What Not to Do When Riding a Bike

Ouch.

Rolling

After spending about a month's worth of my free time holed up in the office in front of the computer, my schedule again is allowing me to hit the bike!

Went for a nice leisurely ride with a buddy from the stlbiking.com forums on Thursday night. The ride is open to any adult with a bike and helmet. Click the link for a map. Starts at 6:30 PM sharp. Pace is determined by slowest rider and uses a combination of on-street bike routes, streets without bike routes, and Grant's trail. No-go if rain or lightning. You can also check the thread on stlbiking.com forum for a go/no-go decision on Thursdays.

Saturday was a beautiful day for a ride. Left the house with the hubby around 9 AM and headed to Grant's trail, into Kirkwood, out to Manchester and stopped at our halfway point, which is my former pastor's new parish. He spotted me riding by his office window and popped out to say hi. He invited us in and refreshed our water bottles with ice and water then helped me plot out a different route home that avoided traffic on Clayton Road. It took us on an amazing downhill on Carman road -- I hit my brakes when I was nearing 40 mph. That was fun! I'll definitely be using that route again -- made a great loop and the hills in the area were a lot of fun/challenge. I made it a goal to work on my hills in 2008 and this is just the thing.

In case you are interested, here's the cue sheet:
From Carondelet Park, go west on Holly Hills Boulevard.
LEFT (south) on Morganford.
Leaving the city, Morganford turns into Union. Continue on Union.
Cross over I-55 on Union.
LEFT on Hoffmeister just after I-55 overpass.
RIGHT into Orlando Gardens parking lot to Grant's trailhead.
Continue on Grant's trail to the trailhead at Holmes.
LEFT (north) on Holmes from Grant's trailhead.
LEFT on Adams.
RIGHT on N. Geyer.
LEFT on Clayton Road (careful of fast-moving traffic).
LEFT on Weidman Road.
LEFT on Carman.
LEFT on Dougherty Ferry Road (fast-moving traffic approaching 270).
RIGHT on N. Geyer Road.
LEFT on Adams.
Adams turns into West Lockwood. Continue on West Lockwood.
West Lockwood turns into East Lockwood. Continue on East Lockwood.
LEFT on Big Bend.
RIGHT on Murdoch.
Bear LEFT onto Murdoch Cut-Off.
RIGHT on Lansdowne.
RIGHT on River Des Peres boulevard (fast-moving traffic; no shoulder).
LEFT on Morganford.
RIGHT on Holly Hills Boulevard back to Carondelet Park.

Total mileage is right around 45 or so. You could add more mileage by zipping around Carondelet Park a few times or if you are feeling adventurous, you could turn around at Weidman and Clayton and take Clayton all the way back to Forest Park and do the 7 miles around Forest Park. Lots of options.

I'll post a map of the route when I get a little more time. Hope to see you out there.

My Pastor, My Friend

This weekend is the last time Fr. Chuck Barthel will say Mass at my parish as pastor. He's a wonderful priest and lovely person in so many ways. Our parish has become very attached to him and we will miss him.

Fr. Chuck was pastor when I converted to Catholicism. Not only was he presider at that Mass on Easter Vigil 2006, but he is also my first and only pastor ever! So, it will be a new experience for me to adapt to a new pastor.

Fr. Chuck has many qualities that one would hope for in a priest: compassion, dedication, commitment, passion for his ministry, deep care for his flock, kindness, and holiness. In addition, he is one of the most meticulous people I know, which shows in his attention to detail during liturgical celebrations.

From Easter Mass 2008

Fr. Chuck, good luck at your new parish. Dominus tecum!