The Low Car Diet 2006

The Challenge: To accomplish all travel in October without using an automobile.

Upon first hearing of this low-car diet, I thought: "I would love to--sounds like a great, fun challenge, but it is impossible. The first day of October I will be driving home from a wedding in St. Louis. I am already out of the game. Wait, doesn't the Katy trail start near St. Louis?..." Upon looking at a map I realized that the St. Charles trailhead was only 7 miles away from my hotel in St. Peters. A window of opportunity opened and I realized that it was possible to make the commute back to Columbia by bicycle. Bring it on. On October 1st my wife left the hotel in St. Peters for Columbia with the car, as I began the trek back home on the trail. My original plan was to make a point of stopping at wineries and bars along the way. After further consideration, I realized that the 150 miles of trail wouldn't leave much time for sightseeing. I would allow myself a beer break in Augusta. I would not pass that opportunity.

Keeping a steady pace around 16 miles an hour, I wasn't able to converse with other patrons on the trail besides a quick "hello" and "on your left". At my tuna and cracker stop in Tebbets, I met a self contained rider from Kansas, who was on a two week solo trip into Illinois. He gladly gave me some of his extra water (as there are so very few drinking fountains on the trail between St. Charles and N. Jefferson) and we exchanged stories and were on our way. It was a beautiful warm sunny day with a challenging headwind and the start of fall colors. Riding on the Katy Trail can be like running on a treadmill, there are times you don't feel like you are going anywhere at all.

11 hours after leaving St. Charles, I met a friend of at Cooper's landing and we rode the final stretch home to Columbia. An exciting start to a full month of biking. The rest of the week involved back and forth biking into town, and occasional stops at the grocery store. I can't forget the fabulous downtown Columbia Pub crawl, the fastest I have ever visited 10 different bars in Columbia.

Friday night was the opening night of Roctoberfest, the motorcycle rally at the Midway Expo center. I had been helping with promotions for the event for months and was very excited for the weekend's festivities. My friend Alison (who is also involved in the Low Car Diet) and her husband Daniel joined me for the dusk/night ride to the Expo Center. By taking back roads we were able to avoid the interstate route that the rest of the attendees traveled. Amazing sunset, followed by a rising full moon. Incredible. After watching the opening event of cage fighting/cage dancing activities, we set up camp in the field. The sounds of passing motorcycles kept us up for hours. The next morning we left early to make it back to Columbia. Daniel was running in the Run for Life Relay, and I promised my dog Riley that I would take her on the Dog Jog 5K. Both started at 9 am. We bid each other farewell and I met my wife Katie with Riley at the race right before the start. In her first 5k, Riley kept a great pace and we finished with a time of 19:36 - 3rd place, winning a gift certificate at Walt's and Tequila. Good dog! After a little recovery time, it was back to Roctoberfest to mingle with bikers of a different breed. After a night of wild entertainment, it was back to trying to sleep in a tent circled by motorcycles. Now that I am back at home on Sunday, I am glad to be off the bike and lounging on the couch for a little while, recouping for a new week of bike commuting about to begin...