Katy Trail?

Pat said:

Anyone here ride the Katy Trail in Missouri? Any tips?

I've done from N. Jefferson City to St. Charles a couple of times.

The prettiest part of this section is near Treolar, where you are right next
to the river. Towns are small, B&B's have a certain charm.

Herman is a nice old German town with some great hills to climb -- the old
bridge demands urban-type riding skills though -- metal grid, two narrow
lanes. They've planned another one but I don't think it's there yet. You
can probably look pitiful and get somebody in a pickup truck to drive you
across if the bridge isn't to your liking. There's at least one winery near
Herman and near Augusta, and probably others I don't recall.

It's all limestone tailings (or similar material). Suitable for a road
bike, although I'd stay away from very narrow tires. It's not crowded at
all, although you do have more people near urban St. Charles.

It's particularly good if you are touring with a neophyte tourer, since you
are always off the road and the pace is friendly.

--
Mike Kruger
Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.
Claudius; 10 BC-AD 54, Roman Emperor

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Anyone here ride the Katy Trail in Missouri? Any tips?

I did the whole route once (several years ago) and was kind of disappointed.
The trail is extremely flat, mostly through farm country. Only a couple of
short scenic sections are along the Missouri River. There are a couple of
interesting towns along the way, but many more that are dead or dying.
Sometimes, I would roll into a town and there was absolutely no one there,
like the whole town was deserted. I don't know where they all went.

sally said:

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Anyone here ride the Katy Trail in Missouri? Any tips?

I did the whole route once (several years ago) and was kind of
disappointed. The trail is extremely flat, mostly through farm
country. Only a couple of short scenic sections are along the
Missouri River. There are a couple of interesting towns along the
way, but many more that are dead or dying. Sometimes, I would roll
into a town and there was absolutely no one there, like the whole
town was deserted. I don't know where they all went.

There's that. Sometimes there's a backstory to these towns. I found this
interesting, Sally didn't. Your opinion may vary.

Some of these, like Mokane, are former rail facilities. When the railroad
facility closed (and eventually the railroad), the town had no real reason
to be there. Mokane has shrunk to 188 people, there's only a self-service
gas station (a pump you can put your credit card into), a small store and a
bar (not open when I was through). The main street ends abruptly and
continues as a farmer's driveway.
http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/mokane.htm

This is what happens in depopulating rural America, with farms needing less
labor and a lot of the factories that moved from the east to the rural
midwest and south now moved out of the U.S. (shoe factories and textile
factories being prime examples). This is uneven, of course, but particularly
likely to occur as you get farther away from the interstate.

I tend to find this transition has its own fascination, and besides that it
makes cheap lodging easy to find.

--
Mike Kruger
Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.
Claudius; 10 BC-AD 54, Roman Emperor

I rode from St Charles to Boonville on the Kay trail following the
Adventure Cycling Lewis & Clark route. The former rail line trail is
dead flat and so straight you can't see the next turn much of the
time. Most of the larger towns are on the south side of the river,
the trail is on the north. Few bridges to cross over. Most are
narrow or falling apart or overloaded with traffic. The guide book
published is woefully out of date regarding restaurants & businesses.
I found most were closed up. Because riders have been killed on those
bridges, the book recommends calling a taxi to haul you over. Phbt.
I waited for a sizeable gap in traffic and sprinted across. Plan on
hauling enough food to get you thru a day if you don't want to wander
off the trail very far. Expect seriously steep hills if you do. My
32x24 wasn't low enough for those roads. In those 2 or 3 days of
riding the Katy trail in July, I saw 1 other cyclist.

Mo has done a good job with trailheads & trail maintainence. As good
as any other state. Wild life is blue buntings, speedy little lizards
and turtles in the side creeks. No river boat traffic to speak of.
The whole area shows better times in the past (except for 1993).

Mo is like Illinois in 1 respect, 80% of the population is
concentrated ( StL/KC) so little money gets spent on the rest of the
state.

Rick

Pat said:

Anyone here ride the Katy Trail in Missouri? Any tips?

thanks,

Pat in TX

I've ridden on the Katy several times and had a great time. Check out
www.bikekatytrail.com for tons of information.

