Saturday I headed down to Fenton, pushing a nice pace along the River Rd and Outer Rd. I eased up and went through Buder Park and took 141 to Valley Park. The good news in Valley Park is that the construction on Marshall Rd is complete and the road has been opened up. Normally, we take St Louis Ave when heading toward Big Bend because Marshall wasn't in very good shape. Now, Marshall is much nicer than St Louis Ave. which has become rather poor with potholes and the road has been graded to a rough state for future paving. However, it's been that way since winter.

My next good effort was up the hill on Marshall Rd. This hurt a little more than I wanted but I was determined to not slack off until the top. With the State Crit Sunday I wasn't going to push any harder than necessary the rest of the ride. I went down Lindbergh to Eddie & Park to Grant and Pardee to Laclede Station to the cemetery. After a little visit to the cemetery, I found a little cut out in the trees and plants that surround the cemetery that cut through to Grant's Trail. It was nice being able to avoid Hwy 21. From there it was easy to take Green Park, Mueller and Von Talge back home.

All week I've very itchy. I got swarmed by a bunch of mosquitos or some biting insect. There are a few bites on my arm but most are concentrated between my ankle and knee. There must be 15 bites on my lower legs Very annoying.