Questions about Riding in and around St. Louis

[weisan]

We have moved from Austin TX to St. Louis in 2007 and lived there for almost four years before moving elsewhere.

While we were there, we lived in the Creve Coeur area.

I spent the majority of my road riding in the St. Albans surrounding area. It's relatively low traffic, undulating terrain and smooth roads.

When I yearn for some off-road riding, I would venture out to St. Charles and ride on Katy Trail.





For a quick spin or lunch ride, i would ride from my home to Creve Coeur Lake and do the loop around a couple of times before heading back the same way I came.

During the winter, when it gets really cold, and the temperature is such that it's stupid to even be outside but I am itching for a ride, I would just ride around Creve Coeur lake on the trail for an hour or less before I froze over.

Creve Coeur Lake has become sort of my base and rally point, I have a lot of fond memories riding there.















I can ride out the door and go through relatively safe and quiet neighborhood in order get to the places I ride regularly. If I am short on time, i will drive 20-30 minutes to get me closer to the ideal start point.

Obviously, my intel is dated as we moved away from St Louis in 2011. So, you might want to consult people who actually live in StL currently or were there more recently.

On a personal note, I can find "decent" riding just about anywhere on earth. My philosophy is, if you are dealt with lemons, try making lemonade out of 'em instead of complaining and whinning about life being unfair, the inadequacies and shortcomings -- I mean, make the best out of it.

Originally Posted by sweitee

I think right now I'm trying to figure out what bike would work best for St. Louis.

I am not sure if you need to make that call or decision right away. Why don't you wait till you land and had the opportunity to check things out yourself on the ground before you decide?

In my case, I knew that we would only be in St Louis for a few years and we were downsizing from a house to an apartment, because of limited space. I only brought one bike with me and kept the others in storage. My bike of choice was one that we might consider as an all-road in today's terms. It's equally competent on paved and unpaved, can accommodate up to 35mm tires.

[mmiller76]

I live and ride here. I don’t race, but I like to ride. From near Tower Grove Park, it’s an easy shot downtown to the Riverfront trail. You can take that north, or across into Illinois and its MCT system.

There are some main roads, like Clayton, that are good rides in the county. The city itself ia pretty flat. The roads are not in great shape. I certainly avoid narrow tires, but people do it just fine.i mostly ride what is considered “all road.”

I’m not familiar with mountain biking here. I think they just added some trails at Carondelet Park.

Cheers.

[MO Will]

I am in STL. If you want to leave from your door I recommend road and gravel bikes.

There is some ok MTB riding (Castlewood, Chubb trail) but not really close enough to leave from your door.

As others have mentioned, there are some awesome areas to ride that can accessed from the city including Wildwood and Jefferson County on the MO side. The Madison County trails in IL are also close enough to access from the city.

There are plenty of great group rides.

For riding in the city all road or gravel is best. For longer rides, or some of the group rides, a road bike is ideal. I ride my bike to work every day and I think a cargo bike would be very useful.

Hope to see you out there!


Will

[Louis]

Originally Posted by weisan

I spent the majority of my time riding in the St. Albans area. It's relatively low traffic, undulating terrain and smooth roads.

OP, I live just a hair north of the top part of the red circle Weisan drew around St Albans (but not in St Albans - that's for the $$$$$ country-club set). That general area has IMO some of the best road riding in the St Louis area - which is why I moved out there - but if you're living in downtown proper it's a bit of a drive (say, 30-45 minutes, depending on how long it takes you to get on the highway from your house) and if you ride out you end up spending too much of your time on far less pleasant roads.

If you ever want some ideas for rides in far-west St Louis county or Franklin county let me know and I'll provide more info.

Welcome to the area.

[texbike]

Originally Posted by Louis

What parts have you been seeing? Many visitors don't say that.

I'm staying right outside of Forest Park at The Cheshire. I think it's the Hi-Pointe/Richmond Heights area. I've driven through the park, into downtown, had dinner on the Hill, walked through Tower Grove Park, driven through the Delmar Loop area, downtown Clayton, University City, and out to St Charles for an event. I'm impressed with the architecture, the size of the City, the beautiful tree-lined streets, the parks, etc. I'd love to have a bike here with me to just meander and explore the city and neighborhoods.

