I just returned from two days in Puducah, KY and four days in St. Louis. I was quite surprised to see very few cyclists out and about. In Puducah I saw two men (each would likely have been old enough to join this forum) riding single speeds with coaster brakes. And I saw one guy in full kit. In St. Louis (downtown section only), I saw a grand total of seven commuters over a four day period. All were men. So, is what I saw typical? It really did surprise me; especially given it was in the upper 60s and even reached 70 degrees on one of the days.

I'll be visiting St. Louis and much of Missouri and southern Illinois on a monthly basis in 2013. I'm considering bringing my bike and exploring. I hope to find some bike-friendly riding.

I'm going to try to base myself in St. Charles, MO. St Charles is a very old river town on the Missouri River just west of St. Louis.

I'm hoping to ride the Katy Trail next year and will branch out to roads after some trail riding.

Post when you come. I live in St Peters which is the next saint west of Charles.

I'm from St. Louis, even though I haven't lived there in 17 years now, but back in the day there were a lot of cyclists in the St. Louis area yet relatively few downtown. I used to work on 2nd street and I would commute down Pestalozi Street Mon.-Fri. and would see a few other commuters almost every day.

The county is much more cycling friendly, I used to ride (from Forest Park area) out Clayton Road to Conway, then Chesterfield Airport Road to Wildhorse Creek to Ossenfort to Hwy T to old Hwy 100 into Washington, MO. I remember a nice little town called St. Albans out there on Hwy T somewhere. Labadie too. Great cycling out on Hwy T (if you like short steep climbs!).

Rick / OCRR

It's not unusual to see a lot more cyclists outside the urban center than inside it. The density of motorists can be a real disincentive for many people to ride, so they ride where they live rather than where they work.

That was another one of the strange things. Compared to Philadelphia (I know about five times larger), or even Pittsburgh (about the same size) there were very few automobiles and, as noted, even fewer cyclists.

Thanks, I will!

You will find a pretty sizeable and active bike community in this area. I'll second RG's invitation to drop a line when you are in the area. I am currently working to help expand a riding group, concentrating on getting riders of all abilities to get together for training and up to four fundraisers during the coming year. The group focus in the past has been the Missouri MS ride, and has grown out of that.

Paducah