General Cycling Discussion - Ride Pics from West St. Louis County

Koffee posted some ride pictures from Chicago. Inspired, I thought I'd post some from my rides in west St. Louis County.

This is a shot taken on Centaur Road.

This is the Owl House in the old village of Centaur, now part of Wildwood.

A barn at Rombach Farm on Olive Street Road in Chesterfield.

The low water crossing to Howell Island in the Missouri River.

A guy fishing at Howell Island.

Narrow channel of the Missouri River upstream from the Howell Island crossing.

A view from Valley Road or Strecker Road (the name changes somewhere around here).

The eastern section of Chesterfield Airport Road at the Chesterfield Trailer Park.

The main drive into Babler State Park, looking out of the park toward the entrance.

Wow - truly great, and INSPIRING pix! ThanX for taking the time to post. :)

damn...those are what I call GOOD roads!!

I loved riding in St. Louis, right up until the humidity kicked in. Used to ride the trails in Babler too. We'd sneak in late night and watch the sun come up on the bluffs over looking the train tracks, from the cave, then ride the trails, and head out to Wentzville, Lake St. Louis. I can't believe how built up it's gotten out in West Cty.

I had a commute there from Kirkwood that took me through Clayton and north to Page and Olive. Nice riding. Thanks for the memories.

absolutely beautiful shots. Reminds me of places in the Shawnee here in Illinois, with the exception that at least for the moment our hill areas are still undeveloped, just mainly old farmsteads and stretches of woods.

First sign of a Wal-Mart or strip mall going in down there and we'll have to go burn it down before it becomes another Branson.


thanks for posting those!

Great pictures. :thumbup:
Is that a giant pothole in the first picture?
Looks like the lakes and rivers are down in your area? :( Not enough rain and snow or is this typical? Do you get more rain in the spring to bring up the water level?

Beautiful! Nice pics. That is a commute I would like to do every morning.

Originally posted by RonH
Great pictures. :thumbup:
Is that a giant pothole in the first picture?
Looks like the lakes and rivers are down in your area? :( Not enough rain and snow or is this typical? Do you get more rain in the spring to bring up the water level?

I think that's a patched pothole. The water level in these pictures is pretty much normal, maybe a tiny bit low. The crossing to Howell Island is open most of the time. During the flood of 1993, from the Missouri River east, Howell Island, Centuar Road, Olive Street Road, and Chesterfield Airport Road from the edge of the trailer park was under water (one of the few times nature spares a trailer park).

By the way, these pictures are all from summer and autumn, 2002.

Originally posted by naisme
I loved riding in St. Louis, right up until the humidity kicked in. Used to ride the trails in Babler too. We'd sneak in late night and watch the sun come up on the bluffs over looking the train tracks, from the cave, then ride the trails, and head out to Wentzville, Lake St. Louis. I can't believe how built up it's gotten out in West Cty.

I had a commute there from Kirkwood that took me through Clayton and north to Page and Olive. Nice riding. Thanks for the memories.

My favorite time to ride these roads in early Saturday morning, right after sunrise, before the heat and humidity become too overwhelming. As long as I'm moving fast enough, though, I'm not too bothered.

If you're familiar with the Gumbo Flats, now called the Chesterfield Valley, west of Chesterfield Mall to the Missouri River, you'd be dismayed to learn that, since the '93 flood, it's been developed into miles of strip malls--WalMart, Sam's Club, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Lowe's, chain restaurants, chain specialty stores. Early weekend mornings are the only times traffic is not awful there.

That's why it's called the heartland.