McTufferton

My father and I did an orgnaized, group century yesterday on what was a PERFECT day in St. Louis... 80 degrees, sunny, no humidity, no wind (did I mention is was a perfect day to ride? ). This was a very well attended event... 300+ pre-registered riders, and they estimated another 200+ registered that morning.

It was truly a "town and country" ride. We started in the 'burbs, about 35 miles outside downtown and rode through the city, heading north to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. From there we crossed into Illinois, and rode up "the Great River Road", Illinois Route 3. We took two ferry crossings into north St. Charles County, and meandered through the plains and fields back to the start.

Here's the facts, followed by my first attempt at narration through photos.
101 miles.
6 hours, 57 minutes of ride time.
14.5 mph average.

We started in old-town St. Charles. We launched at 7:15 on a crisp, cool October morning. I'm the smiling friendly looking guy on the left


We took in a beautiful sunrise. Over the river and through the fog...



From there, our route took us through the mature tree-lined streets of historic University City.


The first rest stop was at mile 25, in front of the History Meuseum in Forest Park.



The ride from Forest Park into downtown provided some nice mid-morning views of downtown St. Louis. The latter is a look south from Broadway. Note the arch in the background, and the Edward Jones dome, home of the Lambs... I mean Rams.

McTufferton

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge... our gateway to Illinois over the "Muddy Mississippi"


Once in Illinois, we found Route 3 North to Alton and eventually Grafton. I thought this was a good picture of the Mississippi... complete with barge traffic and the Alton Bridge.

This is the bluffs on Route 3 North. For those familiar, it's one of the best places in the region to see color during the fall. Mississippi River on the left, huge bluffs and trees on the right.

Here's an action shot of my dad in front, setting the pace up Route 3


Heading into Grafton, we rode about 5 miles on a bike trail through the woods... nice.


We crossed the Illinois and Missouri Rivers via ferry. We rode through beautiful rolling country on our way back to St. Charles county. Nice fall colors.




The brick and cobblestone streets of Fifth Street in old-town St. Charles tells me we've come full circle and found our way home... what a day!!

markhr

Looks like fun, nice pictures too - thanks for posting

KiddSisko

Looks like a great ride!

In the first pic with your dad, the look on his face suggests this classic dad moment: "Hey, did you leave the lights on?"

And what happened to that girl rider in the pic of everyone exiting the ferry? Lower left corner of the pic, she's on the ground.

Jynx

Im jealous that looks like a great ride!

McTufferton

Thanks, guys. It was a great ride.

The gal on the ground slipped while walking up a steep grade from the ferry. The only thing bruised was her ego... she laughed it off

And the look from my dad in both pictures is unusual... he's rarely photographed without giving someone bunny-ears or making faces!!

icyclist 

Thanks for sharing - it's nice to see other places. As a Californian, where hills and mountains are almost a required component of century rides, I'm not sure I could survive a flat century that you apparently had to endure - I need hills to get my ass out of the saddle once in a while.

scottmorrison99

Nice pictures, and you rode with your father? Very cool. Looks like a really scenic ride. I could do a flat century if it was that pretty.

HAMMER MAN

great pictures. Hope you and our father ride quite often

McTufferton

I'm 28, my dad's 57... he's been on a road bike for 40+ years. I took a 10 year break through high school and college, but he got me into cycling when I was 11 or 12. I did my first MS 150 ride at 12 or 13 years old.

Edit (per the above post): We still ride every single weekend!

cloukis

Great Pics, looks like a great way to spend time with family! Thanks for the post!

Sir Real

I really like that 3rd picture. Thanks for sharing.

aham23

great pics. this was my bikes first out of State trip



last year i was camping outside of Grafton and did a nice little loop down and around the river that included a trip over the ferry. some really nice rolling county roads along that area. later.

Randallissimo

That 3rd photo is stunning. I'd hang that on my wall.

KiddSisko

Tell your dad that he's our hero.

NeelsGap86

The Mighty Mississippi reminds me of Huck Finn and his raft.

kirkcubs

That 2nd pic, looks like one of the bridges that crosses the Mississippi into Ill. via 270 (or into St. Louis via 255, depending on your directions), but then again there's like 5 bridges that look like that in that area. Which bridge is it?
Great pics, wish I still lived there for that.

10 Wheels

Nice pics. You look good wearing a helmet.

coolcrow

It reminds me of the bridge crossing the Mississippi in Quincy.

Phantoj

I think the Page Extension bridge is the only one in the StL area with a bike path on the side of it.

McTufferton

It's the new Page Avenue extension. Crosses the Missouri River and connects to a bike path that runs into Creve Couer Lake.

ILUVUK

Dude! Cool pictures! I lived in St. Charles from 2000 to 2005 before moving to Iowa...unfortunately I didn't start riding until I moved here. Sounds like you and your dad had a great day!

orcanova

Jesus holy sweetness. That looks like a perfect morning to ride, especially with your pops. Nice pics! Looks like a lot of varying scenery too. I like the ferry ride too, just to take the seriousness out of everyone. Could you imagine if they had to catch a ferry in the TdF?

[/jealousy]

Oh, I forgot to mention, I am a news photog and I covered the floods in '93 all over that area, St. Charles, Alton, etc. Glad to see everything is good there.

nascarrunner71

I did that ride also! My first century. Thanks for the pics (I didn't take many, because we ride several of those trails often). I had to look twice at the ferry pic, because the jerseys looked familiar--and yep, I'm the one in the middle in the flag jersey!

P.S. I'm a newbie, but I wouldn't call that flat!

aprilm

Um... you're smiling?