Katy Trail Forum

When we went through last week, one of the patrons said the place was closing. This would be a real shame, since its one of the few places along that stretch and they served the best loaded baked potato ever!

Murph's is in Treloar, hopefully not closing.

Was by there today and unfortunately it is closed. For those that used the vending machine to get cold drinks or water, it has been removed, so there is no longer a handy water supply there.

Murph's Place has closed but....have no fear!!! A new bar has opened just down the block!! The new bar is "Treloar Bar & Grill" and it is run by John and Lisa Ketterer. Very friendly atmosphere and good food!!! I recommend stop by and giving it a try!! Oh yeah, the beer is good and cold too!!

Riding this weekend between Jefferson City and Defiance. I noticed that someone indicated they found a number of a bike shop in Hermann that was posted in Mokane. I don't see that bike shop listed in the businesses at Hermann and wondered if anyone knew the number so I could have it for emergency purposes.

They have their own listing under the Google map on the Hermann page. 573-486-9170

My husband & I rode from Pleansant Hill Katy Trail from one car park area to the next. End of June 2012 Both parking lots are good. Bill boards up, waiting for maps. Picnic table. Some of trail is a little rough but we made it through. Am seeing the vision of connecting to Windsor someday. And the vision of it connecting to KC Sports Stadium area and then on into Union Station by WWI Memorial site. The vision is coming together step by step. So exciting to see. Thank you everyone before us that is getting this all going so we can fight for healthier lives. God bless you all. Especially the ones doing the work. That is very hard labor of love passion to bring this into reality.

That sounds good D&L! Looking forward to when that section is finished, hopefully in my life time. :) It has been slow, but any progress on completing that section is exciting. Thanks for the report.

How many miles of the part of the trail is completed mow?

Mow? I meant now.

IS the trail south of pleasant hill? How many miles it this trail and where does it hit the kady trail?

The connector between Pleasant Hill and Windsor is the Rock Island Trail State Park. There is a map at mostateparks dot com.

I believe this connector -- the Rock Island State Park is "under development" and won't available to ride for a while yet. It will be great when it is completed.

FYI, there is going to be a run on Oct. 27 in Pleasant Hill, MO, 1/2 marathon and 5K, called the Rock Island Run I, which is supposed to utilize sections of the trail already completed. I am trying to get more info on it but they are accepting registrations right now.

We rode the connector this past weekend. The trail is NOT open but you would never know if you park in the Purvis Rd lot. The trail goes for 3 miles and ends at another parking lot. Every cross road on the return trip were clearly marked with closed signs. The trail is hard to ride as the gravel is way too large and there were trees down in the trail. There has been NO work done on the trail for quite some time. My wife was not happy with me for taking her there and suggested that I move back to my mom's basement. On a note of redemption they are building a nice bike/walking trail north of town and I am not sure where it will go and only 1.75 miles is completed. I feel all work has been stopped on the Katy Connector to Windsor. If someone knows different I would love to know.

KB, I know how your wife feels. My husband did the same thing to me!

If you had 1000 cycling enthusiasts in front of you, what would you tell them about the Katy Trail Pleasant Hill Extension if you wanted to get something done and garner support for the project?

More info.can be found on Rock Island Run 1 at sdmg.co/rockislandrun or facebook.com/rockislandrun or call (816)353-3149 ask for BJ,contact info.bjthedj.com(organizer of event)

Rock Island Corridor Update: I received this via email from the the lady at Mid-Admerica Regional Council:
Thank you for contacting me about the Rock Island corridor. We are currently undertaking some planning around possible future transit station/trail head locations. We had two public meetings this week (Monday and Tuesday). We will be conducting a second round of meetings in late January/early February.

Jackson County is working on the acquisition of the line from the Sports Complex to Hamlen Road in southern Lee's Summit. Pleasant Hill is working on construction of a trail from their fairgrounds (where the Missouri KATY Trail connection will come into their city) through their downtown to the city lake. They expect to begin construction on the last portion of that trail before the end of the year. There is actually a 5K run in the Pleasant Hill area this Saturday to benefit the Missouri Bicycle Pedestrian Federation (I'll forward the email separately).

