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Southwestern Illinois rides

I recently received a note from a reader of this blog asking me to write an article about suggested routes for road cyclists in Southwestern Illinois.

As an expert in this area, can you write in your blog about suggested routes?

I live in StL but would like to help some new cycling fans experience the joy of open road riding. You have stated that this area is one of the best to ride/enjoy. They have ridden the trails in MadCty already.

I don't know if I'd call myself an expert, but I will be happy to help out.

The first place I would go would be the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society's Maps page. Over the years, our ride leaders have compiled many routes in the St. Clair County vicinity. Most of these routes are on lightly traveled rural roads around communities such as Belleville, O'Fallon, Mascoutah, Smithton and Millstadt. You can download PDF copies of most of that maps through the site.

Unfortunately, we don't have many maps of routes in Madison County and other nearby counties because we don't do many rides outside St. Clair County, so what I did was create some Madison County routes listed on RouteSlip.com. Those routes are similar to those I rode regularly 20 years ago when I lived in Edwardsville, but I modified them somewhat to use some of the Madison County trails, most of which didn't exist 20 years ago. Here's some samples:

• Edwardsville Loop (16.4 miles)
• Edwardsville-Bethalto Route (24.8 miles)
• Edwardsville-Troy Loop (27.9 miles)
• Leclaire Park (Edwardsville)-Pin Oak Road Loop (17.5 miles)
• Edwardsville-Marine Ride (36.9 miles)
• Northern Madison County Loop (48.4 miles)

I invite those of you who ride in Southwestern Illinois to add your routes in the comments. You can type them in the old-fashioned way, or you can provide links to maps you've plotted online through RouteSlip.com or the Gmaps Pedometer. If you're not sure how to create a hyperlink, check out this tutorial.

I've used both of the programs, and both do a good job of accurately calculating the mileage. I personally prefer RouteSlip to Gmaps Pedometer because RouteSlip allows you to input information like turns and rest stops to specific points you plot, then generates a cue sheet that you can print.

The big weakness of both programs -- and it's a serious weakness -- is that they don't allow you to print a map with road names clear enough to read. I still have to draw the maps in another program to make them useable by groups like the BABES.

Another weakness is that the Google maps used by both program often do not have the correct common name of the road. While the maps are technically accurate in describing a road as something like "County Highway 44," most county-maintained roads in Southwestern Illinois are identified on street signs by a road name such as "Fruit Road." I often have to supplement cue sheets either with Mapquest, which uses the more common name, and by actually going out to the road to see how the street sign -- if there's a street sign -- identifies it.

Good luck in plotting your routes, and please do share!

Roger 0 comments 2:51 PM