Katy Trail

Posted by Wade

Before the alarm went off on October 1, 2009 at 5:30 a.m., I was awake and ready to get out of bed. The day was the beginning of the 236 mile trek from Clinton, MO to St. Charles, MO via the Katy Trail (an old railroad bed that was converted to a bike trail. Matt and I had been preparing for the ride for months by doing long rides on the weekends. However, we weren’t quite prepared for all the challenges of the adventure we would encounter along the way.

As we drove away from Overland Park, KS to get to our starting point, the rain and lightening were non-stop. We began to wonder if we would be able to start the bike ride as we had planned. The forecast showed a slight opportunity during the mid-morning, but there was a good chance it would rain much more that day. We arrived in Clinton at around 8:30 and parked at the trail head where there was one other car. There weren’t too many people starting the ride, but we were determined to. We waited about an hour and the sky lightened up. After a quick bathroom break, we got the bikes off the car rack, loaded up our bags, and headed out.

The first day was interesting. The Katy Trail guidebook that we had mentioned it was slightly uphill until Boonville, MO. They didn’t really mention that it seemed uphill all the way to Boonville. It seemed so. After about 12 miles, a loud pop came from behind me. I knew instantly that Matt had a blowout. We thought we would at least make it further before we had a flat tire. This wasn’t just a tube that had a hole in it, but a shredded tire (Matt’s bike was brand new). Needless to say, we weren’t quite prepared for a bad tire. We were prepared for flats as we had six spare tubes. So, we called ahead to Windsor, MO to see if there was a store that had tires for sale. There was, so Wade rode ahead five miles to get the new tire while Matt started walking. The first store had every tire except the right size for Matt’s bike. The store owner said he didn’t think anyone else in town had tires for sale. Could this ruin our whole trip? Would we have to stop after 12 miles to go back to the car?

Matt had called a Bed and Breakfast that also rented bikes so I decided to call them to see what they had available for purchase. Buzz answered the phone and agreed to “come down” to meet me to see what he had. Buzz was a nice man, and was definitely one of those small town country guys. He searched through his tire rack and found a tire that was the size we needed. Then he began looking for the price list. I was thinking, “He knows I am desperate so this might be expensive.” I was surprised when he said, “Well, I can’t find my price list so I’ll charge you $4.” Sold, and I began my ride back to meet Matt who had walked a few miles.

We put on the new tire, aired it up, looked it over and deemed it safe and then began our journey again. Each time we went around a curve, it seemed like the trail went on forever – of course, uphill. We finally arrived in Sedalia; we were both starving. We stopped a local couple who were walking and asked for some ideas for lunch. He named off about every fast food restaurant in town. One he suggested was “Spanish” rather than Hispanic or Mexican. We selected Subway. The turkey sandwich and chips tasted great and hit the spot. We were ready to ride – uphill.

I began to hear a few rumblings from the sky, but I chose not to believe it would rain. I just continued enjoying the scenic view of the fields of crops to our right and left. Of course, rain. It gave Matt and me a chance to try out the ponchos I bought for the trip. I’m sure I didn’t have mine on quite right as I was soaked. We kept riding through the rain. Our bikes (and us) were caked with a mixture of water and dust from the gravel trail. It was just part of the adventure as we were riding uphill, in the rain, on a slushy trail. Let’s just say our average speed wasn’t that great.

As the sun set on our first day we approached the bridge over I-70 that would get us into Boonville. It was a welcomed site as we looked forward to the pizza we would order for dinner, a hot shower, and a bed where we could crash. Day 1 of our adventure was complete with Matt riding 74 miles and me riding 80 (since I got to go get the new tire). We averaged 10.3 miles-per-hour that day.