The state Division of Parks is working on the KATY Trail connection from Windsor to Pleasant Hill. They have constructed a segment east of Pleasant Hill and expect the rail banking of the segment from Pleasant Hill to P Highway to be completed in the next several weeks. They will then continue their construction of the trail close to Pleasant Hill. They are also beginning work with Ameren UE on the railbanking of the portion from P Highway to Windsor and expect that to be completed by the end of 2013. The construction of that portion will then begin in 2014. They will have to replace 3 bridges but feel they have the funds for the completion of the project.

There are several things that you might do to support the effort:
1) communicate to your local and state officials about support for both the KATY Trail connection's completion from Windsor to Pleasant Hill
2) communicate to these same officials about your support for a trail along the corridor from Pleasant H

Our small group rode the trail for 4 days and loved our trip however we plan to end our ride in Washington differently next time. We rode the stretch from the trail head at Dutzow across the river to our room in Washington. The traffic was harrowing to say the least and there was no where to ride your bike. The bridge was not bike friendly and the traffic was treacherous! There was not a shoulder for the 3 mile ride into town for a portion of the ride and when there was a shoulder it was pretty rough. We will call a taxi if we stay here again!

There is an article on the MO Bike Federation website about the effort to replace the Washington bridge to include a bike/pedestrian path. Also included is an effort to create a path from the Katy to the new bridge when it's constructed.

Good news for those who have avoided this bridge and those who've had the nerve to ride it!

Brenda, first of all - Congratulations - for surviving the bridge. It is a disaster waiting to happen for any biker who dares! On a different note (should you travel there again) there are taxi services in Washington that will transport bike/rider over the bridge for about $10 per/person - well worth it and the way we handle the death trap bridge! You can get the number from the store right by Dutzow TH! Glad you survived!

In Oct.,2011, we also travel said highway to the bridge,seven of us. By the time we made it to the bridge my wife had cut her leg and had a rear flat. My brother-in-law and I made the dash across the bridge and called for a taxi to go for the others. A great idea on the taxi. Bad bridge to cross, BAD!

I nearly got run over simply crossing Highway 94/47 at the Dutzow trailhead last Thursday!

Yes the bridge is bad. Hwy 47 is even worse IMO. However for those who crossed the bridge did you try riding side by side? I've done this 2 different times and it worked fine. You simply take up the lane with your bikes and don't let anyone pass. On both occasions people just slowed and it was no big deal. Don't get me wrong, I don't recommend this over a taxi, but it can be done. You just have to pedal fast!

McKittrick's favorite dog Harley (a female black lab/boxer mix +/- 50 lbs. last seen wearing a purple collar) is MISSING. She is not really my dog but has been loved by many of our guests, and neighbors, as she is overly friendly. If anyone knows of her whereabouts please let us know. Thank you.
Feel free to call 314-698-9152.

Great dog. She ran with me for several miles a few weeks ago. I hope she is found in wonderful condition.

There was a black dog in Hartsburg last Sunday that was being a pain getting in everyones way. Maybe its not your dog.

I doubt she would have gone all the way to Hartsburg though she can be annoying. She has two white paws and a white spot on her chest. If seen email a photo to mckittrickmercantile@yahoo.com

Hope that's her. She can be annoying because she is so friendly.

I hope you find her. I remember her thinking she was a lapdog and trying to get in my wife's lap. What a sweetie.

Keep us posted. Got our fingers crossed and saying a little prayer that Harley is found safe.

Harley has returned to McKittrick. Actually someone found her along Hwy. 94 and returned her. Thanks for all your well wishes and crossed fingers.

My husband and I are going to bike the trail fall of 2013. We want to bike the entire trail and wanted to know the average distance covered in a day. We will be carrying our own gear and staying in B&B's along the way.

Hard to put a number on it. There are so many different fitness levels and interest levels. There are a few that can do the whole trail in one day, but I think most take about 5 days. When I ride alone I average about 55 miles per day. When my wife comes along we average about 35-40 miles per day. The trail is flat like much of SC, so load up your bikes with similar weight in gear and ride some of the trails in the south this fall to see what is comfortable for you.

Thanks. Our fitness level is very good and we ride regularly. I figure we will want to stop some along the way and not just ride for exercise so I wanted an idea so I can plan our overnight stops. Your feedback really helps.

