Memorial Day Movement

Back before the trees leaved out, on Sunday mornings when I was on my way to work I would see cars parked on a road paralleling the highway. One day Hubby Tony and I decided to figure out why they would be there, and ended up finding a trailhead for Emmenegger Nature Park. We walked through the park, and on the way back we saw an entrance for the new I-44 multi-use trail bridge that went over the Meramec River. We said we'd have to come back and use it some day.

Today ended up being that day. Normally Monday afternoon finds me at the church to make dinner for the two priests that live there, but I have an arrangement with the pastor not to come in on civil holidays, so today I was completely free. Tony and I decided to take our bicycles out for the first ride of the season. After breakfast was cleaned up we got the bikes out of the storage area. I had to put the battery on (you may remember that both Tony and I have electric bikes), air in the tires, and find my helmet.

We left the condo and made our way east, then south. Most of the roads didn't have a dedicated bike lane, but traffic was light. Our first stop was at Emmenegger Park for a bathroom break. There was so much cottonwood fluff flying through the sky it looked like it was snowing, and the fluff covered the grass in a thick, unattractive layer.

We left Emmeneger and turned onto the trail. It was cool to be next to, but safely separated from, the highway traffic on the left. On the right I could look down and see the river. At the end of the overpass a cloverleaf led down to ground level. We crossed the road and headed south. The flat, shady greenway paralleled the Meramec River. There were very few people using it.

Ten seconds before I took this photo there was a duck convention on the asphalt. They quickly moved to the grass, then flew away when I got closer.

Ultimately the greenway meanders through Old Town Fenton. We went east and crossed the Meramec again, this time riding directly on a two lane bridge and turned into Minnie Ha Ha Park. At the back of the park there's the start of a trail that parallels the other side of the river. We rode until the park ended, then doubled back. We passed by a lovely nature area, where I saw flowers that were white but looked like bluebells. When I got home the Missouri Department of Conservation told me I was right in my assessment.

 Since we were already on the correct side of the river we came home a different way. The first two roads didn't have bike lanes or even much of a shoulder, but once again traffic was light. Thanks to my bike's electric motor I didn't feel like I was holding up the cars.

When we got home I did a rough estimate on how far we had ridden. It was close to 20 miles. Don't be too impressed, though. Unless I was coasting down an incline I always used some type of battery power assist. The steeper the hill, the more assist.