For serious cyclists, there’s no shortage of pedal-pumping peeps on the North Shore.
One of the largest and most active organized groups is North Shore Cyclists (NSC). With over 400 members, NSC caters to all skill levels—from beginners looking to gain some confidence to paceliners ready to jam on a 96-miler. Among the things that make this club exceptionally popular are: the interactive online route maps, the downloadable cue sheets, its very well-marked routes (they paint symbols at every turn so getting off track is unlikely), and a fully loaded calendar with evening, weekend, and special event rides.
Perhaps best of all is the fact that each one of their rides offers distance options. All cyclists, no matter how many miles they intend to ride, meet in one, always easy-to-find location, then head out in staggered groups. Those biking the extra-long route (usually 50-plus miles) leave first, followed by cyclists aiming to complete the long route (on average, 35 miles), then short route riders fall in behind.
Organizers give rides names like “The Old Stone Walls Ride,” “Pigs, Ponds, and Potholes,” and “North to Great Bay” that offer some sense of the terrain and sites that can be expected. Bikers pedal all over the region—from Plum Island to Harold Parker State Forest to Ipswich River Sanctuary to Wakefield’s Lake Quannapowitt—and that’s just the beginning. Ride with NSC for a season, and you are likely to have covered every inch of the North Shore’s most scenic roads.
Even as some fair-weather cyclists’ enthusiasm for the sport starts to wane, the NSC hosts recurring fall and winter rides through Georgetown (road cycling) and Willowdale (mountain biking). Charity rides, a great list of resources, and the organization’s support of the Topsfield Rail Trail, Coastal Trails Coalition, East Coast Greenway, and MassBike sweeten the package they have put together for biking zealots. nscyc.org