Texbike

[Plum Hill]

As I remarked to the OP in a message: “BTW visitors and newcomers see much more positivity in STL than residents do. Not that there aren’t issues, but locals tend to dwell on them.”
I’m glad texbike is getting out and seeing the area.

I took weisan out on the MCT trails for a ride, stopping off at The Gardens of SIUE and Turtle Pond. Can’t believe it was that far back.

[MO Will]

The OP is in a great location right near Forest Park. That and the weather has been spectacular. And I agree, Forest Park and the neighborhoods just to the west are all pretty amazing. I commute to work everyday and love the ride!!

[Louis]

Originally Posted by texbike

I'm impressed with the architecture, the size of the City, the beautiful tree-lined streets, the parks, etc.

If you haven't already done so, it's always fun to drive down Lindell (the section just north of the park) and check out the houses there and on Portland Place and Westmoreland Place, some very impressive stuff.

Originally Posted by Plum Hill

As I remarked to the OP in a message: “BTW visitors and newcomers see much more positivity in STL than residents do. Not that there aren’t issues, but locals tend to dwell on them.”

Speaking of Portland Place, visitors might not remember the notorious McCloskey incident described at the link below, and know that St Louis has a long history of residential redlining, resulting in it being one of the most segregated cities in the US.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53891184

[texbike]

Originally Posted by Plum Hill

As I remarked to the OP in a message: “BTW visitors and newcomers see much more positivity in STL than residents do. Not that there aren’t issues, but locals tend to dwell on them.”
I’m glad texbike is getting out and seeing the area.

Originally Posted by Louis

If you haven't already done so, it's always fun to drive down Lindell (the section just north of the park) and check out the houses there and on Portland Place and Westmoreland Place, some very impressive stuff.

[/URL]

I just made it back home a couple hours ago but had some time to spend around town this afternoon between morning meetings and heading back to the airport. Gotta be honest - I'm impressed! The City has its issues but you guys in STL live in a really cool place. Neighborhood after neighborhood of really cool, classic houses. Incredible architecture. Great food. Neat, tree-lined, and walkable streets.

I spent some more time walking and driving around some of the neighborhoods North, South, and East of Tower Grove Park and the Botanical Gardens this afternoon. Grand Avenue South of the Park has a ton of great shops/restaurants/breweries/places to hang out. There are bike lanes/trails all over the City and I can't imagine not being able to spend months just exploring all the different routes around town. Maybe it's not the Alps, Rockies, the Bay Area, or the Central Coast of California, but it's a neat place. I was in Brentwood for one of my meetings (neat area!) this morning and drove back through Portland Place and a few other stunning neighborhoods off of Delmar. Forest Park and the Washington University campus are BEAUTIFUL! I didn't go inside the City Museum, but plan to next time I'm in town. The area around it off of Washington and Delmar are cool as well.

Overall, I think it's a much cooler city than Austin is. You guys should be proud!

I hope that St Louis is able to sort out the issues that plague it. It deserves to be recognized as one of America's best cities.

EDIT - Oh, and if I were to have 3 bikes for the STL area one would be a Flat-bar Crux-style machine for around town, the 2nd would be a nice pure road bike with room for 30s, and the 3rd would be a SS rigid 29r for those times when you do find a place to MTB.

Texbike

[Louis]

Originally Posted by texbike

Grand Avenue South of the Park has a ton of great shops/restaurants/breweries/places to hang out.

+1

And neat bookstores too.

[texbike]

Originally Posted by Louis

+1

And neat bookstores too.

Actually, I saw at least one there along with a couple of bike shops off of Grand and Arsenal.

Texbike

[Plum Hill]

Next time in the city, check out The Fountain on Locust. Amazing building and great treats. It’s on the old Automotive Row on Locust Street. Most buildings have a plaque telling of their history.

Check out the musical offering at Das Bevo Bier Garten/Bevo Mill on a weekend evening. The Bevo was a tavern halfway between Anheuser-Busch and the Busch home, now Grant’s Farm, another place to visit. Grant’s Farm is next to Grant’s Trail so it makes a nice bike ride. Admission is free but there is a parking charge, so riding a bike makes it 100% free.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by Plum Hill

Grant’s Farm is next to Grant’s Trail so it makes a nice bike ride. Admission is free but there is a parking charge, so riding a bike makes it 100% free.

Yeah forgot about this one, good call plum pal.