Coronavirus got you down? Social distancing have you going crazy? Here’s an idea: hop on your bike and take a ride to Boston.
I know, I know. It seems far. It sounds wild. Won’t that take hours? Who do I think you are, Kate Courtney? Here’s the thing: it’s actually really easy. It’s almost completely flat. A substantial portion of it is on dedicated pathways. It takes the same amount of time — if not less! — than taking the bus to Oak Grove and then riding in on the orange line. It’s also, you know, free. I did it in 40 minutes, and that’s including stopping to take a bunch of pictures the whole time.
Maybe you are someone who still has to go to the city and are trying to avoid public transit. Maybe you’ve always wanted to commute by bike — maybe you’re trying to reduce the amount of toxic pollution you spew into the lungs of the children in your community — but were intimidated. Maybe you’re just looking to pass the time, or get some takeout from Clover or something. If you’re going to Boston during this time of great disruption, don’t drive. Ride your bike. Give it a shot. You’ll be blown away at how easy it is.
Keep on reading for a route breakdown!
Main Street: Melrose to Malden
I started on Main Street. You probably will too. Head toward Oak Grove. It’s easy and familiar, but Main Street Melrose unfortunately lacks cycling infrastructure, or striping of any sort. The portion of Main Street from Wyoming to the Malden line is due for repaving in the next 12–18 months, so hopefully that will change.
As it stands, once you enter Malden, you gain a nice shoulder and can exhale a little:
Malden to the Northern Strand
Once you get past Winter Street and approach the Kappy’s part of Malden, the shoulder disappears and you are back in sharrow territory. Continue south down Main Street and bear right at the Malden Teen Enrichment Center.
The Northern Strand
This is the crown jewel of the route. After crossing Centre Street, you get to turn right for a mile and a half ride on the Bike to the Sea Northern Strand Community Trail. It’s great. There’s nothing more to say about it. This ride is worth doing for the community trail alone, and after you finish, you’ll hopefully be convinced that dedicated mixed-use infrastructure is the future:
Here, one more, I can’t resist:
Crossing the Rotary
After exiting the Northern Strand, you take a short back-street stretch before approaching Sweetser Circle in Everett. If the prospect of biking through a traffic circle along the Revere Beach Parkway strikes you as unwise, fear not: Everett has been slowly but surely working on unlocking this stretch, and you actually get dedicated bike space the whole time.
You cross the exits as though they were crosswalks, and finally make your way toward 99 South. Coming around the corner, the city comes into view.
Past the Casino, Into Boston
Once you cross the rotary, you enter the weird, wild world of Route 99 in Everett. Route 99 is kind of gross. It’s got a traffic-sewer vibe to it. You’re going past car lots and a big casino. With four lanes, it feels like a place to go through, not to inhabit. Here’s the good news: there’s a relatively legitimate cycletrack through a good portion of it. It’s cool.
A shot of the cycletrack running past the casino — hey, you’re in Bluebike territory now!
Then, suddenly, you’re crossing the river:
Charlestown
Once you get across the river, you’ll face an intimidating uphill climb into Bunker Hill. Oh, but don’t worry. You’re not going up there. You’re taking a right, down Main Street in Charlestown.
It feels, once again, like a space for people — nevermind the cars parked all over it. Here you get mostly an unbuffered door-zone bike lane. Charlestown sure is pretty!
Through City Square; Choose your Own Adventure Across the Charles
Main Street leads you to City Square, on downtown’s doorstep. The skyscrapers rise just beyond:
Cross around — or through — the square, and then you have two options. You can choose to take the street route, directly into Boston across the North Washington bridge. That route is in purple below. Alternately, you go the blue route, extending your ride a little bit to cross over to the Charles River Dam Road. That is a bit out of the way, but depending on where you’re going in the city, it could well be worth it for the considerably more pleasant ride:
I chose the bridge. It is, you will notice, very conspicuously under construction. Once it’s completed, it’ll feature physically separated bike lanes. During construction, it’s sort of imposing. You can choose to ride with the cars, which is what I did. Or you can go on the sidewalk, on the left side of the bridge.
Voila!
Cross the bridge. Turn right. Welcome to downtown Boston.
Now that you’re here you should, you know, do whatever you came here for.
On the way home, if you crossed North Washington. I definitely recommend coming back over the Charles Dam River Road, via the blue route outlined above. You simply wrap the other way around the Garden (your maps app will probably send you this way) and head up toward the Museum of Science. Along the way, you experience the wonders of Cambridge. You get flexposts!
You get a mixed-use path along the river!
You get this multimillion dollar footbridge over the Commuter Rail!
Once you’re cross, you can head directly back to City Square and take the same route home. The only real difference will be that Northbound on Route 99, past the Casino, you do not get a raised cycletrack, but the street does still have a reasonably-buffered shoulder. Before you know it, you’re coming back via the Strand and heading home to Melrose.
Once you’re home, you’ll feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment — and, also, you’ll wonder why you’ve never done that before. You’ll appreciate both our proximity to Boston and the uniqueness of the many neighborhoods in between. This is one of the primary benefits of bicycling places: at 13 miles per hour, you’re both moving efficiently and experiencing a distinct sense of place. If you can ride to Boston without breaking a sweat, you’ll understand that getting around Melrose via bike is incredibly easy, and I hope that, having experienced this ride, you’ll choose to make short trips by bike more often. Your community — and the communities you move through — will thank you.
