Join us for a captivating journey through time as we pedal along a 10-mile segment of the historic 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair marathon route. Led by the esteemed Amanda Clark of the Missouri Historical Society, this Trailnet Community Ride promises to be an unforgettable experience.
As we embark on our two-wheeled adventure, we’ll trace the footsteps of athletes from over a century ago, reliving the bizarre and controversial event that once filled the streets of St. Louis during the World’s Fair.
Along the way, Amanda will regale us with fascinating stories and insights into the significance of the 1904 World’s Fair and its impact on St. Louis. From architectural marvels to cultural exhibitions, we’ll uncover the legacy of this iconic event while pedaling through streets steeped in history.
Whether you’re a history buff, a cycling enthusiast, or simply curious about the rich tapestry of St. Louis’s past, this ride offers something for everyone. So saddle up, join us on this unique journey through time, and let’s explore the World’s Fair marathon route like never before.
The starting location and route are TBD. You will receive an email confirming updates closer to the event.
About Trailnet Community Rides
Trailnet Community Rides, presented by the Missouri Historical Society, are guided, slow-paced, group bike rides that explore the history and culture of the St. Louis Community.
Community Rides generally last around 3 hours. There are no staffed rest stops on these rides, and we cannot guarantee access to restrooms or water. Please plan accordingly.
Community Rides registration is capped at 75 participants. A smaller group allows us to manage riders on open city streets safely; ensures our docents/guides can effectively deliver information; and guarantees that local stops (museums, churches, businesses, etc…) won’t be overwhelmed when we roll up.
Embark on a beloved Trailnet Community Ride tour led by Dana Gray, an art consultant. Explore the rich art history of St. Louis as you visit various sites and delve into their stories. Join us for an enlightening journey through the city’s vibrant artistic heritage!
Check back soon for ride starting location, route, and program.
The ride will depart at 10 a.m. Check-in begins at 9 a.m.
Approximate End Time: 12 pm
About Trailnet Community Rides
Trailnet Community Rides are guided, slow-paced, group bike rides that explore the history and culture of the St. Louis Community.
Community Rides generally last around 3 hours. There are no staffed rest stops on these rides, and we cannot guarantee access to restrooms or water. Please plan accordingly.
Community Rides registration is capped at 75 participants. A smaller group allows us to safely manage riders on open city streets, ensures our docents/guides can effectively deliver information, and guarantees that local stops (museums, churches, businesses, etc.…) won’t be overwhelmed when we roll up.
We are excited to celebrate the grand opening of the new Chain of Rocks Bridge Park! On April 14th, 2024, we will celebrate the opening with an five-mile family-friendly bike ride that begins at Chouteau Island Trailhead and ends at the grand opening celebration in the beautiful new grounds on the MO side of the Chain of Rocks Bridge. There, you will enjoy a wonderful celebration of the progress that Great Rivers Greenway and its partners are bringing to the region.
For more information and to register, visit: https://runsignup.com/Race/IL/GraniteCity/ChainofRocksParkGrandOpeningCelebrationRide
Public Art Community Ride: Trailnet’s favorite tour guide and art consultant Dana Gray (Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corp.) is back to show us more of St. Louis’ artistic marvels! This year’s ride will highlight public art and places to gather, featuring the St. Louis Art Museum, The Kemper Art Museum, and Bill Christman’s sculpture garden in the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood. (with the man himself present to answer questions) Pedal with us from sculptures to paintings to public exhibits on this, our final ride of 2023!
The Jewish History Ride starts at the Missouri Historical Society Research Library—the old United Hebrew Temple on Skinker Blvd—Warren Rosenblum, Professor of History at Webster University, and guides from the Missouri Historical Society will take us on a tour of Jewish History in St. Louis.
Come for the synagogues, and stay for a good schvitz!
About Trailnet Community Rides
Trailnet Community Rides are guided, slow-paced, group bike rides that explore the history and culture of the St. Louis Community.
