Top Ten Reasons to Join us on Martha’s Vineyard this Spring

In 1975  Marthas Vineyard when Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was released, this quiet island became a household name and a transformation was underway from a remote haven for hippies and artists to a coveted haunt for presidents and celebrities. 

There’s plenty of reasons why this island is a magical palace to bike – breathtaking natural beauty, a vibrant culture scene, a rich ethnic heritage, and an abundance of farms and fisheries that feed a savvy food community. 

One of the best reason of all is to enjoy this special island offseason as it allows us to have all of these treasures all to ourselves. Martha’s Vineyard is a perfect size for a long weekend bike trip with plenty of small rural roads, four distinct villages. We have carefully designed three bike routes that let you see the best of the island.

So if you are seeking an Island Escape Close to Home, here are ten reasons to consider joining us on this very exclusive bicycle tour to the Vineyard.

1. Aquinah Cliffs

The town of Aquinnah in the heart of Wampanoag Country is famous for its dramatic clay cliffs rising up from the coast. It is a bizarre landscape not typical of New England. The orange and red streams of color formed by glaciers is more akin to the Andes Mountains than Massachusetts but there you have it! The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe believes that the clay is red because their legendary founder, Moshup, used to feed them by bashing whales against the cliffs.

2. Gay Head Lighthouse

This is at Aquinnah and it is the 1st lighthouse on Martha’s Vinyard.  It was also the reason for the first non-native person to live in Aquinnah amongst the Wampanoag Aquinnah’s.  It actually was an act of Congress that placed this light here, protecting mariners from “Devil’s Bridge”, and requiring a lighthouse keeper.  At the time, the congress was concerned that the light house keeper would introduce the native to alcohol, which was considered a bad thing. 

3. Gingerbread Houses

Right out of a Hansel and Gretel storybook are the colorful victorian cottages lining the quaint streets of Oak Bluff. In 1800, a group of Methodists who would have their religious retreats and meeting on Marthas Vineyard. Eventually, as their visits became more regular they built permanent cottages. The original cluster of 500 cottages was named Cottage City and the architectural style is called Carpenter Gothic. Today 300 of these painted beauties remain and they are sure to bring a smile to your face and color to your day! 

4. Pulpit Rock – Pecoy Point Preserve – Matha’s Vineyard Land Trust

Former Slave John Saunders used the boulder at Pecoy Point to sermonize.  Historically this is the location the first conversion of an indigenous person to Christianity in the whole of North America. This debut act of proselytizing was performed by Englishman Thomas Mayhew Jr. in 1643 on the Wampanoag Hiacoomes. Under Mayhew’s guidance, Hiacoomes became a preacher and was key in the widespread conversion of the Wampanoags to Christian beliefs. By 1660 nearly all the island’s Wampanoags had converted.

5. Jaws Bridge

We cannot resist this one! Director Stephen Spielberg and his crew took over the town of Edgartown with a 24 foot-long robot shark. Many of the locations made it into the movie including American Legion Memorial Bridge, better known as Jaw’s Bridge.

6. Flying Horses Carousel

The oldest platform carousel built in the United States. Housed within a rustic red barn in Oak Bluffs is an Americana relic of the 19th Century entertainment. Known as the nation’s oldest platform carousel, it was made in 1876 by toymaker, rocking horse craftsman and early American carousel maker, Charles Dare. 20 hand-painted wooden horses with glass eyes and real horsehair as well as four gorgeous chariots are a colorful site to see. The Flying Horses Carousel was originally built for the Coney Island Amusement park in Brooklyn and was later relocated to Oak Bluff.

7. Mysterious Chappaquiddick Shipwreck

The scarce remains of a sunken ship are the of schooner Christina capsized during from the blizzard of 1866. Four of the five crew members perished and the lone survivor clung to the ship’s mast for 56 hours. To get there we will cross Dike Bridge ( of Ted Kennedy fame) to get to East Beach.

8. Heath Hen Sculpture

A memorial sculpture to heath hens stands on the spot where the last heath hen, Booming Ben, was last seen. Heath Hens were once very abundant between New Hampshire and Virginia. These hens were considered good to eat and were most likely the bird that was actually consumed at the first Thanksgiving. As they were being over hunted and going extinct, the only hens left to be found by 1870 were the found on Martha’s Vineyard. That number dwindles to the final straggler, a male named Booming Ben, last seen in 1932. The Heath Hen is one of the five birds sculpted as part of Todd McGrain’s Lost Bird Project. Each statue is placed where the bird was last seen. 

9. Polly Hill Arboretum

World Famous Horticulturist who built the arboretum to cultivate and showcase rare trees and specimens from around the world, including the Monkey Puzzle Tree, a conifer from Chile that got it’s name from a comment “It would puzzle a monkey how to climb it”.

10. The historic harbor village of Menemsha

Menemsha is the heart and soul of the island’s commercial fishing industry. The two family-run seafood markets on the Dutcher Dock sit at the water’s edge, where boats unload their haul. Stroll the dock for a look at the boats, especially the retired Unicorn, owned by the Mayhew family who harpooned swordfish for generations. We’ll have our choice for lunch – it will be clam chowder on the deck at the Home Port or a steaming lobster from Larsen’s Fish Market then we’ll a few steps to the beach (a favorite for viewing sunsets) to savor a quintessential Vineyard experience.

A final bonus reason to escape to Martha’s Vineyard with Ciclismo Classico is to be reunited with your fellow Ciclismo friends. We are taking all the necessary precautions to keep you safe so we can have FUN!