The Training Times - July 2005 - Part 1 of 3
by Ted and John Burris
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Well, by now most of you have heard about the trip. We Made It! |
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We had a few glitches along the way. Blogger didn't work like it
should so the pictures weren't available. John wiped out and skinned up his
elbow. I busted a spoke and Man did we hit a storm on the way home. But
that's about the limit on the bad stuff everything else was good and even
the bad stuff was good in its own way. So now that I am home here are the
pictures and the stories all in one. |
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June 30th - Made it to Union Station a little earlier than needed but we
were anxious to get started. A lot of planning and packing and
anticipating and stress went into getting ready for this trip and we were
ready to get the show on the road. My Wife and Daughter drove us to Union
Station with our bikes and we wandered around Union Station looking at the
old time architecture and admiring the work that must have went into
bringing what was a run down abandoned building back to its former glory. |
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Kansas City's Union Station is located at 30 West Pershing Rd..in downtown
Kansas City. More information on Kansas City's Union Station can be
found at www.unionstation.org
(picture from
www.unionstation.org) |
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Especially beautiful were the ceilings within the old Union Station. It was
a beautiful place to just browse around.
(picture from www.unionstation.org)
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We had been instructed to be back in the Amtrak area and ready to board at
2:40PM So at 2:40PM there we were. We had chosen to wear our swim trunks and
bicycle jersey on the trip to conserve weight in our bags. We didn't
know what kind of racks would be aboard the train so we removed our
saddlebags from the bikes incase there would not be room for them. Picture
- John and the bikes in the waiting room at the
Amtrak station in Kansas
City's Union Station |
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It was raining as we headed for the train and so rather than bring the bikes
actually into the train the boarding agent ask that we leave them on the
very back of the train for a while to let them drip dry. They are
slightly visible in the low right corner of this shot out the back door of
the train as we passed through
Independence Mo. |
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After the bikes drip dried for a time the conductor brought them inside.
Since we had to actually buy tickets to reserve the bikes a spot on the
train (only $10 each) I figured they'd have some special rack and I was
looking forward to seeing it. Well it was pretty special!! The
bikes got there own seats!! |
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We pulled into St. Louis at 8:40 right on schedule to get to the hotel some
6 blocks away by 9 and have a dip in the pool. Unfortunately there was
another train off-loading in front of us and we had to wait. We
finally disembarked at 9:10 PM and saddled up our rides for the trip to the
hotel. Downtown St. Louis was gorgeous after dark and and we had to
resist the temptation to go riding around and take it all in. It was to dark
to get any pictures but I remembered a few good spots for morning pictures
as we headed for the Hotel. |
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A quick picture in the hotel room then on to the pool. We only had about 20 Min.
before the pool was supposed to close.
Hampton Inn Union Station St. Louis |
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While setting in the Jacuzzi in the pool area I recognized a familiar face
enter the hotel restaurant. I figured I was mistaken and ignored it.
John and I left the pool at close and went upstairs to dry off and change
and then go to dinner. Sure enough when we got to the hotel restaurant
there's Randy Brittingham and a team from PDI. Apparently in
town
dealing with the St. Louis gas plant incident. Randy and his team
were quite busy so we did not disturb them but I did call him later to let
him know I was around if he needed anything. Dinner was Maco
Shark and potato skins. Hey I had to carb up for the ride tomorrow right. Oh
speaking of carbs did you know
Michelob Amberbock
is a really good dark beer? |
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5:45 AM We got everything ready, went down stairs and grabbed breakfast
since it was included with the room, It wasn't to bad either, then headed
out. A couple pictures of us and the hotel and we were off. |
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First Destination, The Mississippi River and a picture from Illinois.
We wanted one of the State Line sign too but we would have had to be on the
interstate for that so we settled for the Mississippi and the the Arch on
the other side. |
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Now off to find the Katy Trail. I had surmised that the trip across
St. Louis to the Katy would be about 22 Mi. Well I surmised wrong. It
turned out to be almost 40 Miles. The good news is over half of it was in
designated bike lanes or on bike trails. So we were out of the traffic. I
have read many complaints on the internet on how St. Louis is not bicycle
friendly. Well I was impressed. Motorists seem to treat us with
respect. We found no aggressive drivers even when we came through downtown
and the closest thing to a close call was when a kid on a bicycle came
barreling out of a swimming pool parking lot and nearly hit us head on.
The main road we took across St. Louis had designated bike lanes although
some of them would have run us right into the back of a parked car....LOL. |
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Here are a few more pictures we took in St. Louis. |
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Left to Right Top
1. The St. Louis Arch
2. St. Francis Xavier
College Church (1841)
3. The Brown Show Company
4. The PDI Facility. |
Left to Right Bottom
5. Scruffy (for
my daughter the smiley face fan)
6. Just a little farther to go to get to 200 miles of trail
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A St. Louis Bike Trail (looks pretty bike friendly to me)
8.
The Page Bridge Bikeway over the Missouri River
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With 40 Miles across St. Louis under our belt and after crossing the Mighty
Missouri River its onto the Katy Trail Section of the trip. We were ready
for the next part of the trip |
