Escape Route

Susie, Connie, and Lynn are having a leisurely afternoon in St. Charles. It’s a day off of the bike and Lynn is enjoying it. We are at Mother-in-Law’s Restaurant sipping beverages outdoors. We’ve been seeing signs of some sort of excitement building – tents, road barriers, lots of people – and ask the waiter what’s up. He tells us there is a marathon in St. Charles tomorrow. Lynn gets up from the table and goes to the nearby trail and gets some info. It’s called the Mo’ Cowbell Marathon. We look it up and discover it’s going to go right through where we’ve planned to start the bike ride toward the Mississippi River crossing tomorrow. Roads will be closed, there will be traffic, and Lynn might not be allowed to ride her bike on the race course. 

Three minds put together an escape route. Let’s get the bike and get Lynn on it, ride from the planned start to some point safely outside the marathon route, and figure on starting there tomorrow. Lynn protests. “It’s my day off!” The logic, however, prevails. We get the bike, Lynn gets her biking clothes on and we go to the planned start. Lynn will do at least enough miles to get outside the fray. 

Lynn gets on the bike and gets into the groove. Well past the marathon route, she spots a large smoke stack spewing fumes in the direction she’s going — TAILWIND — so she just keeps going. Susie stops her just short of crossing the Mississippi River and declares the spot to be the starting point for tomorrow’s ride.

Ride details

Start location: St Charles MO

End location: West Alton MO

Distance: 22.1 miles

Cumulative distance: 2062.5 miles

Elevation gain: 108.3 feet

Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/731308970