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Bicycling has been ramping up recently in the St. Louis area to become one of the region’s most popular — and fastest growing — pastimes. St. Louis has a number of local cycling organizations that provide resources for riders and advocate on their behalf, working to make local traffic laws more bicycle friendly. The area is the setting for some fantastic riding, including 120 miles of paved trails in the St. Louis region. In 2006, more than a dozen extensions of new trails were constructed, with several more on the drawing board for the next couple of years. Some area trail projects include trails along the Mississippi River, in the counties of Madison, St. Clair, St. Louis and St. Charles, and in the city of St. Louis. The largest plan underway is the Centennial Greenway, which will run 14 miles from Forest Park to Creve Coeur Lake Park. Paving for the Centennial Greenway is scheduled to begin in 2008. From there, a special bikeway on the Page Avenue bridge currently 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 20 miles along the Illinois riverfront alongside several historical sites, connects to the 12-mile Missouri Riverfront Trail at the Chain of Rocks Bridge. 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 bicycling in St. Louis, check out these Web sites:
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