11 replies to this topic

[MysteriousLady]

I moved to Missouri last week and live in Ellisville... and have yet to get out on my bike!   I see lots of signs on Manchester and such to share the road, but am looking to get off of Manchester and enjoy the area. I'm an almost-daily fitness rider, but usually only have 30 minutes for a ride, sometimes 45-60 minutes on the weekends, and would like to stay on paved paths/road. Suggestions?

I've noticed a few bike paths, including one running along Manchester in Wildwood -- are these mapped out somewhere?

Thanks so much!

[pylondesigner]

You have great access to a lot of great ride loops west of you.  there are plenty of hills and beautiful scenery once you get off of manchester.  Hit the bike route display option in google to show the available trails.  Map my ride should also show a lot of the West county loops.  Ossenfort, Melrose, bouquet, bassett, little tavern and old 100 are a few of the roads to look for.  There is a paved trail in the chesterfield valley as well as the Al foster trail that leads you into the back side of castlewood state park (cross bike on the nettles loop or MTB on some of the other trails).  There is a master plan for the great river greenway project that will eventually hook all of the off street paths together.

[digyourownwhole]

+1 to @pylondesigner.

To add to that, if you are south of Manchester and short on time, you can take Keifer Creek (Clarkson turns into this) south to climb (moderate) Pierside to Old State Rd and then left to Ridge and then left on St. Pauls' which will bring you back to Keifer Creek.  If feeling more adventurous, do it the opposite way climbing (more intense) St. Paul.  

If North of Manchester, hop on Clayton Rd in either direction and go nuts.  If you head West, you will have more hills and fewer traffic signals.  If you head East, you will have rolling hills and a faster pace.  Depends on what you want any given day and how much time you have to ride.  

Welcome to MO and West County.  Any of us who ride out West will be happy to help in any way that we can, so ask away.   :-)

[mattcpe]

Head west on Clayton to 109. There is a trail along 109 that will take you down to 100 and you can loop east and cross over , then come back west and go all the way to Pond Road on the trail.  If you go south on Pond to Old Manchester, you can take that heading west and will open you up to Melrose, Bouquet, Ossenfort, Wild Horse, etc.

If you go down to the Chesterfield Valley, hop on the trail at the Hardee's Ice Complex north of 64.   There is 8 miles of flat levee trail that leads to Centaur, which will then take you on to Wild Horse, Ossenfort, Hardt, etc. Saturday and Sunday mornings there are always a bunch of people saddling up about 7:30 down there, and there are a ton of riders on those roads, so the cars seem to pay attention.

Edited by mattcpe, 20 August 2012 - 01:32 PM.

[MysteriousLady]

Thank you everyone, for the specifics -- just what I needed! I had to pull up a map to figure out where all these roads are, but I think I've got it. I have to admit that I'm feeling a little uncertain about having to ride on Manchester and some of the other similar roads (I live off Manchester, and there is no way to get anywhere without getting on that road). But I'm sure it will be fine and I will get the hang of it. In my previous home, I lived on the edge of town and could weave my way through a subdivision before having open roads for as far as I wanted -- so nice! So the heavy traffic to start off the ride is a little concerning, but now with all your help I think I'm ready to give it a go.

Any suggestions for "proper" bike etiquette when it is necessary to ride on busy streets? I'm still feeling a little anxious about that.

[pylondesigner]

without not wanting to know exactly where you are at in ellisville, the manchester traffic flow can be pretty nuts at morning and evening rush.  Lots of congestion between New ballwin and old state/hutchinson.  Once you are west of hutchinson there is an ample shoulder to ride on.  Another option exists If you can get to the north side of manchester, making your way thru the apartments behind the post office (mimosa ln) you can work your way up to kehrs mill and then to clayton.  I had temporary quarters off of new ballwin south of manchester earlier in the year, and always started my rides by working up to clayton rd using that route. There is also a trail that hooks some of the older subdivisions together in the section between east of clarkson and north of manchester.

[skibum77]

Definitely look *closely* at a map of Ellisville.  While 90% of the streets off Manchester are little subdivisions or cul-de-sacs that have no connectivity to anything but Manchester in your car (the biggest planning mistake in the last 60 years if you ask me), pylondesigner is right, not only can you work your way up to Kehrs Mill & Clayton through Hillsdale and Mimosa, there's a little-known bike trail that runs behind some of those streets on the north side of Manchester as far east as Fletcher that spits you out on Marsh Ave, which you can use to get out to Hutchinson.  From there you can easily get to Clayton or Manchester.  On the south side of Manchester, there's a trail linking Oakwood Farms Lane (off of Reinke) and Bluebird Park, which gives you access to Keifer Creek and Pierside.

Using either of those options can get you west of the worst part of Manchester and into Wildwood.

[MysteriousLady]

OK, well I ventured out last night, albeit I got a late start and it was getting dark so I did a super short route. The hills around here make for a very different kind of riding! I felt like I spent roughly half my ride coasting due the steepness of the hills and/or the traffic, and the other half of the ride struggling uphill. lol My previous area was less hilly and open in terms of traffic, so it was nonstop pedaling there. Glad I kept the ride short because I discovered a problem with my bike I should really address.

skibum77, I looked up the routes and paths you mentioned, and I see what you mean! Thanks for the pointing that out. OK, so what about getting from Hutchinson/Old State Rd out to where that bike path starts down by Wildwood Crossing (north or side of Manchester). It looks like you'd have to head a good amount north or south on Hutchinson/Old State to find a road that actually goes through without oodles of snaking around. It looks like Pierside is close to going through, but of course, doesn't. I don't think there's much of any shoulder on Manchester in that area. Or do I just suck it up and fish around to get to the path?

[skibum77]

Heading west on Manchester, the shoulder starts to improve at Old State/Hutchinson and becomes really nice at Strecker (the next light).  There is also a parallel street one block north of Manchester between Hutchinson and Strecker called Maple Ln.  At the next light after Strecker, you can make a right and then jump on Truman Rd which acts as a brief frontage road until you get to (Old) Manchester/Westglen Farms, and right on the other side of that intersection, you can pick up the Wildwood bike paths.  Like I said though, west of Strecker, you shouldn't have any issues riding on the shoulder of Manchester - just use caution at the light for Home Depot & Kohl's.

Heading east, you do lose the shoulder at Strecker, so if you're uncomfortable, you can make the left on Strecker and go up to Maple, but those two lights are close enough that it might be easier to wait for a gap in traffic.

Somewhere down the line, I think there might be plans to punch Pierside through, but I have no idea on the timeframe.  That would be really nice if it ever happens.

Edited by skibum77, 24 August 2012 - 08:21 PM.

[MysteriousLady]

Thanks for the additional specifics, skibum -- now I just need to venture out that way! If you guys see me struggling to make it up these hills, try not to make too much fun of me.

[Darthrider]

digyourownwhole, on 20 August 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

+1 to @pylondesigner.

To add to that, if you are south of Manchester and short on time, you can take Keifer Creek (Clarkson turns into this) south to climb (moderate) Pierside to Old State Rd and then left to Ridge and then left on St. Pauls' which will bring you back to Keifer Creek.  If feeling more adventurous, do it the opposite way climbing (more intense) St. Paul.  

If North of Manchester, hop on Clayton Rd in either direction and go nuts.  If you head West, you will have more hills and fewer traffic signals.  If you head East, you will have rolling hills and a faster pace.  Depends on what you want any given day and how much time you have to ride.  

Welcome to MO and West County.  Any of us who ride out West will be happy to help in any way that we can, so ask away.   :-)

What is the best way to get there from Kirkwood, Clayton (to either Clarkson or Hutchinson) or Big Bend?  I'm intrigued by the "more intense" St. Paul.  

[fastxl]

Darthrider, on 14 September 2012 - 07:28 PM, said:

What is the best way to get there from Kirkwood, Clayton (to either Clarkson or Hutchinson) or Big Bend?  I'm intrigued by the "more intense" St. Paul.  

Here is my loop from the Crestwood/Kirkwood area. Just go out Big Bend. I like to do it early in the AM before there is to much traffic on Big Bend. St. Paul/Ridge is one of my favorite roads.

http://app.strava.com/rides/18071941