Where are the bike racks?

Great weather for riding the last few days. I had several errands to run and had to plan on how to get there by bike and how to get the items I would be purchasing back home. I rode to the health food store(about 6 miles one way) for a few things. Then I headed to the book store and the bank. One of the most difficult things is where to leave my bike. Very few of the places I have gone have bike racks so I usually lock my bike to a pole. So far it has worked out just fine. It has really become habit now to plan our activities around how we can get there by bike or if we do need to take the car we plan several errands in one trip. The exercise has been good for both my husband and myself. Our friends are asking about us riding the bikes for errands and how we are doing. This is making them think about their trips in the car also. They tell us the novelty of living on the trail is going to wear off and we will be back in the car. At this point we don't see this happening - we are having a great time riding our bikes around town.

Keep up the great work Karen.

Wednesday nite ride

Back from my business trip which included locking my keys in my rental - something I have never done even in my own car. $75.00 later and thinking about all those folks who commute to work by bike, I was back in the car. Got to the hotel and to my surprise I was the guest of the day. My gift package included a free dinner at a local restaurant(which I walked to-no bike available) and a bag full of treats for the evening in the hotel. Not so bad!

My husband and I needed to go grocery shopping for a few things and spent some time thinking about how we could achieve this on the bikes. The store we were going to is off the trail but easily accessible thru parking lots and one main street crossover. We didn't need much but had to really figure out ways to get the groceries home( we still don't have racks for the back of the bikes or the bags needed. We each got backpacks and I had a small bag that I thought we could rig off the handle bars of his bike. Off we went!

The weather was great for an early evening ride. As we were approaching the front of the store we met up with some friends. Of course many questions were asked about what we were doing on our bikes, what route we took, WHY we did this etc.... I explained about the contest and showed off my jersey. Told them about the website where they could see that indeed this was true. They also live off the trail in another subdivision in the same city. I gave them a short run down of all the places they would be able to get to if they road their bikes. Their response was that they had never given any thought to riding to any of these places. We made plans to ride to favorite frozen custard spot this weekend. We will see if they follow thru!

As we went into the grocery store with our bags. It came to mind that we will not need to get the "plastic or paper" bags because we had brought our own. We would need to do a little arranging to get everything in but we decided this to would become easier with time. We made our purchases, packed our bags and headed back home. It was a little difficult for me to ride with the backpack but I managed. We will definitely be getting more equipment for the bikes.
This checks another thing off the list we made of places that we could ride our bikes to. Next time going to the grocery store for a few items won't take so much thought and time.

FRIDAY NITE RIDE
After of a busy week of work, travel and still unpacking the house we decided to head to Taco Bell for a quick dinner. The weather was great again. I still have trouble dressing appropriately. If it seems cool at home once you get out on the bike and start pedaling you warm up quickly. we locked up the bikes and went inside. Some friends of one of our children were in the restaurant. First they just said hello and made small talk but then they asked if we had ridden our bikes from home. They didn't know we had moved already and thought we rode from our old home. This would not have been an easy "Trek" for us. Lots of 2 lane highways that neither of us are ready for yet! I told them about the contest I had won and explained what we were doing and why. One of them is a bike enthusiast and thought what we were doing was pretty cool. He asked where else we had gone on the bikes. He gave us some routes we hadn't thought of to get safely to some other spots.

My winning this contest has spurred much conversation amongst our friends. Many of them do ride bikes and had never given much thought to riding to the store, library, restaurants or church. At least I have made them think about it - now they just need to follow thru. Even if just one of them rides their bike (or walks) instead of jumping in the car that will make a difference.
The weather this weekend doesn't look to promising for riding but we hope to get a ride in sometime.

Question: Do I send my posts in until the end of May? Any other commitment for the contest? I was really hoping to get to the dinner in KC on Wed evening-my daughter lives just down the road from Shawnee in Olathe- work got in the way again!

Thanks again. I know I have said this before but it has really made us think about how much we waste in our everyday lives.

Gene on the Katy Trail.

We finally have had some good weather for biking! I have been able to get out and about most everyday since the last email. Besides riding locally I have had the opportunity to get out and ride with some friends and family. This bike is great, I am having some good times on my new Trek bike and meeting new people!

I have told people that I run into everywhere about winning the bike. I almost always the hear same thing, you here about these kind of drawings or winnings, but never met anyone. Now they have.

