ALLSTOTT

Hey hows it going yall i was just curious since I'm moving to Mo this summer. what to expect as far as mountain biking? I'm getting stationed at whiteman AFB. Will there be trails right there to ride or am i gunna have to drive? and what type of terrain to expect. so i know whether i need to get a a FS or if my HD/Rigid will be good enough there. thanks

5kdad

I'd assume you are familiar with the Katy Trail? The longest rails-to-trails bike route in the USA. About 230 miles. Mt bike will be best.

Aaron_F

People will debate FS vs hardtail vs rigid all day long, so it really depends on how much of a beating you can take. For the Katy trail, like 5kdad mentioned, a rigid is all you need; it's just a flat rails-to-trails project. For most singletrack, you can get away with a rigid--I did for a couple years--but a hardtail is probably the best choice. There will always be places where a FS will work best, but I guess it depends on what you want.

I ride an aluminum hardtail with 100mm fork and 2.3" tires, and it's really all I need.

You'll be about an hour West of Jefferson City, where they have awesome singletrack at Binder Park. Columbia, MO (where I live) is 30min North of that, and our main park is Rock Bridge State Park, with ~20mi of single and doubletrack.

I'm not familiar with the area where you'll be staying, so try asking over on mtbr.com

sknhgy 

The Katy is for day rides and touring. Basically, flat. You want MTBing. MO is a good place. You will like it. Not sure where Whiteman is, but you shouldn't have to go far for some good singletrack.

Glenn1234

From living in that region, I can tell you that you'll find plenty of rolling hills (which can be difficult, it can be easy to run up 1000' ascension in short order in some places), and plenty of flats, depending on where you ride and what you want to do.

If you stick to roads, you can get a good workout on some of the back-roads - they work well as many of them have been chip & sealed. Or if you deal with Knob Noster proper, there's a loop around town that's moderately traveled which will offer enough challenge for a good workout. If you're looking for trail/dirt action, there's nothing better nearby where you will be than Knob Noster State Park.

Of course, there's other good options nearby as well if you drive (or do some moderate long distance cycling - about 10 to 15 miles one way), but that can be for you to explore when the time comes.

Edit: Yes the Katy is great riding, but as they said it's mainly flat and good for day rides, touring, and strict cardio. It's a good switch-up compared to the standard MO stuff, but not too much variety in quality of ride. I recently went there (November) and posted some things in this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...162-KATY-Trail I took a road bike, as you will see in the pictures, so that should tell you what the Katy is about.

ALLSTOTT

thank you all for the information. i cant wait to get to whiteman to do some mt biking/road and actually have something better to see than dirt and a cactus.

day1si

Kansas City and surrounding has some of the best trails around.
https://earthriders.com/
https://forums.earthriders.com/

Jp