Myles Standish Meanderings (Plymouth, MA)

Maybe I'm getting old, but sometimes I just really enjoy riding bike paths. Sometimes, they can be just as fun as gravel or trail riding. A couple of months ago, I ventured into Myles Standish State Forest on my un-trusty stead (Montague) in search of some good single track. Instead, I found overgrown dirt bike trails and lots and lots of sand. Myles Standish is often referred to as "miles-of-sandish" and boy did it live up to its name. Mountain biking in Myles Standish is very spotty, unless the sand is somewhat frozen in the fall or winter. Otherwise, it's real easy to get stuck between two large hills in an unrideable sandpit. So after a half hour of aggravated bush whacking, I decided to head back to the car.

Rather than waste the day though, I decided to just ride the paved bike paths in the forest. I was actually impressed, because unlike other paved bike paths, Myles Standish contains a lot of short punchy climbs. They're also very cracked and broken in places, so a mountain bike was definitely helpful. I really enjoyed the ride but unfortunately didn't snap a lot of photos. I highly recommend riding through the paths, especially if the roads are too hot. The trees provided a lot of shade on an otherwise sultry July morning. With over 15 miles of paved paths, it would be easy to get 30 miles in on the car-free paths. Even for a professional amateur cyclist like myself, it's nice to get away from the road and trail dichotomy and find other places to explore and ride.