On a sunny Saturday morning in June, my sweetheart Marilyn and I wheeled our tandem touring bike and BOB trailer up the gangplank of the high-speed Plymouth to Provincetown ferry. Anyone who has followed our tandem-touring adventures in the past will recognize instantly what was wrong with this picture: it wasn’t raining. Whenever and wherever we choose to travel by bike: Vermont, Quebec (the Eastern Townships, Outaouais and Saguenay regions) , Nova Scotia, Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, . . . the monsoons inevitably follow.
Not to worry. Clouds gathered by the time we landed in P-town, and lowered as we ate a second breakfast at the Governor Bradford Restaurant. We hadn’t made it to Route 6A before the first drops fell. Then it rained on us most of the 15 miles to Chez Sven B & B in Wellfleet.
Innkeeper Sandy Grabbe, welcomed us warmly despite our drips, and showed us to our cozy, private room at the top of some very steep and narrow stairs. This B&B is filled with original artwork (no Cape Kitsch, here) and the gardens are beautiful—even in the rain. It’s located in probably the quietest spot on the whole Cape, with several restaurants within easy walking distance (we enjoyed dinner at the Duck Creek Tavern—try the “Simple Scallops”), and wonderful kayaking and surfing nearby. It’s also surrounded by fireroads and sandy singletracks for mountainbiking. Great spot!
The next morning, after a breakfast of eggs, fruit, yogurt and pancakes, we rode out in a moderate rain toward South Dennis. Most of this day’s ride was on the famed Cape Cod Rail Trail, which was totally refurbished a couple of years ago and is in fabulous shape.
No sooner had we gotten started on the trail than we stopped to help an Eastern Box Turtle cross the path safely. These beautiful turtles are listed as a “species of concern,” in Massachusetts, which is one step below threatened.
After our turtle encounter, we fairly flew the whole smooth 22 miles, stopping only for lunch at the Brewster General Store, right on the trail. It only rained a little . . .
A few miles south of the trail in Dennisport, we wheeled into the Corsair and Crossrip Resort a classic Cape Cod beachside motel. Our bright room had a kitchenette and a sweeping bay-window view of Nantucket Sound, the beach just 20 steps away. We walked to an enjoyable seafood dinner at the friendly Wee Packet nearby, strolled on the beach to watch seagulls feast on squirming green crabs plucked from shallow water, then fell asleep to the sounds of gentle surf. How much more Cape Cod can you get?
Our last big day, Dennisport to Sandwich, was all on roads which were quieter than they will be in a couple of weeks. The rain had stopped but it was cool and misty, perfect pedaling weather. We rolled through Barnstable (don’t miss lunch at the Dolphin!), to the Belfry Inne in Sandwich, a converted church on a quiet street in this lovely town. They have six rooms named for days of the week, each individually decorated, all with stained glass windows, some with fireplaces and deep jet tubs . . . “Friday” was heavenly after a long Monday of riding. The Bistro here is superb for both dinner and breakfast. The road ride back to our car (under blue skies, how odd!) was uneventful and pleasant—except walking the bike over the busy Sagamore Bridge.
We’d been dreaming of doing this circuit of Cape Cod by ferry and bike for several years. Elite bikers could probably do it in a long day; strong road bikers traveling with just a change of clothes could certainly do it in a weekend. The next time, we’re going to take a full week, probably in September, stop in more places, and enjoy even more of Cape Cod, especially the rainy days touring by bike! Life isn’t a dry spectator sport. Get out and enjoy pedaling in the rain!
Planning Your Tour
We’re already thinking about our next Cape Cod bike adventure. Next time, we are going to include Falmouth to ride the newly-extended Shining Sea Bikeway, and Chatham to ride the Old Colony Rail Trail which connects to the CCRT.
We’ve found the website of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce particularly useful as a starting place for planning visits.
You could ride from Plymouth to P-Town and ferry back, but that ties you to being a certain place at a certain time at the end of your journey. We liked taking the ferry out and biking back on our own schedule.
We started planning our route for the most part with the DeLorme Massachusetts Atlas and Gazetteer. Google Maps now has a bike route feature but it’s still not completely trustworthy or easy to follow.
More useful were the maps for the Claire Saltonstall Bikeway (a marked route from Boston to P-town) at and the variety of maps and text guides available at www.bikenewengland.com/cape_cod.html. By combining all these sources, we found a route that worked perfectly for us.