This Sunday I biked there from Somerville. I went up Route 99 into Everett, and then merged onto Route 16. Things were going as expected, but then little by little Route 16 turned from a fast route through an urban area – not the most hospitable ride, but manageable – into a real highway, complete with off-ramps and underpasses. The actual highway part only lasted for a mile or so, but it was memorable.
On the way back, I decided to go along the coast, through East Boston and Chelsea. This route was a lot nicer. Downtown Chelsea is really pretty and so are parts of Eastie, especially close to the water. There’s only one hitch. That route took my past King Arthur’s, a strip club and motel that’s on a pothole-strewn road in the shadow of the large power plant on the shores of the Mystic River. For a journo such as myself, it’s an awesome sight to behold – so far metaphorically and so close geographically to the tourist hot spots. But, it’s also pretty nasty bicycling in the fields around the gas power plant.