Cape Ann loop

Cape Ann is one of my favorite places to ride. It's a bit north of Boston on the north shore, so I make an effort to go up there once in a while to cruise around. In the past I've just used a Rubel map to guide me to the best roads, but I recently found a good cue sheet online that details a few new interesting routes. Last weekend Mrs Wheelie and I did a loop starting in the elegant Magnolia neighborhood and cycled out and around the Cape. We brought some snacks and a camera. It was great. A couple of things to note. Cape Ann is great for scenery with a nice endowment of coastline and elegant homes or with the hustle an bustle of seaside towns like Gloucester and Rockport. The area is not known for its roads - most are just fine, but there are a few exceptional pieces of pavement, if you want to call them that. Eden Road in Rockport is probably the toughest patchwork of surface you'll ever see, but the scenery alongside makes the bone-rattling traverse worthwhile. Perhaps my favorite spot along the route is a little detour as you re-enter Gloucester from the north east and pass through the village of Annisquam. You eventually work your way down to Lobster Cove, a narrow harbor filled with a mish-mash of working boats, house boats and other floaters. The best part is the continuation of the aptly named Bridgewater Street as a very long pedestrian bridge across the water. It's a very unique place to go on two wheels.