July 3, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

MCT: 1 2 3 4

Madison County Transit in Illinois, just across the river from St Louis, has 85 miles of interconnected trails – a cyclist’s dream.

Another graphic to show seven suggested loops:

We parked inside Horseshoe Lake State Park to start our ride.

Here are the different trails we rode today. 1-Schoolhouse Trail:

Intersection with 2-Goshen Trail:

Intersection with 3-Nickel Plate Trail:

Intersection with 4-Nature Trail:

Here we made a left turn onto 1-Schoolhouse Trail to finish the loop and head back to the car:

Great ride. 26 miles.

July 3, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Your bike rides this week

Sunday June 27. Barbara in England, riding with her daughter:

Monday June 28. Dani, Cheryl, Kathy, Cindy, Jane:

Tuesday, June 29. Dani, Jane, Jonathan, Kathy, Cheryl:

“Johnny at the Confluence”:

Wednesday June 30. Dani, Kathy, Cheryl, Jonathan, and Jane drove to Roseville to ride some rolling hills. No group picture except when they were packing up to drive home. This group is training for the Breathe Bike Trek in September.

Also on Wednesday. This is Vincent who rides the St Louis Riverfront Trail as a security officer 70 miles/day, 5 days/week. Just in case you were thinking about adjusting your bike riding goals. Anyone?

Thursday July 1. Behind Dani is Cheryl, Kathy, and Cindy:

Friday July 2. Behind Cheryl, Kathy, Dani, Jane:

Saturday July 3. Jonathan took this picture of Cheryl, Cindy, Art, Kathy, and Jane:

July 2, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Paddle boats

We parked at the Boathouse specifically because we wanted to rent a paddle boat after our bike ride and tour Forest Park a different way. We arrived early and were among the first in line when they opened at 11 am. At 10:30, we were a bit dismayed to see a school bus drive up and unload quite a few summer campers and a couple of chaperones, everyone went right through the gate. At 11, when we were allowed in, the campers were already paired up and setting off, 2/kayak. They knew what they were doing. They could back up, turn, and take off, working cooperatively in pairs.

Off we went. Uh … pedaling this thing is harder than pedaling a bicycle. The kayakers were way up ahead.

After going under this bridge, you entered the Grand Basin.

And there they were, the kayakers goal. What a cool summer camp experience. The guy on the right was their leader/supervisor on the water.

Back we went. The plastic seats had become especially hard by now, but we pedaled on.

In fact, we completed our rented hour. We decided to have lunch at the Boathouse before heading back. Luckily we scored the best and shadiest spot on the patio and enjoyed our meal. As we were preparing to leave, a couple of ladies asked if our table was available and … a brief chat began … where we found out that a brother and sister who had been adopted separately had very recently found each other through a DNA testing site. Late yesterday, she arrived from Cozumel to meet her brother for the very first time, but only for about 10 minutes. They are about to have lunch together …

Pedaling that paddle boat was WAY harder than we expected. We were both tired and went to bed quite early.

July 1, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Forest Park

A beautiful 1300-acre park in downtown St Louis with a zoo, golf course, fish hatchery, sports fields, history museum, art museum, lakes, rivers, forests, outdoor amphitheater with seating for 1500 people, (1904) World’s Fair Pavilion, planetarium, and paths everywhere. Pea gravel for walkers, paved for cyclists and brave walkers/runners – directional signs point to “Heels” or “Wheels”. The paved outer loop is about 6 miles – we rode it twice. There are also intersecting paths throughout the park.

Great ride. 14 miles. We’d parked at the Boathouse in the early morning and did our riding. By the time we were done, it was time for a different adventure and then lunch at the Boathouse.

June 30, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

St Louis Riverfront Trail

From our parking spot, we headed south toward downtown St Louis. The Mississippi River is to the left, we rode on top of the levee. So glad it’s paved.

Because trail is between the river and the flood wall, this is called the “wet side”:

The “dry side”:

This trail is very industrial until you get to the center of downtown St Louise. Here, grain was being loaded onto a barge:

The site where Mary Meachum helped 8 slaves cross the river to freedom in Illinois in 1855:

Urban decay turned into a canvas for art and grafitti :

Rootwad Park, art + decay and a popular place to do outdoor fashion shoots (or so I’ve read):

One section of the trail was closed and we had to find a detour. That’s when we met Vincent, a trail-riding security officer. He rides 70 miles/day, 5 days/week!

