600K Route Notes **Important**

In case you didn’t see it on the STL Brevets website home page, I have some information to share regarding the upcoming 600k events.

Fellow rider, Dennis Smith and I drove the 600k route on Saturday May 7. The route is in good shape with the following important notes:

1. The Belle Rive checkpoint at Wilkey’s Diner is closed for repairs. The note on the door said it would reopen soon. There are no alternates available in Belle Rive. This means if you plan on riding the 600k on May 21, be prepared to around 50 miles without ANY services. With Wilkey’s closed I will either have riders sign their own cards and mark their time of passage, or will move the checkpoint to Dix (mile 111) or south to Thompsonville (mile 166).

2. Tunnel Hill Trail was closed due to flooding, but was reopened last week. Dennis and I rode from Vienna north to New Burnside, then back down to Vienna. This section of trail is about 15.5 miles long with the first three miles having some soft spots and a few rough patches. After about 3 miles, the trail is in good shape for the remainder of the trip to Vienna. As a note for those who have not ridden Tunnel Hill Trail, it generally goes uphill for the first 7 miles to the tunnel, then 9 miles downhill to Vienna. It is crushed limestone surface. Dennis agreed that the last nine miles to Vienna is in the best shape either of us has ever seen it. Let’s hope and pray that continues. Should it rain much in the next week or so I do have an emergency reroute already predriven and cue sheet addendums available.

3. The route from Pinckneyville east to Eden has been on Route 154 for several years. I have rerouted this along farms roads just north of the previous roads. Mueller Hill Cemetery Rd has much lower traffic and the hills are gently rolling with one or two short steeper sections. I am working on changing the maps as I write this. I will try and have the “final” map online by the weekend.

Please check back to see about any updates. Again, May 21^st riders should expect and plan for at least 50 miles or so with no services (no food or water). Bring extra food, water bottles and or a hydration system to get you through this stretch.