It’s a bright chilly morning in Augusta. A perfect day to finish our trip to St. Charles. After an excellent breakfast at our B&B and with a couple of trail pastries in my saddlebag, we are ready for our short 27-mile ride to St. Charles.
The sun is beaming down warming us as we make our way east. In one way, we have seen everything along the trail over the past five days and this leg has few surprises for us. The only surprise is that it is crowded. That could be a function of the day—Friday—or because we are near St. Louis. Regardless, the carefree way we have been riding next to each other is disturbed by other cyclists.
Something that could be interesting to view in Weldon Spring but is too far off the beaten track is an old U.S. government site that made munitions for WW II as well as processed uranium. Its aftermaths are contained under a 45-acre site. We give it a pass.
With more riders, comes more dust causing Ted and me to sneeze and cough intermittently. A water break is prescribed.
We must be getting closer to development because there are no abandoned MFA grain silos and elevators along the trail. They are conspicuous by their absence.
Suburbia closes in along the side of the trail as manicured lawns and expansive, new homes sit to our left. Emerging from a wooded area, we come out near an arena and pass a concrete plant. There is much industrial construction and waste in this section, only a stone’s throw from our final destination.
And before we know it, we are back in St. Charles in front of the statue of Lewis & Clark.