I would say 50 to 60 is a good number. The wife and I are pretty fit and we bit off 78 miles in one day this spring. The next two days we were hurting a bit over 40 to 45 miles. To do it over again I might break that 160 into three 50+ days. A little more leisurely.

It kind of depends what you're into. If you want to cover distance you can do it. If you want to lollygag but still make time you can do that too. I would not recommend going too fast. Break the day up into a couple long stretches and don't pass up the sights when you see 'em. Enjoy!

I concur with the other comments here.

A buddy and I did the trail earlier this month, Clinton to Machens. We covered it in 4 days, and our itinerary was basically (rounded-off) 70 miles, then 50, then 70, then 50.

As mentioned, the 50 mile days definitely gave you time to relax a little bit, see some stuff, maybe start out a little later in the morning and/or get there a bit earlier in the evening. The 70 mile days we certainly did stop and get off the bike to look around, and had lunch of course, but covering the distance was a priority.

We met and spoke with several riders on the trail, a number of whom were also doing the full trail, and consistent with comments here, most of them seemed to be doing it in about 5 days. Some 6 days.

My best recommendation - if you want to take a little time and see all the stuff (which I highly recommend) plan to do it in about 5 days. Nail down your exact dates as early as you can and work to reserve the B&B's for those dates - they fill up well in advance in many cases. And you mention Fall 2013...if I can suggest the 2nd/3rd week in October, the foliage is incredible. It was very pretty when we went; we got the sense that if we'd gone a week or two later it would have been even more vivid.

Good luck and above all, have fun!

I agree as well. 5 days was perfect. We just rode the whole thing. I put our experiences and recommendations on a web page if you'd like to look. dconn143.wix.com/the-wallace-ride. The link to show where we are is no longer valid though.

I rode the trail Clinton-Machens-Clinton just this last September, on a fully loaded camping/touring bike, doing half B&B and half camping. I did the entire trip in 11 days (with one rest day in St. Charles) logging about 500 miles total, or an average of 50 miles per day, but my day's mileage varied from 40 to 70. I am 65 years old. Lodging I can recommend: Hotel Bothwell; Georgetown Estate View B&B, both at Sedalia; Rendlemann Home at Bluffton; Meyer's Hilltop Farm B&B at McKittrick; Lococo house in St. Charles.

Go West to East. We just did the trail from St. Charles to Sedalia staying at 3 places along the trail. It took us 4 days. We stayed at: Lococo (best breakfast) in St. Charles, Joey's Bird House B&B in McKittrick, Hartsburg Inn in Hartsburg, Hotel Frederick in Boonville. The following day we traveled to Sedalia and took the train back to Kirkwood. The Lococo picked us up and we stayed there a 2nd night. They were really accommodating. IF you go East to west like we did you will pedal against the wind and it's more on an incline than the other direction.

As noted earlier...GO WEST TO EAST!

I say go EAST to WEST! Seriously, as someone posted a couple of weeks ago, there is no way to plan a 5-day trip considering the wind. The "prevailing Westerlies" do not prevail in MO because of the Gulf currents. Yesterday the wind was coming very strongly out of the North, which made it tough to ride from Clinton to Sedalia. The bluffs around here twist and turn the wind in every direction. I have ridden both ways several times and I would opt for convenience of transportation over wind and slope any day.

I too have made multiple trips across the KATY. While I have battled headwind while heading east on more than one occasion, I would have to respectfully disagree with the post immediately above and say that - more often than not - WEST TO EAST is a more pleasant trip.

It OBVIOUSLY can be ridden either direction with great joy.

Just my 2 cents.

To me the biggest advantage of West to East is you are doing the few long inclines that the Katy has at the beginning of the trip instead of at the end.

East to West *is* uphill, as you're basically going upstream. As any sewer engineer knows, 1% slope is downhill. Or uphill, as the case may be.

I agree with others that wind can buffet you in any direction, but the prevailing still comes from the west, so more than likely you'll get more of it if going west.

Finally the rhythm of the trail when going west to east just *feels* better to me. This is no doubt subjective but west to east feels as if you're going *to* something whereas east to west feels as if you're going *away.* Those on the western side of the state of course may experience that differently.