Back before the fall of the Soviet Union, I was able to earn a living designing electronics for military aircraft and spacecraft. This was in St. Louis, where I loved biking in the hills to the west.
Well, once the Soviets cried uncle and the government's purse slammed shut, I found employment doing electronics for big yellow machines and started riding in the Illinois river valley. Pretty nice, but the urge to go ride the hills west of St Louis didn't go away.
In the last few years, I've been going back and rediscovering some of the favorite roads. One of them takes me past the tiny town of St. Albans on highway T.
One photo from Sunday's ride through St. Albans....
somewhat sadly, two of these circular stone structures are all that are left of a much larger stone building that used to be there. It seemed to be used by the local farmer, but I wonder if it wasn't built for non-agricultural purposes. It was likely torn down when this area was converted to an expensive golf club.
On a more positive note, Heads Store is still standing.....
It was originally a simple general store serving the local farming community (and bike riders..). Surrounding the store with a country club didn't bring enough business to keep it going, unfortunately. There was an effort to refurbish it to serve an upscale clientele, but that doesn't appear to have succeeded.
Here's the store back in the late 80's when it was a proper general store...
While it is always a bit sad to see things change, the good news is that there is a ton of fun scenic hill roads to enjoy in this area, and I do my best to get out there and ride them all!
Steve in Peoria