More Miles in Missouri?

One of the first routes I remember working on for Adventure Cycling Association is the Great Rivers Route where approximately one third of the route runs through Missouri, including a spur into St. Louis. Why does this matter now? Last week, the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) announced their Fall 2009 Bicycle Friendly Communities. Two Missouri communities appear on that list and the state as a whole is ranked at a respectable 17. The city of Columbia attained LAB's Silver status while St. Louis earned Bronze.

LAB's announcement comes on the heels of a Parade magazine article about the bicycle friendliness of Columbia and what they are doing to promote bicycling. While not everyone agrees on the methods, it is a major achievement for cycling to become a greater focus of the transportation planning infrastructure.

All of this says to me that perhaps we need to look at expanding the Adventure Cycling Route Network in the Show Me state. (Beyond the miles already covered on the Great Rivers, Lewis & Clark, and TransAmerica routes, of course.) Do you have a favorite area of Missouri for riding that we should take a look at?

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GEOPOINTS BULLETIN is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures and persons from Adventure Cycling's Route Network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure.