Saint Louis road bike rides?

[Wayne77]

I'm heading out there on a business trip later this month. I'm considering renting a road bike or borrowing one. I'll be staying down town. What's the riding out there like? Any rides accessible from downtown that are worth it? Any group rides Monday or Tuesday evening? Probably won't have time to do any rides more than 2-3 hours. Any tips from people familiar with the area would be appreciated. Thanks!

[MaraudingWalrus]

I'm heading out there on a business trip later this month. I'm considering renting a road bike or borrowing one. I'll be staying down town. What's the riding out there like? Any rides accessible from downtown that are worth it? Any group rides Monday or Tuesday evening? Probably won't have time to do any rides more than 2-3 hours. Any tips from people familiar with the area would be appreciated. Thanks!

I did a couple races around Forest Park, and a time trail out in Chesterfield when I was racing in college. You might hit up Big Shark, that's who I always dealt with when I was in town for group rides. They've got a location in Delmar Loop downtown. There were several Big Shark locations throughout St Louis if I recall. Some big Trek concept stores existed, too.

[jtbadge]

Monday night road ride at South Side Cyclery is pretty fun. Usually ends with a beer (and sometimes tacos).

I did a couple races around Forest Park, and a time trail out in Chesterfield when I was racing in college. You might hit up Big Shark, that's who I always dealt with when I was in town for group rides. They've got a location in Delmar Loop downtown. There were several Big Shark locations throughout St Louis if I recall. Some big Trek concept stores existed, too.

There's a Big Shark downtown, but the Delmar Loop location moved a couple of miles south, closer to the interstate.

[Wayne77]

Thanks guys. I'll check with Big Shark. Anyone familiar with Around Town Bikes? Its a rental only shop run by a friendly guy I spoke with named Brian. He said just give him 30 minutes notice anytime/any day and he'll come over and unlock the shop. Really inexpensive. I'm guessing they probably aren't high end bikes or anything but that's not a concern for me....just need to keep my training momentum going.

I didn't ask specifics, just whether he rented road bikes and he said he had plenty.

Tentative plan is to pick my bike up Sunday late afternoon, do a short ride Sun eve, then an early/longer ride Monday and Tues Morning. Possible eve group ride Mon or Tues.

[Plum Hill]

You might also check out Maplewood Bikes, The Hub, Billy Goat Bicycles, and The Alpine Shop.
St. Louis Recreational Cyclists do a Monday morning ride from Creve Coeur Lake to New Town via St. Charles. Tuesday morning rides usually on Missouri side of the Mississippi. Group is predominately older riders but can give you a nice run. Cue sheets are linked on the website. www.stlrc.org
On your own from downtown, you could take the Riverfront Trail north to Chain of Rocks Bridge (old US 66), cross over into Illinois, and take trails back down to McKinley Bridge and back to Missouri.
On the Illinois side, there are about 100 miles of trails, most of them paved and many of them in the shade (high humidity and piercing sun have been a bear this summer). www.mcttrails.org
I’d give you a personal tour but I just had a new knee installed Monday.

[weisan]

We lived in St. Louis for three years and left in 2011. Because of this thread, I went back and reviewed some of my old biking routes. It's amazing how much I have already forgotten in these few years.

Wild Horse Creek
Ossenfort
St Albans
Melrose
Little Tavern
Fiddle Creek

These are some of the most beautiful roads I have ridden on, just to name a few. But they are further out west.

If you have to stay close to downtown , follow Plum pal's advice.

If you have a car and willing to drive a bit, then sure, try out Forest Park, Lake Creve Coeur, Katy Trail, St. Charles or even some of the roads I mentioned above.

I wouldn't venture too far unless I have a local guide or riding partner to go with. By myself, I would probably just stick to the bike paths.

[Wayne77]

Thanks...Very helpful!

You might also check out Maplewood Bikes, The Hub, Billy Goat Bicycles, and The Alpine Shop.
St. Louis Recreational Cyclists do a Monday morning ride from Creve Coeur Lake to New Town via St. Charles. Tuesday morning rides usually on Missouri side of the Mississippi. Group is predominately older riders but can give you a nice run. Cue sheets are linked on the website. www.stlrc.org
On your own from downtown, you could take the Riverfront Trail north to Chain of Rocks Bridge (old US 66), cross over into Illinois, and take trails back down to McKinley Bridge and back to Missouri.
On the Illinois side, there are about 100 miles of trails, most of them paved and many of them in the shade (high humidity and piercing sun have been a bear this summer). www.mcttrails.org
I’d give you a personal tour but I just had a new knee installed Monday.

[Wayne77]

Excellent! thanks for the info.

We lived in St. Louis for three years and left in 2011. Because of this thread, I went back and reviewed some of my old biking routes. It's amazing how much I have already forgotten in these few years.

Wild Horse Creek
Ossenfort
St Albans
Melrose
Little Tavern
Fiddle Creek

These are some of the most beautiful roads I have ridden on, just to name a few. But they are further out west.

If you have to stay close to downtown , follow Plum pal's advice.

If you have a car and willing to drive a bit, then sure, try out Forest Park, Lake Creve Coeur, Katy Trail, St. Charles or even some of the roads I mentioned above.

I wouldn't venture too far unless I have a local guide or riding partner to go with. By myself, I would probably just stick to the bike paths.

[Louis]

Wayne,

The roads Weisan mentions are all out where I live, but I didn't bother to mention the options out there because I got the impression you were going to stick with the areas near downtown.

If you're interested in some nice options out west of the busier areas let me know via and we can chat. (PM your phone number if you like)

Louis

We lived in St. Louis for three years and left in 2011. Because of this thread, I went back and reviewed some of my old biking routes. It's amazing how much I have already forgotten in these few years.

Wild Horse Creek
Ossenfort
St Albans
Melrose
Little Tavern
Fiddle Creek

These are some of the most beautiful roads I have ridden on, just to name a few. But they are further out west.

If you have to stay close to downtown , follow Plum pal's advice.

If you have a car and willing to drive a bit, then sure, try out Forest Park, Lake Creve Coeur, Katy Trail, St. Charles or even some of the roads I mentioned above.

I wouldn't venture too far unless I have a local guide or riding partner to go with. By myself, I would probably just stick to the bike paths.

[CDollarsign]

On your own from downtown, you could take the Riverfront Trail north to Chain of Rocks Bridge (old US 66), cross over into Illinois, and take trails back down to McKinley Bridge and back to Missouri.
On the Illinois side, there are about 100 miles of trails, most of them paved and many of them in the shade (high humidity and piercing sun have been a bear this summer). www.mcttrails.org
I’d give you a personal tour but I just had a new knee installed Monday.

I think this is the best advice. You could also go south for quite a ways from downtown starting at the river front trail, but north is better and the ride across the chain of rocks bridge is cool.

STL is pretty spread out and it would take you a long time to get out of the city from downtown. Traffic sucks and drivers aren't awesome. That being said there are lots of bike lanes so if you wanted to tough it you could. Forest park is really beautiful and has a nice bike path around it. I used to live downtown and would ride there and do a couple laps are return home - not too bad or boring.