Meramec High Water

David Conley prepares to drop in the drink 30 seconds after this pic

Well, yesterday was a task. Early to the mound for an Alpine Shop pre-ride of Sunday's mountain bike race at Lost Valley. (Which was canceled to to rain). We basically did a parade lap with some newer folks to the scene so I didn't really blow the pipes out too much. I had a couple good efforts. Chris Ploch hosted it and I brought Natalie's boyfriend, David, along who has increasing skills building. Lost Valley has some very good sweeping single track additions and I can't wait to race it. I am bummed that the weather once again killed it. I suppose it is just as well, due to the fact that it was my first MTB ride in a while and there is some buildup that needs to take place before I can even come close to being ready. I hear weather is warm this week coming up. Perfect.

The width of the Meramac is at its largest between Castlwood and Valley Park.

Next it was off to Alpine Shop to get some gear for a river effort. Yes, an up river jaunt from Valley Park up to Castlewood and back. The rivers are swollen and the Missouri wasn't an option, very high and a tad dangerous going up with all the crap in the water. In case you didn't know, organizing a point to point trip is a bit of a pain in the ass unless you have a neutral person to land the boats and drive the truck out of the put in. We spend a lot of time figuring out logistics. We ended up yesterday with a 5 mile up and back, the river was muddy and filled with logs. Not a beginner scene at all but David managed to make it up to a byway that allowed for some recovery. He was in my pungo, a paddler, so was the geezer, another paddler. Chris and I were in our hobies (pedelers) and they made it up river quite nicely.

This railroad trestle made for an interesting jaunt in what is otherwise un navigable in low water.

Next it was off to Creve Couer racket club to play tennis for a couple hours. Geez, I am sore as hell. By the time I had been on the courts for an hour, I was bonking and my legs wouldn't work. That was a lot of exercise for an old man. Missouri Baptist Tennis team was the host, a great time was had playing with the men and women from that team. I cannot believe how hard the men hit the ball.


Today we plan a point to point on the boats since the weather is crap. We have to get used to the rain, I suppose. Since the water is moving pretty good, a 4 hour is in the works. We will put in fairly far up and try and keep a good pace on the way down. The pedaling works the same muscles as the bike, so I am not missing too many workouts in relationship to the bike. It is like staying in a big gear though, by the end my legs and knees are a little sore. I might also say that it will allow me to push big ring a little better when the season kicks in to high gear.

In case anyone wants a good place to chart out your trip, I found this as a good mileage indicator and put in map.