I am also learning a new respect for those who ride frequently. I have been working out attempting to loose weight and get in shape the last 5 months. Had I not been doing this for 6 days a week since the beginning of January I don't think I could have accomplished this ride. I along with may son-in-law did 26 miles of the Katy Trail last weekend! I have attached a couple of pictures taking breaks along the Trail with Kenny on his 89 Trek 1000. This was something I had not experienced before. What an awesome place to ride. I am looking forward to some more rides on the Katy Trail and exploring new places to ride.

If it was possible I would ride to work, not just because of the gas prices, but I enjoy the riding. I am using this bike not just for spending time getting back and forth locally, but to spend time with friends riding, getting in shape and with family out on the trails. I need to get my wife out riding a Trek. My next challenge.

Have a great time out on the bikes everyone!

Memorial Day.

We will be closed Monday, May 26th in observance of Memorial Day. Have a safe and happy holiday!

A beautiful Sunday Ride

Hi all! What a beautiful Sunday morning ride my husband and I had. The weather is great - finally. We didn't have any errands to run this morning so we just headed out and road for about an hour. The wildflowers are in bloom along the trail and the fragrance is fantastic. Lots of birds chirping and rabbits hopping along the trail. The route we took had an every so slight incline on the return trip home that I had a chance to try what I had learned about shifting to make pedalling the bike easier while not feeling like I was just spinning my wheels and not going anywhere. There is also an overpass that we need to cross which is still quite difficult for me to manage but I will get there. At least I have not had to get off the bike and walk it up. I figure out what works soon enough.

Off on a business trip until Wed so I won't be riding the TREK for a few days. My husband and I have coordinated when I will get back Wed evening and we will ride then.

Going By.....Off Road.

My first attempt at mountain biking:) Only kidding! Friday night we had to go down this dirt path to get to the actual store we were going to. Competitor of the one in the photo. We needed some shelving supplies for the new house so we decided to 'GO BY BIKE'. It was a 6 mile round trip to Lowe's. Quite an easy ride on the trail. I waited in the parking lot modeling my new shirt while my husband went inside to get the supplies we needed. The trail was crowded with

families riding and walking, very experienced racing cyclists and every kind of walker and biker and roller blader in between. We are learning the rules of the trail as we ride. Found a website that gives us lots of trail info.

It's Saturday evening and we are going to go to Culver's for dinner. It's right on the path so we plan to 'GO BY BIKE'. Picture to follow tomorrow.

Karen finally gets a shot at a good ride!

This needs almost no introduction as we follow Karen (one of our Go By Bike winners) and her fun rides on her new bike:

It was a chilly rainy day today but we got our ride in about an hour ago. Went out the garage around the corner and we were on one of the Madison County Trails. My husband and I rode about 5 miles to the south of our home tonight - no where in particular to go just checking out the trail. The Trek is great. I had several small hills to go up and down and managed ok. My husband says they were just inclines but they seemed liked hills to me. I wore my new jacket and it really kept the chill off - Thanks again! We stopped to speak with some friends of ours who ride bikes. They asked whenI got the new bike. I told them my story and they were surprised and excited that I might be going on longer "TREKS" from home on the bike. There are 85 miles of trails connected to the one in my backyard. I will be getting some extras for the bike - bag for the back, odometer and other bike stuff.

Gene checks in!

Our other Go By Bike winner Gene Cahill recently wrote us to tell us about his new bike and what all he's been able to do on it:

I have received all of my trek accessories along with my trek bike last week. Although the weather has not been ideal for riding I have managed to get out and ride almost everyday for short trips. The bike is fantastic! (although I have taken some razing from my family about the day-glow chartreuse jacket & jersey :-) My new Trek beats my 30 some year old Murray (which I still have) hands down.
My wife's car quit running last week, so I had to pick up a fuel pump and fuel filter for her car. So instead of taking my truck to O'Reilly's to pick up the parts I rode my new Trek bike. This wasn't my first ride, but I thought what a great theme for "go by bike" to fix your car! I should have taken those pic's.
And tonight I had a hair cut appointment which wasn't to far, maybe 3 miles or so. So I rode my trek to my haircut appointment.
But most of my rides so far have just been around my neighborhood. I cannot wait for the weather to get a little better for riding. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I will. I was hoping to ride over to my granddaughters and get her out to do some bike riding. But I haven't had the chance. Those are the pictures I was wanting to send in. She is just 5 years old, but lets get her started young. She would love riding bike with Grandpa. I hope to get over there this weekend.

