“One if by land and two if by bicycle”

“Get on your bike and you can steer
Along the path of Paul Revere…”

Checking on something else this morning, I stumbled across the fact that today (April 19) is the 236th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord and “the shot heard 'round the world.”

You might remember that Paul Revere famously rode a horse throughout the Massachusetts countryside to warn that British troops were on the way.

If you're a history buff, or just like new places to ride, I found some links that bicyclists can use for maps and bike tours that follow his route of 1775.

I also learned he didn't shout “The British are coming!”, as quoted in the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Historians say that most Massachusetts residents still
considered themselves British subjects at that time, so he probably said
something like “The Regulars are coming out.”

In any case, there is a bicycle route of Paul Revere's ride posted at Bikely.com (left). It rolls out for about 16 miles from Boston to a point midway between Lexington and Concord.

Also, there is a route posted at RouteYou.com
that the author says is not the exact path, but a nice alternative for
bicycles. It heads out to Concord and returns via a southern route,
making a loop.

Also, a company named Urban AdvenTours
offers a 47-mile bike ride called the Paul Revere Ride to Freedom Tour.
It starts at the Old North Church in Boston and goes through
Charlestown, Lexington and Concord. You can see the Revere route and photos at EveryTrail.com. Here's a good write-up of one of those Ride to Freedom bike tours.

Those rides also incorporate the Minuteman Bikeway, a rail-trail in the Boston burbs. Some of the rides also include a visit to the Minute Man National Historic Park, although not on Revere's route.

Revere never made it all the way to Concord. After warning some patriots in Lexington and hooking up with some other horsemen there, he was stopped on the road to Concord by the British. While the other two escaped, Revere was taken into custody. He also got away later that morning when British officers heard the first shots of the Revolution.