Kathy and I joined my son Jonathan on a morning bike ride along both sides of the Charles River in Cambridge and Boston Saturday morning. While Hubway is located throughout much of the central parts of the Boston urban area, Cambridge is the only city that offers bike sharing services year round.

We rented bikes from Cambridge’s Hubway Bike Share service kiosk near the Cambridgeside Galleria and them rode south across the Charles River Dam Bridge and then west along the Charles River Bikeway as far west as the Boston College Bridge. Then we returned to the Harvard Bridge and crossed back into Cambridge and returned our bikes at the station on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge in MIT’s campus) at the conclusion of our 4.5 mile ride.

The three-speed Hubway bicycles were easy to rent, easy to ride, and quite comfortable, though I doubt I would want to use one for any distance past 10 miles. The self-serve kiosks are easy to use and the stations are well-placed throughout Cambridge. While walking afterward, we observed four other stations along the way.

The Charles River Bikeway is a delightful ride and the Hubway Bike Share program is wonderful option for those of us who love to ride about a city and take it on a human scale. Below are just a few images from our ride: