BioBus Bike Blog

If you haven’t been to one of Boston Bikes Bike Fridays yet, you’re missing out. Join a horde of commuters pedaling into the city and enjoy free breakfast at the City Hall Plaza–all before the usual 9 am work day begins! There will be plenty of people–including the UA crew–hanging out, talking about bikes, and enjoying free food before returning to the daily grind.

We’ll also be able to take registrants for the Tour de Farms at City Hall Plaza. Sign-up on Friday or sooner to reserve your spot for this awesome annual agricultural ride. There are only two Bike Fridays left this summer, so make sure you don’t miss out on this morning party for people that love bikes.

It’s also not too early to start thinking about Hub on Wheels, the annual ride through the (car-free!) city streets of Boston. We’re currently taking reservations for hybrid rentals, and always encourage you to book early to for a discount and to guarantee we have a bike for you. There are three different distances available, so all types of riders are encouraged to participate in this unique event!

It’s September already, which means the leaves are going to be turning all kinds of beautiful colors in Boston soon. But don’t worry yet, there are still plenty of days of great riding weather left. And another great ride is coming up, bringing together cyclists in the city. The Hub on Wheels Citywide Bike Ride & Festival takes places on September 23. Bike riders from Boston and the surrounds come in and choose from either a 25 mile ride or a 45 mile loop. Even cooler, Storrow Drive will be limited only to bikes during the rides for a car-free experience!

Hub on Wheels is a part of the Boston Digital Bridge Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing technology, like new computers and comprehensive technology training, to Boston Public School students and their families. You can sign up to sponsor the BDBF here.

The festival also includes food and entertainment. Last year I attended with Urban AdvenTours (we had a booth and rented bikes to loads of excited cyclists), and it was a blast. It even began to rain towards the end of the ride, but that didn’t deter all the eager riders from enjoying themselves out there.

Check out the Hub on Wheels site for all the details. The festival takes place at City Hall Plaza, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA.

By the way, I didn’t make it to the MassBike Festival due to an evil stomach bug. I was so disappointed! If you made it, please share your experiences in the comments section so I, and anyone else who couldn’t make it, can live vicariously through you.

Michelle

I am so psyched. This weekend is MassBike’s fifth annual bike festival and Pie Race, which means hordes of Massachusetts bike lovers will be heading out to Verrill Farm in Concord for a day of bike rides, food, and fun. MassBike is a cycling advocacy group working to protect Massachusetts residents’ bicycling rights, and they hold a yearly ride to bring cyclists together and have a little fun doing what they love to do: riding bikes! There are a bunch of rides to choose from—the Tour de Lincoln, the Gardens & Rivers Ride, the gastronomically intriguing Ice Cream Headache IV—covering anywhere from six to sixty plus miles. Mmm, plus Redbones lunch is included in registration.

I was at last year’s festival and it was pretty sweet. I did the Canoeing Ride ‘N Splash where I rode a few miles out to the Concord River with a good-sized group of people, meandering through beautiful, green tree-lined streets. At the river, we temporarily abandoned our bikes to hop in canoes for a refreshing paddle. It was a nice mix of scenery, going from pavement below our tires to a cool, revitalizing waterway. Back at the festival grounds, cyclists shared details of their rides over lunch, chomping down on hamburgers (or Portabella burgers for the veggies, like me). There were all kinds of booths to visit while digesting and waiting for the much talked about Pie Race. I was clueless last year (lured away by the temptation of dairy-fresh ice cream) and left before it began, but this year I plan on sticking around for the madness. The Pie Race is this ingenious battle of the bikers and of the bellies. Riders have to cover six miles with three stops where they have to dismount their bikes and eat a slice of pie at each stop. There are two pie stops mid-race and a final slice to be eaten at the finish line. Yummy.

Next week I’ll give you a little update on how the festival goes, Pie Race and all. I still haven’t decided which ride to do. As for more organized rides offered by groups in Boston, the Hub on Wheels Citywide Ride is coming up in a month. Last year I didn’t participate in the ride, but I had fun helping outfit riders with Urban AdvenTours rental bikes. They all had a blast. I’ll be passing on info on the HoW ride too, so keep an eye out.

One other thing to mention: Add Urban AdvenTours as a friend on Myspace. We like keeping in touch with our friends from Boston and all over the world. Stop by, say hello, and reconnect with us.

By the way, here’s the link again for the MassBike Festival—info can be found on the MassBike website.

Michelle

Hi friends of UA, it’s been a couple of weeks that I’ve been blogging and I can’t believe I haven’t even introduced myself. My name’s Michelle and I’ll be posting blogs once a week about what’s going on in the city of Boston as far as bike rides and Urban AdvenTours info. I love Boston and spreading the word about experiencing it on a bicycle. I live out in Cambridge and enjoy riding my bike around the city. In fact, the other day I was out on the Minuteman Bikeway, totally digging the all the greenery lining the path. There were loads of people out riding bikes, running, and walking—a perfect way to spend a summer’s day. I stopped at Spy Pond (picture above) for a little break, contemplating whether or not to try and make friends with a group barbequing so I could partake in some of the corn-on-the-cob they were grilling. Instead of mooching goodies, I hopped back on my bike and headed out to Lexington. All in all, it was a nice relaxing way to enjoy my day off. Which leads me to how you can enjoy some self-guided bike riding around the city of Boston. Obviously we believe taking a bicycle tour with Urban AdvenTours is an excellent way to explore Boston, but renting a bike and taking yourself around is another great way to do things. You can rent a bike to extend your UA tour or just do the whole Boston exploration on a bike on your own. If you’re extending your ride and you saw all the main attractions of the city with Urban AdvenTours, you can rent a bike and take a leisurely ride along scenic bike paths or ride further outside the city. If you’re going on your own, you can build a personalized route and itinerary. That’s the beauty, it’s up to you.

There are some really beautiful paths to ride in Boston that take you off city streets. As I mentioned earlier, there’s the Minuteman Bikeway, a path running 11 plus miles from Davis Square in Somerville through Arlington and Lexington all the way out to Bedford. It’s a paved pathway running behind residences and businesses, with plenty of cool places to stop and hang out like Spy Pond, Arlington Center, and the Lexington Green.

For scenic city riding, check out the Paul Dudley White Charles River Bike Path along the Charles River. It extends 14 miles through Boston, Cambridge, Newton, and Watertown. There are also the Stony Brook Reservation paths, snaking through the Turtle Pond Parkway, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park, and the Mystic River paths, covering Somerville, Medford, and Everett. Check out MassBike and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation for more paths to ride.

Also, if you are interested in getting even further outside of the city, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority allows for bikes on the subway, buses, and commuter rail trains. Recently, tons of buses have been outfitted with bike racks, which is great way for getting your bike out to the paths. There are some restrictions for subway riding so check out the MBTA bike page for rules. Also, the MBTA has a special program to get you and your bike out to the North Shore this summer for beach riding.

So how will you get ahold of a bike to rent? First, we can deliver rentals to your hotel or to any location with the Urban Mobile, our biodiesal (that’s right, vegetable oil–powered!) bike delivery truck or you can pick up rentals at Landry’s Bicycles. You can also book rentals online.

Contact us with any questions at info@urbanadventours.com. Now get off your computer, get outside, and on a bicycle!