Post for June 9, 2021

I met Paxton and her husband, Ross, when I passed through Minneapolis, weeks ago. They’ve gone on some great bike tours in South Asia and other places, so when they saw my loaded bike, they asked where I was going. Paxton is from St. Louis, so she gave me some great recommendations about what to see and what to avoid.

I was headed for the northern suburbs of St. Louis, and Paxton told me it’d be much better to enter St. Louis from the east, from the Illinois side. The northern suburbs have many miles of residential cycling. The east side has a lot of natural beauty, from the Mississippi River.

On the 2nd ferry.

With more of her suggestions, I took a ferry across the Mississippi, cycled across a large island (with the hardest hills yet) and took another ferry over another river, the Illinois River I think. Paxton was absolutely correct about the sights when entering St. Louis from the east, which show up in the pictures for today and the next day.

Since I spent a lot of time on the River on this day, the song is Leaf on a Stream. For me, few songs put me on water like this one.

The middle hill shows where I had to rest 3x while pushing my bike, on gravel.

After cycling through some suburbs, I found country roads by the river.

My first ferry ride of the day, fun!

After the ferry, i started on a peaceful road, on the island.

But soon after, the steepest hills yet showed up, on gravel. While going up the hill in the distance, I had to stop at least 3 times to rest–while pushing my bike.

Later, more calm roads showed up.

As usual, hills lead to nice views.

More houses showed up with a very high main floor since the river will flood.

Waiting for the 2nd ferry.

On the 2nd ferry.

Back on the Illinois side with more propped up houses.

This marina is full of dozens of big boats.

All those boats lead to restaurants by the river. A barge is going by in the background.

A fun bar by the river where I had a late lunch.

Bike lanes on the Illinois side.

Curves in bluffs above show how the river formed them.