Community Rides generally last around 3 hours. There are no staffed rest stops on these rides, and we cannot guarantee access to restrooms or water. Please plan accordingly.
Community Rides registration is capped at 75 participants. A smaller group allows us to safely manage riders on open city streets; ensures our docents/guides can effectively deliver information; and guarantees that local stops (museums, churches, businesses, etc…) won’t be overwhelmed when we roll up.
This Juneteenth, celebrate St. Louis’s Black artists, musicians, and history with a bike ride featuring live music. Join Trailnet, 4 The Ville, and the Missouri Historical Society for a group bicycle ride with live performances from area musicians and storytellers sharing the city’s history.
This year our Juneteenth Ride celebration will also feature a post-event block party with live music and food trucks.
Check out the video from the 2021 celebration produced by our friends at Foveal Media!
2023 Juneteenth Community Ride General Information:
Ride Start Time: 10 am – group start
Check-In Begins: 9 am
Start Location: Tandy Recreation Center (4206 Kennerly Ave, St. Louis, MO 63113)
Routes Length (in miles): 11 miles (leisurely riding broken up by six stops)
Terrain: Paved city streets
About Trailnet Community Rides
Trailnet Community Rides are guided, slow-paced, group bike rides that explore the history and culture of the St. Louis Community. Community Rides generally last around 3 hours. There are no staffed rest stops on these rides, and we cannot guarantee access to restrooms or water. Please plan accordingly.
Imagine being able to move around our city without needing a car. What if you could bike, walk and take public transit to all the places you need to go?
Join us for a free, family-friendly celebration and show of support for a car-free or car-light lifestyle.
This joyful bike parade will demonstrate the demand for multi-modal transportation options while showcasing the infrastructure and amenities we have in place currently. Stay after the ride for a resource fair where you can learn about how to get around St. Louis without a car and how you can stay involved in the movement for Streets for All!
On many Saturday mornings, Matt LaBerta loads his bike trailer with tools, tubes, a pump and his two sons to provide support for Trailnet’s Community rides. Matt has been helping our riders for five years and looks forward to each new ride season.
“The community rides are just fun,” Matt said. “Some of the stops that we make are places that I would have never thought to explore on my own. I bring the kids partly out of necessity, but mostly to expose them to these neat things about St. Louis. It shows them a whole other world and culture. Plus, it’s cool for them to see what I do.”
Matt has used his bicycle for transportation all of his life, often in places where pedaling to get where you need to go is a real challenge. Before his sons were born, Matt spent eight months living in a tent located 14,000 feet above sea level in the mountains of Colorado. He worked as a mechanic at a bike shop 9,000 feet below his campsite. “It took me seven minutes to get to work and forty-five minutes to get home.”
Although Matt prefers using a bike to get around, he does own a car and has been driving for a few years now.
“I took driver’s ed when I was thirty,” he said. “I got engaged and got my driver’s license in the same week. None of my friends were surprised that I had popped the question, but they were really shocked that I had gotten a driver’s license.”
As a bike commuter, Matt feels one of the most important roles Trailnet plays in the community is “getting people together and providing opportunities for cyclists, walkers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.” He added, “The encouragement that Trailnet provides is really important for making St. Louis a safer environment for cyclists. Drivers in St. Louis are finally getting used to having bikes on the road – lots of people ride year-round now, and it makes it better for everyone.”
In spite of these improvements, he also believes Trailnet has a lot of work to do in educating drivers, bicyclists and law enforcement.
“All of the new bike lanes and signage in town are great, but if cyclists and drivers don’t know how to use them safely, it pushes us all farther apart instead of bringing us together,” Matt said. “Cyclists know the laws because a lot of them have learned them the hard way. How to deal with pedestrians and bicycles should be a part of driver’s education and the driving test.”
One specific risk that Matt feels needs urgent attention is the use of cell phones by drivers. “I’ve been in situations where a whole line of cars aren’t paying attention to a traffic signal because they are all texting on their phones,” he said. “It’s really scary. Like a lot of different problems that we face, education and looking out for each other are the keys.”
