The first stop of the tour is the lovely Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park. The closest Chris got to Boston was Cuba, and he never met Paul Revere. Nonetheless, take a moment to ride around and get used to your bikes before heading out to Lexington and Concord.

Old North Church is where, upon instructions from Paul Revere, Robert Newman hung lanterns to alert the Patriots that the British were coming!

"One if by land, two if by sea." (There were two).

Crossing the locks to Charlestown, you are now in the same neighborhood as Paul Revere was when he waited for lanterns to be hung in the Old North Church. Revere had to row across the Charles River. He didn't have the luxury of walking his bike across this path. In fact, the locks are used to allow boats to travel by the Charles River Dam and the r... Moreiver wasn't dammed until 1912. The current series of locks was built in 1978.Less

The USS Constitution was built in 1797 and has fought in three wars. The first was the Barbary War where the ship protected American merchants from pirates in the Mediterranean. The second war was the infamous War of 1812 between the United States of America and the British Empire. The third was the deadliest war in American history, the American C... Moreivil war. In conclusion to the civil war slavery was abolished and the Confederacy ended. The ship was never defeated in the forty plus battles it participated in.Less

After arriving in Charlestown, Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. After he verified with the local "Sons of Liberty" that the British troops would row "by sea" to Cambridge, rather than marching "by land" out Boston Neck, Revere road out to alarm the country-side, stopping at each house, and arriving in Lexington about midn... Moreight.

As Paul Revere approached the house where Samuel Adams and John Hancock were staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much noise. "Noise!" cried Revere, "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!"

The Minuteman Bikeway approximately follows the route Revere took to Lexington. Rail service was established along this right of way in the mid 1800s and discontinued in 1981.

The Bikeway now connects with several other bike paths heading east, as well as the MBTA's Red Line subway at Alewife, where a secure "bike cage" allows commuting cyclists to lock their bikes before heading further downtown on the T.Less

The opening engagement of the American Revolution occurred here on April 19, 1775.

After the passage of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament in 1774, unrest in the colonies had increased. The British commander in Boston, General Thomas Gage, sought to avoid armed rebellion by sending a column of royal infantry from Boston to... More capture military stores at Concord.

Because of the warnings of Revere and others, the British advance column under Major John Pitcairn came upon a group of militia, the Minutemen, when they reached the Lexington Green. After a brief exchange of shots, in which several Americans were killed, the colonials withdrew, and the British continued to Concord, where they fought another engagement.Less

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After delivering his message to Adams and Hancock, Revere was joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. Deciding on their own to continue on to Concord, where weapons and supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott (no relation to Urban AdvenTours... More owner Andrew Prescott--that we know of).

Soon after, all three were arrested by a British patrol. Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes soon after. Revere was held for some time and then released. Left without a horse, Revere returned to Lexington in time to witness part of the battle on the Lexington Green.Less

Following the retreat of the Minutemen in Lexington, the British regulars moved on towards Concord.

At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 500 colonial militiamen fought and defeated three companies of British troops. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory. The British fou... Moreght a harried retreat back to Boston, losing about 200 men along the way.

As Longfellow says:
You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his "Concord Hymn", described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard 'round the world."
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