Properly fitted helmets are strongly recommended and are required by law in some of the communities in which we ride. Please bring at least one full water bottle or hydration pack. Additional items that are helpful and easily stowed in a jersey pocket or seat bag are a spare tube, a set of tire levers, and a small pump or CO2 cartridge. Tire changing tools and a multi-tool that fits your bike come in handy and can get you back on the ride without waiting for a SAG vehicle. However, you may take our rides without any special equipment; just be sure your bike is in safe working order. Trailers and trail-a-bikes for kids are welcome, but please, no training wheels.
SAG
Trailnet SAG (Support and Gear) vans cruise the routes until 3:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Vans are equipped with basic first aid, hydration, nutrition, and tools for minor repairs. Phone 314.913.BIKE (2453) if you need assistance.
Maps and Arrows
Maps are offered at ride registration and show route options, towns, attractions, and rest stops. Look for the pink arrows and dots on the pavement to show you which way to go. Maps are not available ahead of time. Map preparation is time-intensive and our maps are created for an event experience. ROUTES BFC rides are predominantly on roads; prepare to share with motorized traffic. Most rides start on the short route and the longer routes branch out from there. The longest route is designed for experienced riders and may have more hills or be routed on more heavily trafficked roads.
Terrain
Flat – very few small hills
Rolling – frequent small hills
Moderate – a mix of hills, just a few steep
Big – some hills over 150 feet
Very hilly – many hills over 150 feet
Registration
Preregistration is available online at trailnet.org or you can register at the starting location on the day of most BFC rides (exceptions are noted). Online registration closes two days prior to the ride. Preregistered riders need to check in at the ride start to get their map and wrist band. Advanced registration for the Ride the Rivers Century Ride is recommended.
Wrist Bands
Wrist bands will be distributed to all registered riders and will be checked throughout the ride at rest stops and by SAG drivers. Riders without wristbands using the rest stop or seeking assistance during the ride will be charged $20.
Price
Online registration price for most rides is $8 for Trailnet members and $13 for nonmembers. Day of ride price for most rides is $10 for Trailnet members and $15 for nonmembers. Children under 10 riding with an adult are $3. Visit participating bike shop sponsors for a free coupon good for $3 off the ride. Coupons are limited, available beginning March 10 and while supplies last.
Group Rides
Before most BFC rides there is a “no-drop” group ride on the short route that starts at 8:30 a.m.
Thank you to all of our volunteers – the stars of this campaign.
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This campaign was made possible by funds from the Federal Highway Administration through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Program, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Bike Index Registry – St. Louis Pilot
The Bike Index was started in Chicago in 2013 by a group of bike shop employees and bicycle lovers frustrated by the prevalence of bike theft. They regularly saw people trying to sell stolen bikes, and would search for the bikes online—but it was too difficult to find definitive information about them because too few people save their serial numbers.
So they built the Bike Index platform, a voluntary, easy to use registration system that will eventually house bike serial numbers from across the nation. The team launched a successful Kickstarter to hire a full time programmer and connect with pilot cities.
After a year of work, the Bike Index now does what no other registry does: it provides a way to verify used bike sales, offers a comprehensive search, and reaches bicyclists who don’t know that registration is possible.
Trailnet applied for St. Louis to be a pilot city after discussions with Mayor Slay and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Bike Index was impressed by the level of cooperation and selected St. Louis as the first pilot. From founder Seth Herr, “The fine leaders at Trailnet have made the process of connecting with the city as smooth as a finely-tuned bicycle.”
Trailnet is now an official Bike Index Partner which allows you to register your bike for free:
The fear of additional costs for Complete Streets is common. Many people believe that every street will need to be retrofitted with improved sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes when the policy is adopted. This is not true – the most common method of implementation is to make incremental improvements during regular maintenance. New roadway projects will include these elements from the beginning, during the design phase before construction has started.
Some standard Complete Streets infrastructure projects, such as changing pedestrian signal timing at intersections, add nothing to the cost of a signal.
In Charlotte, NC, the Department of Transportation found that the cost of adding sidewalks and bike lanes was less than the normal annual variation in road construction costs.
A study of the costs in Iowa estimated that including Complete Streets infrastructure would increase project costs by 5.4%. In other words, 95% of the planned and scheduled projects could still be completed with current funding levels, with the added benefit of biking and walking infrastructure. (See fact sheet for further examples and citations.)
Additional costs associated with the routine accommodation of walking, bicycling and public transit represent a small percentage of a transportation department’s total budget. On a project-by-project basis, any additional money spent is actually a long-term investment in public health, improved property values, economic revitalization, and increased capacity and improved mobility for all. Americans expect a variety of choices, and a multi-modal system of Complete Streets provides alternatives to driving. Implementing Complete Streets shifts our priorities to design for all users of the road.
Trailnet advocates for comprehensive Complete Streets legislation. Complete Streets policies ensure early multi-modal scoping, saving money by avoiding costly project delays. Without a policy, walking, biking, and public transportation accommodations are often debated too late in the design process and considered a disruption rather than necessary and beneficial project features. This creates expensive design revisions, time delays, and erodes public support. Furthermore, the failure to accommodate these user groups can trigger an expensive retrofit project at a later date.
Complete Streets makes fiscal sense and it meets the demands of our highest growing demographics. Without this legislation, people will simply choose to live in better connected places. Voters have twice chosen to tax themselves to create a more walkable, bikeable, connected region with Prop C in 2000 and Prop P in 2013. St. Louis County is poised to be a national leader with the adoption of this policy.
If you've been watching Trailnet’s Facebook posts you have seen that we have set our 2014 Ride the Rivers Century date. In 2014 the ride will be almost a full month earlier than it was in 2013. The date is Sunday, September 21, 2014.
The location of the ride has also changed. Beautiful Pere Marquette Park is our new start location. For those of you who may be interested in staying in a hotel room or cabin at Pere Marquette we have some information for you.
We were told on January 31 that all of their available rooms are booked for Friday, September 19 and Sunday, September 21. Obviously, their rooms sell out fast and far in advance. We were told that they had 61 available rooms (including cabin rooms) for Saturday, September 20. The rate is $149 per night. They told us they will “absolutely” sell that date out, probably within the next week.
Click here to go to Pere Marquette’s website. Their phone number is 618.786.2331. Camping may be an alternative there if you’d like to discuss that with them.
Other hotel options in the Grafton area are the Rubel Hotel, 618.786.2315 and the Grafton Inn, 618.786.2222.
Hotel options in the Alton area are the Super 8 Alton, 618.465.8885; the Best Western Plus Parkway Hotel, 618.433.9900; the Holiday Inn Alton, 800.465.4329; and the Comfort Inn, 618.465.9999.
Click here to see the event on our Ride the Rivers Century Facebook page.
If you haven't “liked” that page yet, you may want to so that you'll receive updates about the ride as soon as we post them.
Our 2014 Calendar of Rides will be available at our Beans, Bikes & Brews party on March 8 and in our members' mailboxes around March 10.
Please contact Steve at steve@trailnet.org or 314.436.1324 x 138 if you have any questions at all.
Shift Your Commute: Listen the Stories of Commuters
