St Louis [This Post Written and Edited by Doug Lybeck]

July 21, 2009

We finished the Katy Trail in Missouri this afternoon in grand style. The trail technically ends in St Charles, but we decided to continue on into St Louis.

It’s been fascinating to watch the progression of real estate prices as we approached the city. Only 50 miles out, nice three bedroom homes can be had for as little as 20K! The small towns outside of the city are actually VERY nice. For some reason I had a bad image is Missouri in my head before I arrived, but I’ve been proven quite wrong.

John, Heather, Jackson, Dave and myself rode into the outer suburbs of St Louis, through Creve Coeur park and a series of interurban bike trails. Unfortunately the trails quickly ended and we found ourselves on packed city streets during rush hour. I’m used to city riding, but its significantly harder when fully loaded for touring, let alone with four other people trailing me. The others needed a Best Buy to find a new camera, so I decided to use the opportunity to sprint into downtown to see the arch! The tourist in me couldn’t resist. Downtown St Louis is very nice, much like most US cities. It had a slum period in the 70’s and 80’s, and has received a great deal of waterfront improvements over the last 20 years. The area directly downtown actually reminds me quite a bit of San Francisco.

Being an uber-tourist at the arch in St Louis
All Photos