Biking Cape Cod has been on my bucket list for a few years now with tentative plans made with a few friends and finally follow through with my friend G. We were a little lackadaisical with planning but somehow that keeps working out (a weird shift for me).
I first recruited directions from my friend C. who had done Woods Hole to Boston the year before. He gave me his Garmin route which I then transcribed into Google Maps and printed out cue cards. G. and I decided to take the subway to Braintree and then bike to my grandma's house in Mashpee, basing our route off C's. Overall the route was awesome but below I have noted where things (in my opinion) should change.
After this lengthy planning process I began packing, which was based off of experience from friends and some good old fashioned internet research! We were doing 4 days/3 nights with 3 days of riding and staying for two nights at my grandma's so I really didn't need much.
Pictured is just about all that I brought/wore including:
Bike Things
- Bike (2014 All City Space Horse with rear rack)
- Ortlieb Pannier my friend found on the side of the road
- Topeak Road Morph G Pump
- Multi-tool with electrically taped on other allen wrenches - basically for every bolt my bike has
- Extra tube (didn't use)
- Patch Kit
- U-Lock
- Tire levers (Pedros - the best!)
- Cape Cod Bike Map Printed cue sheets + 2 rubber bands + 2 binder clips to attach to my bike
- 2 Water Bottles
- Bike Lights
- Bungee Cord
- Helmet (brand new O2 by Lazer)
- Chamois Cream
- Bike shorts
- Sports Bra + tank top
- Wool Chrome socks
- Tennis shoes
My Things
- Swimsuit
- 2 Pairs of shorts (1 for sleeping/beach wear)
- 3 shirts Bra + undies
- Pair of cotton socks (didn't use)
- Sweatshirt (I went with a thicker one than pictured which was a GREAT idea)
- Flip flops
- Book
- Toiletries
- Pocket knife (didn't use)
- Sparklers + Lighter (didn't use)
- 2 Granola Bars + 1 Fruit Leather
- Sunglasses + Glasses
- Wallet + Keys
- Sarong
- Bandanna
- Cell Phone + Charger
I weighed my packed pannier (sarong, bandana & U-lock on the rack, water bottles on the bike) and it clocked in at about 10 lbs. I was very happy with my packing but would probably bring a rain coat next time and bring my wool pull over instead of the sweatshirt (although I love it dearly).
Here's the bike all loaded up, I did not have any trouble with space or with being weighted down on only one side.
Friday morning we got up and left for the train station around 11am. After an hour long ride on the Red Line (and some friendly if sexist conversations on the T) we got off at Braintree and began biking! G. kept his directions in his pocket and would just memorize the upcoming turns while I had attached mine to my handlebars for easy viewing.
Braintree to Mashpee Route, available at: https://goo.gl/maps/oOL1h
The ride was quite nice and we took a short break in Kingston before lunch in Plymouth. We were going a bit slower than anticipated so we skipped the beach and continued South. After doing this ride (which ended up being 72.9mi after a futile ice cream tracking adventure) there are a few changes I will keep in mind for next time:
Lesson #2: Cape Cod, or at least the Southeast corner of Mass. before it gets to Cape Cod, is hilly! I was so happy that I had my Space Horse and fully used all 10 gears on my big ring to navigate up and down and up and down...
Lesson #3: The Bourne Rotary is effectively useless to try and merge onto, at least mid-afternoon on a Friday. We ended up using a crosswalk a little ways away from the rotary and then going through a Job Lots parking lot to more easily enter the rotary.
Lesson #4: Bourne Bridge is terrifying. Supposedly there is an entrance to the sidewalk that goes along the highway through the Christmas Tree Parking lot. Unfortunately we learned this information after arriving in Mashpee and as a result had effectively merged onto a highway, rode as fast as possible with scary sounding cars passing constantly and then stopped, jumped up on the sidewalk and pulled our bikes after us as soon as possible. I DO NOT recommend this method.
Upon arriving in Mashpee I immediately downed a grape gatorade (my favorite athletic drink ever) and took a shower. We both then decided that we were sure to be starving soon and ordered food from a local Italian/Pizza place. It was delicious.
Day 2 was a relaxing bike-free day after the 72.9mi that we'd biked the day before. We went kayaking, ate dinner and my favorite ice cream on the Cape!
Day 3 and we hopped back on the bikes! Today we were bound for Eastham and wanted to stop and swim, maybe hike in Nickerson State Park on the way. We got an early-ish start after my grandma took some photos and began following Google's directions. Immediately it led us onto a dirt path SWARMING with flies in a wildlife preserve. We were getting attacked left and right and since we had to go slowly we decided to abandon the route and return to paved roads. Thank god for cell phones!
Back on route G. suddenly got a flat! Unfortunately he hadn't brought the tool needed to get his wheel off. I was pretty unhappy with this preparation. We decided to try and patch the outside of the tire in order to make it to a bike shop but the two nearest shops were closed. While hanging out on the side of the road 3 cyclists biked by so I yelled out, "Do you have a 15 mm??!!" Luckily they did and were some of the nicest people I've ever met. They were doing Boston to Provincetown in one day and eventually gave us the wrench, and instructions to pay it forward so that they could keep going. I'm going to be keeping an eye out on the streets of Somerville for these three!
Back on the road we carried on for a bit before stopping for lunch at The Optimist Cafe which I quite enjoyed. Fully refreshed we biked on, encountering my first bike rotary and eventually stopping at a little pond on the side of the path. Cool swims in the middle of hot bike rides are incredible.
We did stop in Nickerson State Park but walking wasn't quite as fun as we'd anticipated so we cut it short and returned to our bikes.
We kept biking until we reached Eastham and our destination, the HI Hostel. Luckily they had two vacancies and the women were extremely helpful in finding out where we should go eat. Naturally we already had done ice cream research and had decided to play mini golf as well. We ended up eating at Fairway Restaurant & Pizzeria which hit the spot. Delicious bread, root beer and a HUGE ASS calzone that I didn't come anywhere near to finishing.
We then retraced our steps south on the Rail Trail (which is awesome) and enjoyed mini golf and DELICIOUS ice cream at Arnold's. Ahhh.
Day 4 began with a free breakfast from the Hostel! This was the first Hostel I've stayed at in the US and definitely the most expensive. But you can't really compare tourist-ville US with Cambodian prices. G and I got back on our bikes and headed north stopping along the way for donuts at Hole in One. So good.
Despite a few wrong turns the ride was fabulous. I really do recommend the Cape Cod Rail Trail. It is so flat and although there are a number of cyclists it's great not having to worry about cars. Remember to make the tunnels echo and DEFINITELY go out at night to watch the fireflies.
Our next stop was at Great Pond in Wellfleet which was beautiful. Ponds are the best. I made an inchworm friend while G. went swimming.
We were thoroughly off course now but again, thank god for cell phones and so we rerouted, climbed a few hills, had some steep descents and eventually found ourselves in Truro and finally Provincetown! We'd done it!
Hungry as usual we got some pricey pizza and milkshakes, mailed my postcards, bought my usual post-ride Gatorade and changed out of our bike clothes. We didn't have much time to spare before the ferry took off so we went and purchased tickets before getting in line.
Naturally, it began raining right before we boarded the ferry and started pouring as we entered Boston Harbor. We ended up biking home in a huge rainstorm (after chatting with another Space Horse owner!), a rather soggy conclusion to an overall amazing trip. Can't wait to do it again!
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