One of the most fun activities that I took part in while we were staying up in Provincetown over the week of July 1 - 7 was biking on the Province Lands Bike Trail off Race Point Beach. I ended up taking three trips on three separate occasions, and each trip was great both physically and mentally. My riding companions included both my boys, Patrick and Alex; and my sister-in-law Susan Sarage (Susie B) and her daughter Serena. Chris and Sue's husband John both had some difficulties with the hills so they were not riding with me though I do believe the entire Sarage family rode the Trail after we all left.
The Province Lands Bike Trail, map link as follows: http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/upload/Final2008bikerevise.pdf , was a lot of things: scenic, fun, challenging, grueling, breathtaking, and all of those things were experienced on each ride. The first ride I took was on a sun-splashed beach day after a few hours of reading and lounging on Race Point Beach (a beautiful beach, but no waves this week). We did not know what to expect, but we had heard the Trail was hilly--it is. But the really fun thing about that is once you crest a hill, and especially a longer, steeper hill, you have 150 - 200 yards of downhill to enjoy and that is worth the sweat and breath to get there. In fact, we often found that the Trail had a distinctly roller-coaster style to it in that you get enough momentum from one downhill to crest the next uphill. In the end, five of us completed the entire Trail and we got back to the beach hot, sweaty and ready for a long dip in the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The longest ride I took was with Alex and Serena on the morning before we left. We started out at our condo on Bradford Street, rode up Moors Road onto the Herring Cove Beach Spur onto the Beech Forest Loop, which was the ride mentioned above. This was about an eight or nine mile ride and it took about all I had to complete it--a quick note: if you do ride this Trail use your road bike, my wide-tire mountain bike didn't have the fluidity this route requires. But we did ride it and it was good. Once again the day was sparkling sunshine and blue sky and riding without a shirt was fabulous. We were a bit more prepared for the hills than the previous ride, so we felt more confident and paced ourselves better. Still, there was one hill that kicked my butt and I walked up the last part of it--then it was roller-coaster time!
On one other occasion we were pressed for time so we rode from our condo over the Herring Cove Beach Spur to the Loop and back, which was a nice ride but not much challenge.
One last note: If you can not bring your own bike, there are a number of bike shops in and around P-town where you can rent, and these shops have good, quality bikes that will provide all the fun you'll hope for.
Our entire trip to Provincetown was fun, and the rides on the Province Town Bike Trail were definitely highlights--if you're out on the Cape, take a day and journey to Race Point to beach and ride. It's a great day.
