Travel to St. Charles was under cloudy skies that have persisted since the start of our journey. Thunderstorms are predicted for the next five days. Until we reached the outskirts of St. Charles we had a delightful time cycling. We crossed the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers on ferries and traveled bike trails and rural roads most of the day. Before we boarded the Mississippi River ferry we stopped at the ferry café on the Illinois side of the river for pie. Joe and HP had the last 2 slices of fantastic blue berry pie ala mode leaving Jeff with an ok slice of apple pie.
As we got closer to St. Charles the traffic increased almost to the point of being uncomfortable. Each of us had a GPS that took us to within a block of our hotel…but we could not find it. Actually, Jeff’s GPS was turned off and HPs and Joe’s GPSs pointed us toward two pubs—one with 100 beers and the other with 6 that were brewed on site. HP chose the brew pub where we wet our whistles and had a great dinner. To finally get to our hotel Joe wanted a technology solution, HP just wanted our hotel, and Jeff asked several folks (not a manly thing to do but he did it anyway) and got us to our hotel. Before Jeff gets a swelled head, you should know that he got us lost today. He was in the zone and cycled beyond the GPS’s warning of an approaching turn. Joe followed blindly and HP stopped us and got a paper map to save the day. Since today was a low mileage day a few extra miles were not a problem.
According to Wikipedia, St. Charles is the second oldest city west of the Mississippi and was founded in 1765 by Louis Blanchette, a French Canadian fur trader. It was the last "civilized" stop for the Lewis and Clark Expedition; BUT HOPEFULLY not our last taste of civilization. From 1821 to 1826, the city served as the first Missouri capital.
St. Charles is also the trailhead for the Katy Trail State Park. The trail is 225 miles long and follows the Missouri River westward. We plan to cycle most of the trail over the next several days. It is the longest developed rail-trail in the country and it was built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.
PHOTOS
MAP
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ride to Grafton, Illinois
Our day started out making new friends: the café owner who served us breakfast, the city guide who gets paid to ride his bike and answer questions from tourists, and the park rangers who snapped group photos for us under the Arch. Also, during the ride we met other cyclists and café owners, and visitor center employees. While most of our readers know us, those we met along the way have some questions as to who we are. We are all in our early 60s but young at heart. We met in 2002 when we cycled across the United States as part of an Adventure Cycle Association tour and have since taken many tours together. Joe is from New York State, HP is from Switzerland, and Jeff is from Virginia. Joe is the group’s technical adviser and is carrying the lap top that develops this Blog and allows us email access. He also programmed the GPSs we each carry and is our bike mechanic (he carries enough tools to open a bike shop). HP is the high adventure guy. He leads mountaineering expeditions and ski trips. He knows more about camping and survival than a troop of Boy Scouts. Just prior to joining us he cycled from central France back to his home in Switzerland. Jeff always finds nice and positive things about each day's events and has an interesting way of expressing the day's events in writing.
Our earlier journeys were characterized by high daily mileage and a drive to get to camp early. If our first day is an indication of what is to come, we have matured. Our journey took all day to cover 45 miles. Rather than measuring miles per hour today was measured in photos per mile. Despite the gray weather, Joe and HP honed their photographic prowess by snapping lots of pictures during the day. They are the photographers, Jeff just takes snap shots. Be sure to check out their work at Our Photos.
In St. Louis we stayed in a modern high rise hotel but in Grafton we are staying in a hotel that was built in 1884. It provides a nice contrast to our first nights lodging. Our loved ones should not be worried however; this 1884 hotel was last renovated in 2008 and has wonderful rooms, good food, and excellent beer.
If you are tracking our journey, you can see our progress on this Goggle Map.
Our day started out making new friends: the café owner who served us breakfast, the city guide who gets paid to ride his bike and answer questions from tourists, and the park rangers who snapped group photos for us under the Arch. Also, during the ride we met other cyclists and café owners, and visitor center employees. While most of our readers know us, those we met along the way have some questions as to who we are. We are all in our early 60s but young at heart. We met in 2002 when we cycled across the United States as part of an Adventure Cycle Association tour and have since taken many tours together. Joe is from New York State, HP is from Switzerland, and Jeff is from Virginia. Joe is the group’s technical adviser and is carrying the lap top that develops this Blog and allows us email access. He also programmed the GPSs we each carry and is our bike mechanic (he carries enough tools to open a bike shop). HP is the high adventure guy. He leads mountaineering expeditions and ski trips. He knows more about camping and survival than a troop of Boy Scouts. Just prior to joining us he cycled from central France back to his home in Switzerland. Jeff always finds nice and positive things about each day's events and has an interesting way of expressing the day's events in writing.
Our earlier journeys were characterized by high daily mileage and a drive to get to camp early. If our first day is an indication of what is to come, we have matured. Our journey took all day to cover 45 miles. Rather than measuring miles per hour today was measured in photos per mile. Despite the gray weather, Joe and HP honed their photographic prowess by snapping lots of pictures during the day. They are the photographers, Jeff just takes snap shots. Be sure to check out their work at Our Photos.
In St. Louis we stayed in a modern high rise hotel but in Grafton we are staying in a hotel that was built in 1884. It provides a nice contrast to our first nights lodging. Our loved ones should not be worried however; this 1884 hotel was last renovated in 2008 and has wonderful rooms, good food, and excellent beer.
If you are tracking our journey, you can see our progress on this Goggle Map.
Monday, April 27, 2009
MEET ME IN CHICAGO
Hans-Peter (affectionately known as HP), Joe, and Jeff met in Chicago for their Lewis and Clark journey. HP had a wonderful glow after spending several days with his Chicago friends Leo and Sue. They treated him like royalty, gave him a great tour of Chicago, and attempted to tire him out by taking him on some urban bike rides.
After some quick catching up the 3 musketeers (or 3 Stooges) boarded the train for St. Louis, Missouri. There they plan to mount their metal steeds for the journey westward. While in St. Louis they did typical tourist things including a trip up the Gateway Arch and viewing the Lewis and Clark Imax film. To get to the top of the Arch required crawling through a miniature doorway to get into an even tinier “egg-shaped pod.” Joe said that Alice had it easier when she entered Wonderland. HP and Joe had no difficulty but Jeff kept doing deep breathing exercises to avoid panic. At the top they were rewarded with a fantastic panorama of the city and Mississippi River.
While they dodged rain showers all day, the weather promises to dry up tomorrow for their first cycling day. Traveling mostly on bike trails they are heading to Grafton, Illinois.
See Photos
Hans-Peter (affectionately known as HP), Joe, and Jeff met in Chicago for their Lewis and Clark journey. HP had a wonderful glow after spending several days with his Chicago friends Leo and Sue. They treated him like royalty, gave him a great tour of Chicago, and attempted to tire him out by taking him on some urban bike rides.
After some quick catching up the 3 musketeers (or 3 Stooges) boarded the train for St. Louis, Missouri. There they plan to mount their metal steeds for the journey westward. While in St. Louis they did typical tourist things including a trip up the Gateway Arch and viewing the Lewis and Clark Imax film. To get to the top of the Arch required crawling through a miniature doorway to get into an even tinier “egg-shaped pod.” Joe said that Alice had it easier when she entered Wonderland. HP and Joe had no difficulty but Jeff kept doing deep breathing exercises to avoid panic. At the top they were rewarded with a fantastic panorama of the city and Mississippi River.
While they dodged rain showers all day, the weather promises to dry up tomorrow for their first cycling day. Traveling mostly on bike trails they are heading to Grafton, Illinois.
See Photos
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