Katy Trail
 

Can some of people from Missouri comment on biking the Katy Trail? Also, has anyone used one of the services that will transport your luggage from point to point along the trail?

I've ridden shorter sections near St. Charles. Get this book, it will answer all your questions and is a useful guide while traveling: http://www.valorebooks.com/textbooks...&date=09/09/13

Also search or post in the touring forum: http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/47-Touring

Did the trail a couple of years ago, in the fall, and it was great! The most scenic part is the eastern two thirds, but all was a great ride.

We stayed at B&B's which are plentiful along the route. We also provided our own sag, with one of the five riders taking turns driving the van to the next destination. Two of us were on cychocross bikes which were ideal for the trail. The others were on touring bikes. All rode 32mm tires.

There's this site too

http://www.bikekatytrail.com/default.aspx

I've ridden it end to end the last 3 years. Here's information on the 2013 ride. Not much will change except we will be starting from St. Charles in 2014.

http://mostateparks.com/2013-katy-trail-ride

Notice that it says to check in on March 1, 2014. Not kidding. It sold out in 4 days in 2013.

I used the Independent Tourist for a self-guided tour of Katy Trail which included the shuttle from end-to-end and daily luggage shuttles. See:

http://independenttourist.com/

I was very pleased with the Shuttles and the accommodations. A couple of the B and B’s were outstanding and one was disappointing and I know that they followed up with what we said we weren’t too happy with. This was a couple of years ago and I thought that if I did it again I might contract just with the shuttle provider (whose name I no longer have) and reserve my own bookings to see how that compared. This was my first experience with a self-guided tour and there isn’t much to it when you start at one end and finish at the other end. But I was very satisfied with the overall experience and had plenty of time to check things out along the way. I enjoyed the dining and the wine tasting that the Katy Trail had to offer.

There are a couple of threads in 50+ regarding the Katy Trail, do a search about that topic here, look for Retro Grouch's posts about riding there and the group ride that happened on the Katy this summer. Best of luck on your ride, be safe and enjoy. Here is a link for a recent gathering:http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...July-20-amp-21

Bill

I'm still cleaning the limestone dust out of nooks and crannies of my bike! ;) That was my most lasting impression of the Katy Trail! I imagine that Peak Color in Fall will be the best time to ride the trail.

Here's a link to the Katy Trail Social image set on Flickr (which will be down for maintenance Thursday evening), showcasing my poor cameraship... :innocent: I'm the lone guy in white on that trip. I laugh because I hear the color red, as well as dark colors, attracts mosquitoes!

Next year, instead of a frontal portrait, I think we'll go for a portrait demonstrating our twerking skills. A bunch of elders flapping their butt-cheeks for the camera should be an entertaining spectacle...

Look up the bike shop in Defiance, MO. There is only one. They started doing supported trips on the Katy and they run a shuttle service.

It is an outstanding trail. Some parts are better than others but it's all good. I ride the east end but that's where I live. The Katy is a great place to get away from it all for a couple of hours or a week. Yes, it can be dusty. I just hose down my bike with the hose nozzle set to a gentle spray after a ride.

I still say that the camera was pointing the wrong way during that photo of the 4 of us standing near our bikes.

Ditto on the Defiance bike shop. Great people. Very good mechanic. They rent all kinds of bikes. And they sell Ted Drews frozen custard!

I just rode this in May as part of an organized tour put on by Road Scholar, the "seniors" travel organization. It was catered by the guys from the Defiance bike shop that's been commented on. We met in St. Charles, were transported to Sedalia, and rode back over the course of 5 days, staying in hotels and B&Bs. We had about 40 riders in the group, but it all went off amazingly well. The spring weather this year was pretty awful, but we happened to hit the one good week between storm systems. We never got rained on and the worst weather was one day when it hit 90.

I would definitely do it again, and with this same outfit. My photos of the trip are here, but they're probably not of much interest if you weren't part of the trip.