The end of the trail and our turnaround point (the red star):

This is also a popular place for grafitti artists:

Including Chain of Rocks, we rode 28 miles today!

Three month summary:

8 states – 19 trails – 663 miles

June 30, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

This will be a two-post bike ride description – because I have too many pictures to share – eye roll. We parked at the N Riverfront Park on the St Louis Riverfront Trail VERY early in the morning – we got up at 4:30 and were on the road by 5:15. Another hot/humid day was predicted plus thunderstorms in the afternoon.

First we headed north to ride across the 1-mile long Chain of Rocks Bridge – a unique bridge with a 22% bend in the middle and served as a Route 66 crossing from 1936-1965.

A rest area just before the bridge:

A rest area at the state line between Missouri and Illinois:

On the other side of the bridge, in Illinois, we turned around and headed back to our starting point.

June 29, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

River Des Peres Greenway

Up and out early again, but not early enough. It was too hot by the time we finished – which was at 10 am btw! We parked at Francis Slay Park.

Intersection with Grant’s Trail:

We took the Carondelet Connector, a 1-mile trail which linked us to a Starbucks for breakfast, then Carondelet Park. We were so hot and sweaty by this time, we decided to head back to the car as fast as possible, chose the shortest route through the park and took no pictures. We exited onto Holly Hills Blvd, tree-lined with a bike lane,

then turned left onto the Christy Greenway:

A pedestrian/bike bridge over the river put us back on the River Des Peres and back to the car.

Even though the heat and humidity were depleting, it was a great ride, 17 miles. Load the bikes, turn on the AC and head for Exit 272.

June 28, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Grant’s Farm

We parked our bikes in front of the entrance.

White Haven: a 2-bedroom home on a plantation owned by Frederick Dent. Here US Grant met and courted Julia Dent. They also lived here, in one of the bedrooms, with their four children from 1854-1859.

Behind the house. in the lower right, were stairs leading down to the basement winter kitchen:

The heat from this room rose to heat the floor above:

To the left of the back of the house was a separate stone building. One side was the laundry, the other was the summer kitchen:

The chicken coop and ice house:

A really good tour, including the 20-minute movie at the beginning. The park ranger tour guide also did a great job.

Back on our bikes for the final hot/humid 3 miles back to the car. Bikes loaded/gear in the backseat, AC in the car turned on high … our reward was just up ahead. Exit 272 on I-44 West, a drive-through only Starbucks … ahhh!

June 28, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Grant’s Trail

We were up and gone early. This trail honors Ulysses S Grant and passes by his farm and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale pastures. We started at the west end.

Quite a few street crossings but all were well-marked and had signals or stop signs.

The Clydesdale pastures – I think they were still sleeping in the barn.

At the bridge, we crossed over the River Des Peres (a drainage channel into the Mississippi River) where Grant’s Trail ended but …

also intersected with another trail – the River Des Peres Greenway. The long-term goal is a 600-mile network of interconnected trails throughout the St Louis area. Great idea! This was our turn-around point.

Grant’s Farm was about 3 miles from the end of our ride. I decided I could ride 3 miles back to the car no matter how hot or humid it was, so we stopped here for about an hour and toured the house and grounds (next blog post). Across the road was Grant’s Farm – Home of the Budweiser Clydesdales. By the time we left, the parking lot was full and tour groups could be spotted. I stopped at the only window of opportunity to take this:

A very good ride. 20 miles round trip. Next stop: Starbucks.

June 27, 2021 by arletelouise - 0 comments

Anheuser Busch Tour

St Louis is the HQ for this huge company founded in 1850.

Social distancing was non-existent but masks were required and their proper use nicely enforced. Just about the first we’ve seen since leaving in early April.

Clydesdales:

The Beechwood Aging Cellars. Each big tank held 1.2 million 12-ounce servings of beer. And there were MANY tanks.

The bottling/labeling/packaging process:

The final step in the process is … consumption. As we left the bottling area, we were given a bottle of Bud Light that had come off the line this morning. Then, you got to choose a 16-oz beverage of your choice. Alas, no Stella Artois, which has been a part of the A-B family since 2008. Then you entered this pavilion/bar/restaurant.