Cycling

Cycling has been ramping up recently in the St. Louis area to become one of the region’s most popular — and fastest growing — pastimes and modes of transportation. St. Louis has a number of local cycling organizations that provide resources for riders and advocate on their behalf, working to make local traffic more bicycle friendly. The area is the setting for some fantastic riding, including over 120 miles of paved bikeways in the St. Louis region.

In 2012, St. Louis was named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, which identifies communities that welcome cyclists, encourage bicycle transportation and provides safe acommodation. The league recognized the region for its many initiatives and remarkable progress, including over 75 miles of on-street designated bicycle lanes created by Bike St. Louis and the McKinley Bridge Bikeway and Trestle, a 3,000-foot-long cantilevered bicycle lane spanning the Mississippi River and developed by Great Rivers Greenway. The City of St. Louis served as a partner on both projects.

Some area bikeway projects include trails along the Mississippi River, in the counties of Madison, St. Clair, St. Louis,  St. Charles and in the city of St. Louis. One of the largest is the Centennial Greenway, which runs 20 miles from Forest Park in St. Louis City to Creve Coeur Lake Park in west St. Louis County.  From there, a special bikeway on the Page Avenue bridge connects Creve Coeur Lake Park to the Katy Trail, a flat 225-mile ribbon stretching across the state of Missouri.

The Mississippi River Trail — a 10-state, 2,000-mile trail that spans the headwaters of the Mississippi in Lake Itasca, Minn. to the Gulf of Mexico — passes through St. Louis. The MCT Confluence Trail, which extends for 16 miles in Madison County, IL along the Illinois riverfront and alongside several historical sites, connects to the 12-mile Missouri Riverfront Trail at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis City. And Illinois’ Madison County Transit Trails is a network of more than 75 miles of rail corridors that have been converted into user-friendly bikeways and walking trails.

If rougher riding is your preference, several local parks offer a network of rugged mountain biking trails as well, like Castlewood State Park. For a look at all of the area’s trails or to learn more about cycling in St. Louis, check out these Web sites:

RELATED LINKS  St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation  Missouri Bicycle Federation  stlbiking  Madison County Trails  Great Rivers Greenway District  Trailnet  Quality of Life Ratings and Rankings