(Note: In an effort to better educate drivers about sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians, Trailnet has produced a Driver’s Guide to Active Transportation. Read about its development here.)
Matt’s passion for bicycling and bike mechanics began when he was his son’s age. He had a series of bicycles growing up and routinely took the bikes apart, “spreading all of the parts across the driveway.” He got into welding 15 years ago and began creating sculptures, gates, fences, and interior metalwork for residential and commercial clients. His interest in welding meshed with his love of bicycles when he took a frame-building course in Oregon 10 years ago. At his bike shop in Soulard, Matt provides a range of services, including production of hand-built bike frames.
“I start by taking biometric measurements of my client, make a two-dimensional full-scale drawing of the frame, and then cut and file all of the tubing by hand.”
Visiting Laberta and Sons Cycles on a Saturday afternoon is a little like seeing all of those bike parts spread out on his family driveway – frames at various stages of completion, components, accessories, and tools. If visitors are lucky, they’ll also get a chance to talk with Mason and Mylo, the “Sons” of LaBerta and Sons. When asked about how they like working the community rides with their Dad, the boys had ready answers:
Mason “likes going down hills and having donut breaks.” Mylo likes “the Art Museum and helping Dad fix flat tires.” Matt reports that the boys often recognize people from past rides who they have helped and ask them if their bikes are ok.
Community riders will no longer be treated to the sight of the two young LaBertas sharing their Dad’s bike trailer. Now six years old, Mason will be riding his own bike, and Mylo, five, will be traveling solo in the trailer. Mason is looking forward to being on his own bike and “racing all of the people.” Mylo said he “won’t miss Mason because Dad puts toys in the trailer for me.”
Saturday morning, August 16, started off with a steady drizzle of rain and temperatures in the mid 70s. Checking radar, it appeared the skies would clear for our 11 a.m. start but the rain kept coming. Despite the weather, cyclists arrived ready to check out some awesome St. Louis breweries.
Ann Mack’s “Growler” group was the first to start. Behind them was George Nelson’s “blue circles” and then Hawkie Moore’s “let’s party.” As groups departed, more cyclists arrived excited for the tour.
The next groups to depart were Dave Beattie’s “Oranges” and Ian Hackett’s “purple shooters.” Groups were initially divided with 20 riders in each but approaching the end of registration, groups included close to 40 cyclists. Barrett Schmidt’s “blue balls,” Brian Hanke’s “black beards” and Steve’s “Crazy Train” began the ride at around 11:30 a.m.
Fifty cyclists congregated on Saturday at the Old North St.
Harold describing one of the carefully restored houses in Old North St. Louis
Louis Restoration Group
in Crown Square (formerly the 14th Street pedestrian mall) to take part in Trailnet’s North of Old North Bicycle Tour. The area was bustling with activity as local shops and cafes opened, a Girl Scout troop gathered for their meeting, and vendors set up for the North City Farmer’s Market.
The ten-mile bicycle tour was lead by local treasure Harold Karabell, who wound his way through the neighborhoods of Old North St. Louis, Hyde Park, and College Hill. At regular stops, Harold shared his wealth of knowledge about the rich historical heritage of the area and the many architectural gems that grace the neighborhoods. A number of the riders had grown up or had family connections in the area and added their own remembrances and stories.
One of Old North’s earliest homes
Some of the highlights of the tour included visits to the Bissell Mansion (St. Louis’ oldest house), Hyde Park, the interior of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and one of the iconic North Grand Water Towers. The tour also featured visits to some of St. Louis’ important commercial enterprises – the site of the Hyde Park Brewery and the old Krey meatpacking plant.
Harold will be leading Trailnet’s Old Frenchtown Bicycle Tour on August 23 that will ride through the Soulard and LaSalle Park neighborhoods – also sponsored by Great Rivers Greenway District. Don’t miss the chance to visit these lovely areas and learn about their fascinating histories and architecture.
