Disorganized drive - Missouri Aug 8th

[glacialmoraine]

Hey all,

I had so much fun last weekend I've sketched out the basics of a route and am going driving this Saturday. I've driven half the roads and know they are good, the other half I have great hopes for, but can't promise anything. They are "letter" highways and I usually have good luck with these, but you never know.

about 40 interstate miles away from stl to the start point, then about a 100 mile loop passing through 0 towns. A couple of side roads go to towns that look to be worth exploring, or for lunch. Side trips would add another 40-60 miles, I'll probably check out all of the side trips for future reference. Maybe even more if time permits.

I'm doing this alone if nobody else is interested, just figured i'd offer it up in case someone else thought it sounded like fun. Feel free to skip this time and come along once I have tried all the roads. If it truly is a worthwhile route I'm sure someone will make a formal drive of it. I'll probably get started 9-10 am ish.

This isn't any sort of organized drive or event, just me running around in the country having fun.

take care,

gm

[rickdavis.name]

Well... I guess it would be an "organized" drive if you told us where on the 8th you're going to start?

[glacialmoraine]

Originally Posted by rickdavis.name

Well... I guess it would be an "organized" drive if you told us where on the 8th you're going to start?

Hehe, touche. If no-one wanted to come along, I figured i'd just drive from my house, but you are right, I should pick a place, so:

Parking lot of borders books on Watson in sunset hills. Meet 9:30, leave 10:00. If my Exige is unattended i'm in the cafe drinking java.

Store - Borders - Books, Music and Movies

If anyone elsewhere in the state wants to meet up, PM me. Planning to leave I-44 about 40-50 miles SW from St. Louis. PM me for more detailed route info.

take care,

Steve

[STL Motorsports]

Originally Posted by glacialmoraine

Hehe, touche. If no-one wanted to come along, I figured i'd just drive from my house, but you are right, I should pick a place, so:

Parking lot of borders books on Watson in sunset hills. Meet 9:30, leave 10:00. If my Exige is unattended i'm in the cafe drinking java.

Store - Borders - Books, Music and Movies

If anyone elsewhere in the state wants to meet up, PM me. Planning to leave I-44 about 40-50 miles SW from St. Louis. PM me for more detailed route info.

take care,

Steve

^^^ Besides inviting last Saturdays crew...you could invite STLengineer and Vishus1 ,both of those chaps are active on these boards & local Exige drivers...!

Have fun....I'll be at work

[mausssm]

Some advice from a lowly Miata owner who grew up in Wild Horse Valley...

Highway T is a blast.

Whenever I'm in the mood for a good run, I take the following route:

Hwy 40 to Chesterfield Airport Rd.
Chesterfield Airport Rd. to Eatherton (the esses are gone now. r.i.p.)
Eatherton take a right on Centaur (great when you go through the tree canopy).
Centaur right on Wild Horse Creek Road (too many bicyclists these days, careful...)
Wild Horse West (right) on Hwy 100
Almost immediately right on Hwy T
Long straight on T, then you hit the bottom of the hill. Crank up "All Along the Watchtower" by Hendrix, and punch it. Up, down, twisties galore.

Extension to this drive:
You can continue on T until you hit 100 again, by way of Hwy 44. Take 100 out to Hermann, and continue until it ends. Go right. Lots of fun out there.

I grew up in Wild Horse Valley, my dad owned property between Hermann and Morrison. I learned to drive on these roads at age 14 in a 1960 Ford pickup with 3 on the tree.

[glacialmoraine]

I used to drive wild horse creek end to end and back again in the middle of the night, back when it was all farmland. Now it is full of bicyclists, as you say, but even more so there are now subdivisions everywhere. People turning in and out of the road, etc. Same with Kiefer Creek and Old state. Way too many people.

So, I would have to warn people that Wild Horse is not still a road that is good for spirited driving. 15-20 years ago, yes. Totally.

Highway T is still very good, I agree with you there. Population density is still light. Fond memories of blasting down the straight from hwy 100.

Our drive last weekend was hwy 100 past Herman, FWIW.

I like to get way out in the country where you see another car every 10 minutes or so, if that.

take care,

gm

[mausssm]

Yep, 30 years ago was when I blasted around Wild Horse Valley. Nowadays I take care due to the factors mentioned above PLUS expanded police presence.

