I had never been on the Katy Trail before today. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go. I ended up riding from St. Charles to Defiance, then back, then 10 miles around St. Charles to make 52 miles.
It was an excellent ride but I was not prepared for the dust. The bike was covered and my drive train was making bad grinding noises towards the end. Had to hose down the whole bike when I got home. I will definitely ride the trail some more. This was the second time I've ridden my age.

You are one time ahead of me on the age ride. Congratulations. Are you going to move up in milage, maybe a metric century next?

Excellent ... a trail age ride. That's what mine was. And my bike got all dusty too. A more peaceful age ride, at least IMHO.

Congratulations on your birthday ride. I'm trying to talk my wife into doing a vacation on the Katy trail, but I have to wait until she feels up to it. It's got to be one of those, where we could stop at different restaurants along the way, and get a bed to sleep in at night.

Congrats on your ride. I like the Katy Trail and am still thinking of riding it later this year. That section you rode is pretty nice. I LOVE St. Charles with all the old buildings and some great places to eat.

Congratulations on a great ride. That limestone dust is something else isn't it?

Congratulations on your ride! The dust is something else isn't it. I've noticed that as the summer wears on the dust is getting thicker. I guess the rocks are really getting ground down with all the traffic. I ride the trail a couple of times a week starting at the Boat House at Creve Coeur lake, then crossing the river at the Page extension, and then up through St. Charles. That's about 30 miles. It's a really nice ride.

Congrats on your ride...always feels good to accomplish an age ride. Used to have family that lived quite close to the MKT-KATY in Columbia and once did a birthday ride to Boonville in January (not recommended), dust was not a problem. It is one of the great rails to trails we cycle-types have.

Congratulations on your ride! A group of us rode four days on the Katy from Clinton to St. Charles in May four years ago. Don't remember it being dusty then but it rained a couple of nights. We stayed in motels and b&b's. The main thing I remember was the great condition of the trail and seeing a bunch of snakes.

I did my metric century last week. It was also my first "age" ride. I just stretched it.
I thought it kind of strange to drive 25 miles just to ride my bike. But I'm really getting to like riding the trails where you don't have to worry about road traffic. Between the Katy and the River Road trails there are some excellent bike paths around here. And I haven't even been on many of the Madison County trails.
Last night I hosed off the Raleigh, then cleaned and oiled the chain.
I'm ready for my next ride.

If there are any shops along the way, it wouldn't hurt to mention those too.

Congratulations and WELL DONE! Time to celebrate with beer and pie

Oh, and Congratulations!! I'm only halfway to riding my age.

Congratulations from me too and a tip what to do about that dust. I ride all the time on dusty Rail to Trails. Someone more experienced told me to do this and it has kept me out of trouble for many years:
Use a cheap paper towel (blue ones from Walmart) and spray a liberal amount of WD-40 on the chain and towel. Keep pulling the chain through the towel until you feel that it is OK. (It is not critical how much)
Next, use a clean towel and apply a small amount of chain lubricant to the chain, distribute it with the towel and wipe excess off.
Do this almost every trip and you should have no trouble.
You should have seen my bike today after a downpour. It is a mess. I use the above method and go again tomorrow.

Hey Mike --- we really like ST. Joseph MI! We stayed in a B&B there last OCT. We were in town for the Apple Cider Century. We lucked out with the picture perfect weather didn't we? (I assume you were there) We also had fun shopping and eating in the old downtown -- they have done a nice job preserving it, brick streets and all.