Day 1: Tuesday

Tm: 3:02:07
Dst: 37.27
Avg: 12.2
Mx: 86.7?
Temp: 60
Weather: Rain, strong SE wnd
 
I planned on leaving my dorm room in the morning, to get this trip underway.  The forecast yesterday called for nice weather.  But when I woke up the sky looked mighty dark.  The Weather Channel told me there were severe thunderstorms on the way.  Hail, the whole bit.  So I waited until noon, when it was still raining off and on, but not storming.
 
I hopped on the Metrolink in Shrewsbury and rode downtown to the Gateway Arch on the riverfront.  My plan was to take the Riverside Bike Trail up to the Chain of Rocks Bridge, over to Illinois, then to ride north on the bike trail (Levee Road) to the Lewis & Clark Park, just south of Hartford, IL, where the Lewis & Clark Route officially begins.
 
When I got to the riverfront in downtown Saint Louis, it started raining again.  The water was so high along the river that the road was closed for a few blocks.  The statue of Lewis & Clark was nearly under water.  I thought "the bike trail must be flooded.  I need to go back home and try a different way out of the city."  Ignoring that thought, I opted to see if the trail was open.  Surprisingly it was.  What's better, the rain soon stopped and I had a good tailwind.  All in all, it was a good day.
 
And so, I began my ride at the Gateway Arch.  It seemed fitting to start my ride along the Lewis & Clark trail at a monument to westward expansion.  It also seemed like the easiest way to get to the start of the route on my map. 

As I pedaled north from the arch, there is the usual mess of junkyards, barge facilities, and other industry.  But the bike path is excellent.  It weaves along the riverfront, between dikes, flood gates, and atop levees.  Smooth sailing for miles with no traffic.  The "truckster" seemed to float along.

Eventually I got to the Chain of Rocks Bridge.  This bridge once carried Route 66 across the Mississippi.  Then it was abandoned, but later converted into a great pedestrian bridge.  The bridge is unique in that it has a sharp bend in the middle.  It is an interesting piece of history.  As I stood on the bridge and looked South, I could see the Arch, where I started the ride, miles away.  There are also two historic water intake structures -- quite elaborate, actually -- near the bridge.

Next, after crossing into Illinois, I turned North and rode on the levee bike path to Lewis & Clark State Memorial Park.  The Madison County bike trail system, which I was riding on, is impressive.  Signs claim about 85 miles of trails connecting many of the communities in the area to one another (See mcttrails.com).  Unfortunately, the visitor center at the park is closed on Tuesday, and the impressive-looking monument is still under construction.

Then I arrived in the Hartford and East Alton areas, where the bike path I was on ended in a strange residential/industrial area.  That whole areas seemed run down, though full of industry, such as a huge Amoco facility and various corporate barge facilities.  Anyway, I felt lost once the bike path ended near East Alton.  I asked two people for directions before finding the very nice Alton visitor center.  They were very helpful.  I decided to stay in Alton at the Super-8.  When asking how best to get there, the woman told me to avoid sections of Alton on my map, dangerous areas not safe for a lone cyclist.  This looks like a rough town, except for the small but beautiful downtown area.  There are also tons of churches here, but few Catholic churches, which I thought was strange so close to the Catholic city of Saint Louis.  I must have ridden into the "Bible belt" or something.

I was hoping to go to Mass tomorrow, but I can't find Mass times.  I've got a lot of Sunday Mass times, but no weekday times.  I'll see what the story is when I ride by the Church in the morning.

Tomorrow I should hit the KATY Trail.  It should be an interesting experience, but for now I'm just enjoying the Super-8, waiting for a pizza to arrive.