Falmouth is the gateway to the Cape for everyone who arrives from the west, a handsome old town of white-steepled churches, a long village green and a harbour from which ferries cross to Martha's Vineyard. It sits on the south-western corner of Cape Cod, facing Vineyard Sound, with Woods Hole, a famous scientific village, a few kilometres down the shore. The permanent population is a few thousand in the village centre and much more across the wider town, and Teaticket, a neighbouring village, is a short ride along the road.
The ride starts easily. The roads here are flat and gentle, wandering between shingled houses, cranberry bogs and stone walls, with glimpses of the sea between the trees. Route 28A, the old shore road, runs through Woods Hole and along the sound, narrow and slow, with cyclists and pedestrians sharing the way. The surface is mostly good, though patched in places, and the speed limits are low. Traffic can be heavy in July and August, particularly on weekends when ferry queues spill onto the road, and the best time to ride is early morning or in autumn, when the water is warm and the beaches empty.
The town has some memorable history. Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote the words of America the Beautiful, was born here in 1859, and her birthplace still stands on the main street. The Nobska Light, a white lighthouse on a bluff above Woods Hole, has guided ships through the sound since the nineteenth century, and the village itself is home to the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where scientists study the ocean and its life. Every August, thousands of runners take part in the Falmouth Road Race, a seven-mile run from Woods Hole to Falmouth Heights, which has been going since the 1970s.
The nature is quietly beautiful. Salt ponds, tidal creeks and sandy beaches line the shore, and the woods are full of pitch pine and scrub oak. Ospreys nest on poles above the marshes, and seals bask on rocks offshore. The air smells of salt, pine and sun-warmed sand. The Shining Sea Bikeway, a former railway line along the coast, offers a peaceful alternative for a walk or a cycle if you want to get off the bike.
Fuel, food and mechanics are all easy to find. Arrive early on summer weekends to avoid the traffic, and carry a light jacket for the sea breeze.