BikeLife Boulder | 3 That’s right. The Alewife MBTA Station is a shining ex- ample of great bike policy at work. There you’ll find a nex- us of not one, but four bike paths — the most significant of which is the bicycle “Nile River of Metro Boston,” the Min- uteman Bikeway. Alewife maintains five bike racks with cages and securi- ties. And that is in addition to a large string of other un-caged racks. On most work days, there will be more bicycles parked at Alewife than cars. Here a cyclist -- whether heading inbound for work or outbound for rec- reation -- can switch modes to subway, bus or even car; options include Hub- way, Zipcar, Uber, Lyft, Bridj or the tra- ditional taxi. Alewife is the intermodal all-star of not just New England, but all of America. For a person new to town and eager to pedal about the Metro Boston areas, Alewife is a springboard to countless low-stress routes. Because the MBTA allows bicycles to be brought on the Red Line during off-peak hours, Ale- wife is a great place to launch a two-wheeled expedition in any number of directions. To the south, you can fol- low the protected bikeways towards Fresh Pond; to the west, a newly mint- ed bike path carries you to Belmont; to the east you can take the Commu- nity Path to Somerville’s hip Davis Square. The more adventurous can pedal north, parallel to the route of the British troops in 1775 through Arling- ton, Lexington, Bedford and ultimately Concord. Best part: Most of this can be done without tangling with cars. Check out Battle Green, the Old North Bridge, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and even Walden Pond — all within easy biking range from Alewife. People typically think of cycling in Cambridge as pedaling the Paul Dudley White path along the Charles River or visiting the cafes, bars and restaurants of Harvard or Inman Square. But don’t forget the facilities in North Cam- bridge; Alewife is the fountain of great cycling, regardless of your bike skills. FIND IT CAMBRIDGE Find It Cambridge is a website to help you easily find activities, services and resources in Cambridge. Our community has an amazing array of opportunities, and Find It Cambridge will serve as that one-stop-shop website. Interested in Bicycle Education Workshops? Find them on Find It Cambridge! Please like and follow Find It Cambridge on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest Check out FindItCambridge.org As executive director of MassBike, I do a lot of public speaking with audiences nationwide, ranging from business leaders to bike clubs to policy wonks. As I click through my slides, my favorite images are a series of photos of caged racks bristling with bicycles. I speak about Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels….and then I ask, “What do all these photos have in common?” Invariably a person will shout, “They’re not in America!” Actually, I say with a smile, they are all a single location in America: Alewife. ale·wife /alwif/ noun a northern Atlantic fish of the herring family also: • a woman who keeps an alehouse • a district and MBTA Red Line station location in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The northern terminus of the Red Line, Alewife serves as a local intermodal transit hub PHOTO: David Loutzenheiser AleWife CAMBRIDGE S2017 SWFIN.indd 3 5/20/17 9:36 PM