Last weekend Jeff and I hit St. Louis for the awesome Midnight Ramble and exploring the city on our bikes. It was a great trip, almost car-free except for Michelle taking to/from the train station.  I was glad to see lots of folks taking advantage of the bikes on train program at the Missouri Bicycle Federation helped encourage - at least six bikes on the train home Sunday night.

The Midnight Ramble is amazing, something like 15,000 or more bikes riding from Downtown to Forest Park and back.  It blows away our puny 1000-rider Lenexa Midnight Ride out in the hinterlands.

In total we did about 85 miles all over the city, exploring South City, Forest Park, Downtown, the Delmar Loop in University City, and the riverfront trail.  I love to dis St. Louis as much and any self-respecting Kansas Citian, but also have to give our state’s second biggest city credit for taking the lead on bicycle infrastructure.  The Bike St. Louis plan has several dozen miles of posted bike routes across the city, utilizing both bike lanes and sharrows.  The Riverfront Trail from Arch to the Chain of Rocks Bridge is superb, and is just one of multiple bike/ped crossings on the Mississippi River.

The trip wasn’t all about bikes.  It was also about beer.  A stop at the Schlaffly Tap Room was obligatory, and the perfect prelude to the midnight ride.  I also had a glorious Young’s Double Chocolate Stout at Cicero’s on the loop. The Cards were in town at the same time, so we spent the weekend witnessing the goodness of a Downtown baseball stadium - another essential urban thing where St. Louis schools us big time.

I’m heading back in November for a MoBikeFed board meeting and can’t wait.

The Springfield trip is finished and it was much fun. I was in meetings all day so my exploration was limited to the evening, but I was very impressed with the dramatic change since I was in the city years ago. Downtown is jumping with all kinds of bars, clubs, restaurants, shops, etc. They have quite a nightlife scene. I’d estimate their downtown bar district is bigger than Westport. And there were condo and loft conversions all over the place. It’s a lot like Downtown KC right now, a giant construction zone. It appears that gentrification has hit the Ozarks.

Apparently at least a few folks aren’t too happy with Springfield getting all sinned up. All night long a couple of old kooks stand around in the middle of all the bars and hold up a rotation of signs like “man shall rule over woman”, “marrying the divorced is adultery” and the like. Good times!

Bicycling is a joy in Springfield. They have a great network of bike routes all over the city, including a few bike lanes and lots of sharrows. Springfield already has a law that KC is now considering, which requires new businesses to provide bike parking. This means the city has bike racks all over the place, at most bars, restaurants, shops, etc. Plus, the city is completely flat. It’s in the Ozarks, but up on a plateau of some sort. This was good because it was toasty hot.  I was sweating like a whore in church.

I’m heading to Springfield this weekend for a Missouri Bicycle Federation board meeting. What do y’all Interweb people recommend for me there? I’ve never spent much time in the city besides passing through, so I’m looking forward to it a little bit. Sadly I’ll be in meetings all day so I’ll have the evenings to explore…