We hope that the weather will get better for Gene (and the rest of us for that matter...) and can't wait for those pictures.

Karen's off on a windy ride!

As we follow our friend Karen and her quest to find that fair-weathered day to ride, she writes and even sends us a picture! Here's what she had to say:

Here is a pic of me heading toward Cracker Barrell for lunch. The weather didn't cooperate with us this morning for breakfast so we stayed home until it cleared and headed out for lunch. It was fairly windy and the bike handled very well- after I figured out which gear would work best for the conditions. That wasn't difficult at all. When we first headed out I thought the bike and I were going to end up in the field to my right. But the ride went smoothly. We live exactly 2 miles from the restaurant going on the country roads. My husband and I were discussing that we never thought this would be someplace we would ride our bikes to.

We'll keep checking in with Karen regularly and posting it here on our website.

The St. Louis Store is under new management...(drum roll please?)

<-- This is the enthusiastic pose of the new store manager, Greg Lyeki. Greg has spent a couple years as sales manager at the Trek Bike Store in St. Louis and feels more than able to fill the big shoes left by our former manager, Chris Brewer. We on the staff couldn't agree more.

Chris Brewer has left the Trek Bike Store of St. Louis to pursue a job as an outside Trek representative-meaning that even though he may not work here, you'll still see plenty of him in the store from time to time. He fills the position left open by Jeff Chattin, who is moving down to Texas to become the outside rep of that territory. After 20+ years doing only the Missouri beat-we can't blame Jeff for wanting a bit of a change.

So the question is...who will fill Greg's shoes as sales manager? The answer is none other than Geoff Smith. Despite this picture where I can't determine what he's looking at, Geoff is stoked about the new position and can't wait to start implementing new ideas and new programs here at the Trek store.

So when you come by the Trek Store next time don't be surprised to see new things on the horizon if not already in the store. Also be sure to congratulate these two on a job well done.

Follow-up on our Go By Bike winners!

We asked one of our Go By Bike winners to tell us what she's been up to. Karen LeClerc wrote us back promptly exclaiming, " I went on my first trial run with the bike yesterday - in between the raindrops. The bike rode great and it was fun to be out on the trail."





Karen and her her husband recently moved to a new home and are looking forward to the break in the weather: "We (my husband and I) can't wait to ride off to the local restaurants and shops. That's the other reason we wanted to move to the trail-so that we could ride our bikes to help save gas on our vehicle and help the environment." And with gas prices on the rise we feel her sentiment and thank her for her contribution!


And finally to end her letter to us she added, "One of my friends is so excited about this that she wants to help me write up something for the local paper and let everyone in our town know about this and perhaps spur some more interest in our community so that others will GO BY BIKE"

From all of us at the Trek Store in St. Louis, we thank and congratulate Karen on her new bike and hope she finds it as invaluable as we do here on the staff.

Come for our new Thursday Hills Ride!

We're crossing our fingers and hoping that the rain will hold out for our first weekday ride! Our first weekly ride will be packed with climbs of all sorts so be prepared to push the limits of your early-season fitness. "The Thursday Hills Ride" will be lead by our sales manager Geoff and will leave at 5 p.m. from the shop. Bear in mind that this isn't like our no-drop sunday rides and will be a hard-paced climbing ride. Come not wanting to be dropped but mindful that you might be.



Check out the ride and the profile here.

Go By Bike Winners!

Congratulations to Gene Cahill and Karen LeClerc, the two Go By Bike winners of 2008! We will be hearing a lot from them in the next month. They will be riding and writing about their biking experiences for National Bike Month.

"This is such an awesome experience, to have this opportunity to get out and ride on a new Trek." -Gene Cahill

"Winning this contest will be a great way for my husband (who will be riding with me) and I to get in more excercise while helping the environment at the same time. We have just moved onto one of the Madison County Bike trails and cant wait to get out there and ride to local restaurants and shops." -Karen LeClerc

National Bike Month!

Get your bikes out - because it is National Bike Month.

May is often seen as the beginning of bicycle season, which means you will see more and more cyclists on the road as the weather gets better and better. Feel free to join in the fun, stop by the store or your local coffee shop. As the season continues to move forward, look for more opportunities to ride.

Be sure to check out our new Midwest Cycling Community Website for more information about riding and some cool ideas of places to ride in Saint Louis.