Maybe Adrian from STL Motorsports will allow me to "test drive" an Elise SC one one of your runs. It could very well lead to a poor financial decision on my part!!! After taking the 2 day course in Pahrump, I am totally hooked on the machine. Aside from heel and toe difficulties that a bit of pedal modification will take care of.

Adrian, you there? What do you think?

[ducboy]

I'm out of town this weekend. But here are the best roads Missouri has to offer IMO. Be aware that P and DD are very technical. In my sportbike club we refer to this as the MotoGP route starting with Highway K. I recall beating my Ducati lap times with the Exige last year, which is really impressive considering what I can do with the 916 and the 999 Ask Paul for a reference I recommend the Bixby country store for lunch.

from:MO-109 to:Hwy W/State Hwy W to:MO-30 to:Hwy K/State Hwy K to:37.928222,-90.777111 to:bixby, mo - Google Maps

[glacialmoraine]

Originally Posted by ducboy

I'm out of town this weekend. But here are the best roads Missouri has to offer IMO. Be aware that P and DD are very technical. In my sportbike club we refer to this as the MotoGP route starting with Highway K. I recall beating my Ducati lap times with the Exige last year, which is really impressive considering what I can do with the 916 and the 999 Ask Paul for a reference I recommend the Bixby country store for lunch.

That is fairly close to what I had planned, only I was going to take a side loop through the forests northeast of potosi, and turn around at potosi for lunch, a shorter trip, but yours looks better I think.

Here was the route I was going to take down to potosi, anyone ever driven the side loop (hwy A T and AY) ? Are the roads good? These highways connect nowhere to nowhere, so should be pretty much empty, and are every bit as wiggly as the others. AT AY and 189 make a ring that doesn't go through a single town... the outlaw ring? (Those hills are where Jesse James and others found caves to hide in.)


St. Clair, MO to Potosi MO via AT and AY

So, anyway, if anyone is coming I figure start at hwy K in St. Clair take the side loop on the way down, continue on to Bixby, lunch, then all the way back to Sullivan via 189 and end there. If the roads are good the side loop should be a lot of fun.

take care,

gm

[glacialmoraine]

Forecast for tomorrow: sunny breezy 93 degrees

Since I've said I'll be at Borders, I'll be there. Even though nobody has responded here, someone may decide to come without checking in.

Anyway, I am going to have a great drive tomorrow. Feel free to join me.

take care,

gm

[jwb4bb]

Originally Posted by ducboy

I'm out of town this weekend. But here are the best roads Missouri has to offer IMO. Be aware that P and DD are very technical. In my sportbike club we refer to this as the MotoGP route starting with Highway K. I recall beating my Ducati lap times with the Exige last year, which is really impressive considering what I can do with the 916 and the 999 Ask Paul for a reference I recommend the Bixby country store for lunch.

from:MO-109 to:Hwy W/State Hwy W to:MO-30 to:Hwy K/State Hwy K to:37.928222,-90.777111 to:bixby, mo - Google Maps

Have you driven any roads on the KC side? I live over here and I have been pining for some really great roads, but I don't seem to find what I want. Anyone have any routes they like?

[rickdavis.name]

Ok, I'm at the Borders. Where are you?

[rickdavis.name]

The rest of the folks missed out on a great course. Sorry I had to bail at Potosi. But it's just as well. I knew the roller coaster was going to be even more rough on the way to Bixby. Is that where you ended up?

Thanks again Steve.

[glacialmoraine]

Sorry I was so late to the Borders, since no one had RSVP'd I hit the snooze a couple more times than I should have. I got there before 10:00 though, so on time for departure

Yes, I continued on to Bixby, I wasn't sure on a direction so drove hwy P out and back twice

Hwy dd was awesome, very tight and twisty with great road quality. 32 was great fun because it was swoopy and banked. Higher speed corners, but still very twisty.

On the way back I hit the side route I had noticed on the internet, and it was worth it. The pavement had a couple patches here and there. I wouldn't enjoy it on a bike, but in a car it was fun. This was a nice set of curves:

S curve section

Rick, thanks again for coming along, it was great to have company. I am glad you had fun. If we ever do it again, hwy 47 goes due south from Warrenton to St. Clair. Anyone from St. Charles could meet up with the fun in St. Clair and save a ton of driving.

take care,

Steve