Well, I'm enormously partial to the Community/Minuteman Path. As it happens, our house is a whopping three blocks from the current end of the path in Somerville, so my usual favorite ride is to simply get on that and Go -- through Davis Square, out past Alewife, etc. For a simple out-and-about exercise, I'll usually bike out to Arlington Center and back, which is solidly pleasant and a nice 4-5 miles each way. One of these days when I am back in shape and have a whole afternoon, I'm going to go all the way out to Lexington and back.
(Back in high school, I typically did about 15 miles a day, but that was country back roads. I can't easily open up quite that much around here, even if I was in good condition.)
Anyway, if you can cope with getting out to Davis, that's highly recommended. The path essentially goes through Davis Square Station -- it ends at one entrance, you have to walk to the other entrance, and then the path picks up again -- so you can simply take the path as far out as you like from that point. Much of it is straight, most of it is well-paved, and the pedestrian traffic *mostly* isn't too bad, especially as you get further out the Minuteman...
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(Back in high school, I typically did about 15 miles a day, but that was country back roads. I can't easily open up quite that much around here, even if I was in good condition.)
Anyway, if you can cope with getting out to Davis, that's highly recommended. The path essentially goes through Davis Square Station -- it ends at one entrance, you have to walk to the other entrance, and then the path picks up again -- so you can simply take the path as far out as you like from that point. Much of it is straight, most of it is well-paved, and the pedestrian traffic *mostly* isn't too bad, especially as you get further out the Minuteman...