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March 2007
Cycling
By: Brad Reed
Creative Writer
The Duke's Spin
Round and round and round they go. Twin 700 x 23 bands of vulcanized rubber rotating eighty times a minute; chewing up pavement like there's no tomorrow. They don't complain; they don't require much; they just continue do their job transporting me down the road.
Cycling is a passion I've had for some time...then lost...and finally regained. In my childhood, it was my means of transportation…my way of getting around. My neighborhood friends and I were attached to our bikes like they were our twin brothers, and we would customize these bikes to the hilt. Banana seats, ape hangers, custom paint jobs ala West Coast "Bicycle" Choppers...at least in our minds. Then I turned sixteen. I continued to ride for a short time after I learned how to maneuver the gasoline gulping vehicles of the day. But I soon drifted away from my bike. Completely. I was transformed into a modern day suburbanite with hot rod fever. Headers, Mickey Thompsons, and Cragars replaced bar tape, clipless pedals, and panniers. "I don't need no stinking exercise" was my mantra...more horsepower was my goal.
Well, times change…and so did my metabolism. Replacing physical sports with sedentary ones, and then none, contributed to my ever increasing body mass. For fear that I may overtake the Goodyear blimp as a recognizable shadow caster, I needed to eventually do something. Cycling...yeah, that's it, cycling. The old adage that you never forget how to ride a bike could surely work for me. And it did. Added to the fact that cycling is a wonderful way to ditch some tonnage, it's also a great way to exercise the ticker which resides inside your rib cage. Two birds; one stone.
I began riding again, maybe six or seven years ago. Nothing regular; just some trips around Creve Coeur Lake, up and down the Katy Trail, and around the neighborhood. It was so much fun that I pursued a more rigorous schedule to increase my stamina, thus allowing me to travel farther and see more from the saddle...not from the driver's seat. That's when I discovered Trailnet. I was hooked. What started as an occasional organized weekend ride with Trailnet evolved into a regular volunteer position and a weekly SAG wagon driver's responsibility. Many times, I would complete my volunteer duty and then begin the rides after everyone had left. Miles and miles churned in my wake, but I never had any aspirations of becoming one of the zero body fat peddlers of the Tour de France. Cycling was fun and it was my long, overdue exercise routine. I learned a lot from the Trailnet rides and also from the hundreds of riders who participated in them.
Eventually, I removed myself from the Trailnet routine, but I continued to ride on my own. I would plop my bike in my truck, drive to St. Charles, and either traverse the Katy Trail or run the asphalt roads north of the undeveloped "New Town at St. Charles". Occasionally, I would even forgo the truck and light out from my home in Ferguson for the corn fields of Portage Des Sioux, Orchard Farm, and Machens. The Discovery Bridge has bicycle lanes.
Fortunately, I now live in New Town. I scurry about this wonderful community on my bike regularly and I encourage every resident to do so. These short trips increase your confidence in mastering the two-wheeled transporters and hopefully they will expand your traveling destinations of tomorrow. It's the most rewarding way I've found to exercise. Running, jogging, kayaking, tennis, and the multitude of other wonderful sports and activities are great. But cycling does it for me. Although mixing with high speed traffic on our neighboring rural roads can be quite frightening at first, some planning, understanding, and confidence will eventually allow you to experience my favorite place to ride...North St. Charles County.
New Town is the hub of several different types of ride alternatives. Heading east will hook you up with the Katy Trail and it's endless gravel path through the train rides of yesteryear. You can even access Creve Coeur Lake from this trail. West takes you to the Golden Eagle Ferry. If you're a hill climber, this is the ride for you. Beautiful, rolling farmland vista's are your reward for challenging gravity in Calhoun County. The new Fifth Street bridge gives you great access to St. Charles City proper, and it's abundance of quaint streets and diverse architecture. But my favorite ride is north of New Town...flat, breezy, and lightly traveled.
I love the solitude of an early morning ride to Portage Des Sioux, north on Highway 94 to Highway H, and beyond. Thirty-eight miles and two hours of thought. Along the way, just past Blasé Station Road, yawning cows always await my "good morning" greeting before they start their day of eating grass...and eating grass. The morning sun on my right begins to melt away the low hanging river fog as I gobble up the never ending ribbon of pavement. Sun Tan Beach, Black Walnut, Mertz Road, the coal trains. Traditional seasons, as we know them, seem to blend together and are replaced by the more abrupt grasshopper season, frog season, and maize season. I am astonished at how suddenly the frogs appear in mass. And then the grasshoppers. Not quite so suddenly, but still rather surprising is the change in the landscape when the yellow ears of corn begin to mature. The seemingly "forever" view of the Great River Road bluffs disappears quickly as these corn stalks stretch toward the sky creating "road channels" for me to navigate.
Portage Des Sioux, St. Charles County Airport, Orchard Farm Schools, and farm after farm after farm. Peace, quiet, and beauty. Once in a while, I become restless and decide to meander farther, to Alton. Across the Clark Bridge, up the Vadalabene Trail to Grafton, and back again crossing the Mississippi River on the Grafton Ferry. This is a great time and is indeed an achievable journey with some experience and an awareness that you and the saddle will become one for quite a while. However, this ride also compensates you with the pride that everyone realizes once they accomplish something they normally deem unattainable.
Yes, cycling is one of my passions. It allows me to travel at the speed of…well…my cadence. However, it also allows me to experience nature outside the automobile, share a "howdy" with a variety of farm animals and critters, and hopefully add a few years to my life. This tale is not a self gratifying expose, but a welcoming hand to anyone who has given thought to the idea of cycling and a private look into the sport from my perspective.
New Town is the perfect place for me to pursue my two wheeled enthusiasm. There are so many different options right outside my front door. As more streets are added, more variety will follow for those of you who wish to jump in the saddle and cruise the neighborhood. And perhaps a bicycle store will come to New town, as well. They could display their traditional peddling selections along with unicycles, tricycles, tandems, recumbents, and even a big wheel, or two, like my buddy Buren loves to ride. If you prefer walking...great. Jogging...so be it. These are great outdoor activities and eventually we'll cross paths and probably have a friendly conversation. This is what community is all about. This is what New Urbanism exudes. It's great living here.
Now, about this extra forty pounds I've regained.
"The Duke of Hempstead"
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