Everett Potter's Travel Report

Biking on Block Island

By Steve Jermanok

Ever since I wrote my first book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England, I’ve admired local outfitters who specialize in one sport and one region of the world. After all, who knows his neck of the woods better than the guy who lives there? These outfitters can’t afford a big splashy catalogue or a PR firm in New York or London to represent them, so you have to dig a little deeper to find companies like Great Freedom Adventures out of New England. What you’ll get in return are itineraries that direct you to the top locales in the area. Take, for example, Great Freedom Adventures’ new 6-day bike trip called the Islands and Seacoast Biking Tour. It seems intuitive to combine New England’s most majestic islands, Martha’s Vineyard and Rhode Island’s Block Island, together in one summer bike trip, but I’ve never seen that done before. They also have guests staying one night in Newport and one night in Little Compton, Rhode Island, a real gem where I often bike on a day trip to Boston. The $2,695 price includes all lodging, transportation, most meals, bike rentals, and guides.

   Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.

Forty-five minutes by ferry. That’s all that it takes to get to Martha’s Vineyard, the largest of the islands off the coast of Massachusetts. It’s a short journey for such a big trip.

Martha’s Vineyard is justly famed for its great beaches, quaint towns and bevy of celebrity residents, from Carly Simon to former President Bill Clinton. President Obama has stayed here, on an island that was long the summer haven of both Jacqueline Onassis and Walter Cronkite. And yes, that’s Ted Danson in line for ice cream at the Galley and sure, you might spot Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in Oak Bluffs.

Head to one of the beaches.

But the Vineyard wears its celebrity lightly. Few people gawk, everyone is dressed down (most of the time) and you come here to slow down and relax on one of the beautiful spots on the East Coast. That ferry ride from Cape Cod is what begins to put you in a laid-back mood. You came for the beach but you’ll stay for the lush island, the locals, the sea breezes, the touches of Old New England everywhere. You’re here for lobster rolls, ice cream cones and polished beach glass.

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