will be less so.

At North Truro, laid-back slacker Route 6A joins up with its faster, loudmouth big city cousin Route 6 Proper, and the ride becomes less pleasant. There are 2 lanes each way, cars go as fast as they can manage (70+), but there is a decent 4-foot shoulder, so the more hardened riders (and especially those without a toddler between their elbows) can probably stay on 6 and make bullet-like progress south, if that's desired. We opted out.

The only problem with opting out is that every road except 6 between North Truro and Truro looks like you tossed a handfull of cooked spaghetti at the map.  Also there are hills. If you're on a carbon-framed jobby with 4 lb's of gear total on it, have no fear.  If, however, you're on a powder coated steel battleship with 75 cubic liters of stuff and two breathing life forms on it, the hills will be a bit of a challenge. It's manageable, there are almost no cars - we rode side by side - and the scenery is woodsey and wonderful.  But this is the one section of the whole trip that felt like work. Pull over and have a beer to shore up your fortitude, but watch for ticks...  there are tons of them, and you are delicious.



Wellfleet is where we had lunch. The oysters are indeed worthy of the hype, my wife assures me.  (I only eat them cooked, and [20 miles into an 80 mile trip + bike shorts ≠ time to try out new raw seafoods]). At Wellfleet we joined back up with interstate-wannabe Route 6 for a few miles, until the rails-to-trails bike trail started just after South Wellfleet. There was a sign pointing it out to the left, so we carefully merged over and rode down through a parking lot, up a path, and there it was...

Once the bike path starts, the miles begin to fly past. My wife commented that she felt no sense of progress on the path, because there were so few things pasing by with which to mark the distance.  I, on the other hand, had a gps unit on my handlebars quietly doing a bunch of math and whispering encouraging things to me. I suddenly saw a huge difference in both our whole-trip total moving average speed (from 9.8 to 10.4mph in about 1 hour), and the distance left to our destination as measured in a straight line. There is a tool for every job, and if your job is mile munching by bike, then the Cape Cod Rail Trail is the right tool.  Some history on it:

 

"Somewhere around the elbow" was our target range when we were trying to find a place to stay for Night 2, and we found an incredible place in Chatham that I will gladly name-plug here: Pleasant Bay Villiage.  They have what I would lovingly call a "compound," consisting of a motel-row front, behind which are paths and ponds and trees and fountains, populated with small houses and other nicer rooms for rent as well.  Everything is landscaped in a very japanese style, it's family friendly without being noisey, and the staff was VERY friendly and helpful to the last man.  The dog that hangs around the front office is still the largest I have ever seen, even after having slimmed down from 200lb's to 135 on a diet of frozen carrots.  They also have a nice pool and a hot tub, though I cannot guarantee that the latter will not be clogged with 14 men in t-shirts and sunglasses discussing golf.

We settled in, got the baby fed, and put the integrated bottle opener to good use.

Sunday morning we had to use more 2-lane busy roads to get back to the rail trail, which was less than ideal.  Cars south of Chatham (Training Field Rd, George Rider Rd) were uniformly doing 15-25 over the speed limit and not pleased to see us laboring along on the right shoulder. The worst offenders were work pickups, a dump truck, and a guy in an unidentifiable bondo-grey mid-60's Dodge with open pipes who thought it would be great fun to dump the throttle once he got right alongside us. Less than an hour after we started, we got back onto the path next to Chatham Municipal Airport.

From here it's smooth sailing west all the way until you hit 134, at which point the bike path ends. This is the end of it... some bricks, a map, and a parking lot.

After this you're back on surface roads as you head west.  We incorrectly headed north for a block or two, as seen below from the GPS track data, then realized it and went south.

Then you pick up Highbank Rd going west northwest, which leads you pleasantly enough up to 6A near Yarmouth.  6A is pretty decent for bikes.  It winds and twists gently, the hills aren't imposing or frequent, and the towns you're going through are incredibly quaint.  We had a great meal for lunch in Barnstable at the Barnstable Restaurant & Tavern.  The outdoor patio is wonderful, the Cape Cod IPA (brewed right down the street) punches above its weight class, and the mediterranean stew hit the spot.

 Back to the business of going west.  6A looks like this...

...and then this...

...and then you're in Sandwich, more or less.

Sandwich is a cute / serviceable little town with some basic amenities but not a ton to choose from.  We stayed at the Belfry Inne / Painted Lady Inn, which are side by side and share ownership and operations.  That night there was a wedding, so we couldn't eat in the Belfry, and were left with slim pickin's.  We ended up calling in an order to a pizza/burrito joint, and the $24 meal wasn't amazing. The Painted Lady is an old mansion-turned-hotel that has excellent bone structure but whose interior has been regretably slathered in whore's makeup. The decor consists of high-density kitsch and a collection of awful folksy "humor" paintings, far too many of which feature half naked mermaids. Noise travels through the floors like water through a screen, so if you stay here, aim for the highest floor you can get. We stayed at ground level and heard every footstep and dropped TV remote above us with unwanted clarity, in addition to chatter from people in the small "bar" room across the hall from us. Drink some beer and bring earplugs.

Sure is pretty, though!

Getting home... We had planned to ride up to Plymouth to take the commuter rail back to Boston, but it's been closed every weekend for awhile now for repairs.  That left us with an easier-yet-pricier option, the P&B Bus Line which picks up right over the Sagamore bridge.  It took maybe 30 minutes from Sandwich to the bus pickup spot, which is in the parking lot next to the Shell gas station.  Tickets are sold inside the Shell, and 2 adults + 2 bikes cost us $44.  The bus was clean, had good a/c, was at less than 1/2 capacity, and had us home in an hour flat. It picked up once an hour, so if you're close by at the end of your trip and don't feel like slagging it out all the way to Plymouth, this was a good option.

Specifics like trail on/off points, gps coordinates, etc, available upon request.  Cheers and thanks again Brian!

-Kyle, Megan & Annika