Day 2 started at 8:30 after a continental breakfast and a trip over to the truck stop to air up Matt’s tire. Little did we know that this would be a common occurrence today. We rode through Boonville and north of town over the Missouri River. It was a bit nerve-racking riding over the bridge with a stiff crosswind. That was a long bridge. As we approached Rocheport, MO, Matt noticed his tire again. We were concerned, so we had the bike shop in Rocheport look at the tire and tube. Sure enough, another hole. We spent about 45 minutes there waiting for the bike shop to work on Matt’s tire.

Rocheport was a nice town; I would like to stay there next time I ride the trail. There were several people riding and many B&B’s to choose from. Off we were, hoping to make good time as this was our longest day; at least the wind was at our backs. We made it to McBaine, MO where we at Lucy’s Bar & Grill. The locals kind of looked at us funny as we walked in the place. It was right on the trail, but they acted like they hadn’t seen bike riders before. There was one employee in the place, her name not Lucy, who took our order and then went and cooked it. She said she got in trouble by her boss for making the hamburgers to big. They were big and pretty good.

After we finished eating, we started again. This time we made it to Hartsburg, another nice town. Dotty’s Café was the place to stop here. Matt talked to a man at the trailhead and found at that Dotty’s had great cobbler. Yes they did, blackberry cobbler. We had to have some.

Today we ate a lot. Our final stop for the day (well, almost our final stop) was in Portland, MO at the Riverfront Bar & Grill. Yes, another bar & grill. For Matt, another hamburger. I, however, went crazy and had a corndog. I hadn’t had one of those in a long time. The place was pretty empty. I used the bathroom here which didn’t have a sink. That was odd, but when I came back out, I found the sink. It was in the room with all the dining tables. Never seen that before. We loaded up on Gatorade and water and headed out; it was getting dark fast and we still had a tent to setup when we arrived at our stop for the evening in Bluffton, MO.

We had five miles to go. I was riding in front and was anxious to get to Bluffton as it was getting dark. I thought it was pretty spooky riding through the middle of nowhere and in the trees at dusk. I kept looking back to make sure Matt was coming. Finally, with a few miles to go, I checked again and Matt was not to be seen. I turned around and started going the other way. There he was, another flat tire. By this time, we knew the routine. He had his job and I had mine. We changed the tire and aired it up – again.

Finally, we finished our ride for the day – 85 miles. We arrived at Steamboat Junction campground where our tent, blankets and pillows awaited us at the “concession stand”. This was a self-service stand with a refrigerator and a bowl where you were to put your money. We found our camping spot and began to setup up camp for the evening. We were tired and cold. The temperature was going to get down to 45 degrees by morning. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Our camping neighbors for the evening found a special way to stay warm. They were drinking and partying and didn’t care that we wanted to sleep. I believe they went to bed about 2:00 am. We must have fallen asleep in there sometime, but we didn’t sleep much. It was interesting and we didn’t have any trouble waking up to get going at sunrise. It would be our final day of riding; 70 miles to go until we were in St. Charles.

Megan was to meet me in St. Charles and would be driving from Overland Park, KS that day. I was excited to see her and spend the night at the B&B. We planned on a nice dinner to celebrate the ride.

We began riding at 7:00 am and arrived just outside of Herman for breakfast. We had a nice breakfast sandwich and were able to use the restroom to change clothes as we didn’t trust the bathroom facilities at the campground. Outside the grocery store were a few Shriners raising money for the Shriner Hospital. He told us several stories of some of the kids they had helped. My dad was a Shriner so I was familiar with what they did. He earned a donation from us and we were on our way. Much of the day was riding along the Missouri River or fields. It was a beautiful sunrise. However, the sun wasn’t out long. We were cold most of the day.

Our plans for the day included stopping in Defiance at Matt’s Godmother’s house for lunch (and a surprise dessert). The dessert was brownies. They were awesome. It was nice to eat somewhere like home. From there we had 20 miles and one flat tire left. We made it; we actually made it. We rode 236 miles. We averaged 11 miles-per-hour while riding our bikes a total of approximately 21.5 hours. Five flat tires all together.

Praise God for our safety and physical ability to make it. We could not have made it without His provision.