Funny that there have been some negative comments here about the Katy. As a
New Yorker, I spent a few years daydreaming about riding this trail that had
been voted Number One in America, etc. When I finally got to Missouri on
business, I couldn't wait to check it out from my car, just to get a glimpse
of what everyone was raving about. I may have seen some very desolate parts
of it, but it turned out to be quite a disappointment, at least from the
highway.

Essentially, it looked like every other rail trail to me; grossly
under-utilized and out of the way of any kind of activity. We've got lots
of those in New York, although most of them don't stretch out long enough
for boredom to set in.

I'm sure there are some very nice sections of the Katy...or, at least, I
HOPE there are, as I'd still like to see it on two wheels some day. But
I've been very let down by Florida's Pinellas Trail and Atlanta's Silver
Comet, too....

Quoted message said:

I'm sure there are some very nice sections of the Katy...or, at least, I
HOPE there are, as I'd still like to see it on two wheels some day. But
I've been very let down by Florida's Pinellas Trail and Atlanta's Silver
Comet, too....

I don't have a lot of trail-riding experience, however I would recommend
the trails in the DC vicinity. The Mount Vernon Trail is very nice
(even if it is a little dangerous in spots). The Custis Trail from
Falls Church into the Virginia suburbs closer to DC and connecting with
the Mt Vernon Trail is great (with some short hills). The W&OD Trail
is also great (though it doesn't get quite as much usage in the further
outlieing sections). The W&OD used to be the longest continuous bike
trail in the country but I don't believe that is true any longer.

There's also the Rock Creek Trail which passes the zoo and goes into
Maryland from downtown DC.

All these trails either connect at some point or are easily transversed.

Marshall Lake <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I don't have a lot of trail-riding experience, however I would recommend
the trails in the DC vicinity.

How long are these trails? The attraction of the Katy Trail is the 200 mile
length across the state of Missouri.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't have a lot of trail-riding experience, however I would recommend
the trails in the DC vicinity.

How long are these trails? The attraction of the Katy Trail is the 200
mile
length across the state of Missouri.

You can go on the www.railstotrails.com and find trails using their search
engine.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>How long are these trails? The attraction of the Katy Trail is the 200
>mile length across the state of Missouri.<<<<<

That's the thing about rail trails. They build them long and then brag to
have the longest one in the country. But very few of them will take you any
place you'd want to go.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of ANY type of pavement laid for cyclists,
anywhere. But as downtown areas have moved more toward massive roadways and
away from the old train stations, many of our country's rail trails have
turned into long, drawn out tours of abandoned factories and junk yards.
I'd imagine the Katy is no exception, and I suppose you have to just think
of it as an opportunity to get some exercise and breathe some fresh air,
rather than a chance to tour the quaint little villages of Missouri.

As time goes on, I feel myself becoming more of an advocate for bike lanes
along major roads than for separate bike paths. With gas approaching four
bucks a gallon, I want to be able to get to the supermarket, the post
office, and the bank without my car and without having to risk my life in
the thick of traffic.

All that said, does the Katy pass through any major towns?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't have a lot of trail-riding experience, however I would recommend
the trails in the DC vicinity.

Quoted message said:

How long are these trails? The attraction of the Katy Trail is the 200 mile
length across the state of Missouri.

It's been a while since I've ridden on any of the DC trails but as best
as I can remember the W&OD Trail is about 45 miles contiguous plus an
additional 5 miles of "trail-like" conditions connecting to the Mount
Vernon Trail. The Custis Trail connects to the contiguous portion of
the W&OD Trail (and directly to the Mount Vernon Trail) and is about 15
miles long. The Mount Vernon Trail is about 35 miles long. The Rock
Creek Park Trail is easy to get to from the Mount Vernon Trail and is
about 15 miles long.

The attraction to the DC trails for me was the ability to get to
many places in and outside of DC. I commuted to work for years into
downtown DC. And I ran errands often in and outside of town.

Most of the trails were busy (except for the outlieing sections of the
W&OD) most all year 'round.

Quoted message said:

All that said, does the Katy pass through any major towns?

It goes through St. Charles which is the outskirts of St. Louis. Also,
Sedalia and Jefferson City are on the route.

Quoted message said: