Katy Trail Forum

Hello,

Our family of five is riding the trail eastward and would like to stay in the caboose on Thursday, Sept 29. I have been trying the number listed 573.289.6782 but no one answers and the voicemail box is full. Does anyone know if the caboose is still in operation and if so, how to make a reservation? I think my kids wouldbreally enjoy sleeping in a caboose!

Hi there. We own the Katy Boxcar in Rocheport. I believe it's available for Thursday. Clinton, MO has the cabooses. Not sure why they won't answer. Our number is 573-698-2453 for the Katy Trail B&B. Good luck! ~Tawnee Dufur

And there is the Katyrest Caboose in Hartsburg.....Hartsburg, MO

That is where the poster is making the inquiry for I beleive beings the phone number matches the one on this website.

Stopped by on Sunday 9/25 to enjoy the Naked Hippies BBQ and blues music jam. Very nice break about halfway through my 40 mile bike ride. Very laid back, stage is on the river, good music.

Hi, We'll be biking the Katy Trail mid October, goint west to east. We will leave our vehicle at the west end then take amtrak back afterwards. Is the Kirkwood station the one I want for the east end? Any suggestions for shuttles from Sedalia to Clinton?

Thanks!

Four of us (two couples) stayed in the Tree House. Great location (right on the trail). Lots of choices for making our own breakfast. Would stay here again. This would be a good place for a group to stay as it would probably accommodate 8-10 people.

Really enjoyed our stay--luxurious rooms, great breakfast! Debbie made us feel right at home.

Four of us stayed here the the first and last nights of our biking the Katy Trail. Leo shuttled us to Clinton to begin our trip and picked us up four days later in Machens at the end of our trip. Rhona and Leo made us feel right at home--they even offered to pick us up along the way if we ran into any difficulties. Great breakfasts, comfortable rooms. Within walking distance of the riverfront and Main street in St. Charles.

Four of us biked the Katy Trail last week and spent the night at the Georgetown Country View Estates. Joe picked us up at the Trailhead, drove us into town for dinner after we had showered and even made an extra trip to retrieve a forgotten bike helmet. Comfortable rooms, beautiful home furnished with outstanding antiques...we could not have asked for anything more.

Do not pass this B & B up. The farm is nestled back in the woods on top of the hill and is so peaceful, relaxing and well maintained. Maggie made us delicious oatmeal buttermilk pancakes for breakfast that were to die for. Eldon and Maggie are the most adorable hosts. We most definitely will include it in our trip next year.

Thom does not miss a detail! Cliff Manor caters to cyclist. We had been biking 38 miles in rain all day. Our bikes were caked with sand, dirt and mud. We were damp, chilled and tired. Upon arrival we asked about a place to clean our bikes. Thom kindly replied, We will take care of that for you, put your water bottles in the freezer overnight and have your bikes and bottles waiting out front in the morning ready for your departure. We could have kissed him. Cliff Manor is ran very professionally and Thom has not missed a detail when it comes to accomodating his guests. Well done Thom. We WILL be back.

Cath, I wanted to write to thank you for a wonderful stay in the Hartsburg Inn. The accommodations were very comfortable, clean and quaint. Vic, Bev and I slept like babies. We all agreed we will definitely be back to the Hartsburg Inn and would recommend it to all! You were a perfect hostess and made us feel very welcomed and invited. Thanks again!

I have ate at the KFC in Sedalia, Marshall, and Warrensburg, Mo., None of the three should be open. You go in at 5:30 pm to get supper, nothing cooked. Go in at 6:30pm nothing cooked. The one in Warrensburg was out of everything, all the manger could do was tell people "truck will be here tommorow". I don't know if the same person owned all three places but they need to go into goverment, they too don't do anything eather

What does KFC included in those seven "herbs" and spices? Oh, by the way, before you go rag on government employees, you might want to take a few grammar and spelling courses yourself.

or mybe go 2 trip advizer too comint. ha ha sedelea and marshel arnt evin on the katytrail. what a maroon!

Home from work today with a fairly nasty cold. I really want to ride this weekend, though. For all you riders, would you let a head cold keep you from hitting the trail?

It's risky. But you need to stay bundled-up and warm. Any chilling effects don't help. :) Good luck.

Listen to your body. If it's telling you it doesn't feel up to a ride you're better off not. If you do, I would just take it easier.

I would ride with a head cold, stomach ache, body and rear aches and cramps, but not dehydration symptoms. That will be $300 for a forum visit.

DON'T DO IT! The proprietor let a drunk make insulting comments and jokes throught our stay. The bathroom did not have a working sink. The beer was cold and cheap but we will not stop there again.

I would not have believed the total service this shop provided us...through all of the last minute and unexpected situations that could have ruined our trip. These business people are professional and friendly beyond our expectations. If your bike breaks down on the trail, or you want to be totally outfitted, sag supported and connected with inside information about where to stay, or like us, out of steam halfway through the trip. They will gladly help and their rates are more than affordable. Thanks!

I'm planning on riding the entire Katy Trail coming up in early Oct.
I ride a high-end road bike with the skinny tires.
Is this trail going to beat me up!

The trail will be rough in spots and it will tend to chew up road bike tires so be prepared for that. However, many people have ridden the entire trail on a road bike and a few of them have done it in a single day.

Just finish the Rocheport-Herman portion and it was really rough in spot with BIG rocks. We guessed they were doing reconstuction due to flood and landslides from some low bluffs. I was beat up in those areas on my comfort bike.This area was Jeff City to Rhineland

My bike has 700c tires and I did fairly well last September for four days. That was on the east end. You should be OK but might put your pressure at 90 or 100 psi instead of 120. Go for it.

The 700C dimensions has to do with the wheel diameter Gene. A 700C can have "skinny tires" like those on a high-end road bike or those that are somewhat fat like those on a hybrid or comfort bike.

Just did a 3 day ride of the Katy on a road bike with 1 1/8" tires and 130 psi. I had one flat on the 2nd day of the ride. I did feel "beat up" at times due to the terrain on part of the trail plus having to lean over the handlebars I have a bit of numbness in my left hand still. It's much better but it happened the 2nd day when we rode 70 miles. The first day was great (Boonville to Jeff City, over the bridge). It was the extra mileage that did me in plus the rain slowed us down quite a bit. I did better in the sandy surfaces than my friend did with her wider tires, to be honest.

Yep, comments are right on. You will feel beat up. Hybrid with 32's best bet. Recommend well padded gloves for numbness, if you have room carry two pair of gloves to switch out. Also a vented, handlebar grips with padding will help on numbness.

Thanks!! I'm going to invest in more padded gloves and check into the handle bar suggestion. Appreciate the advice!

I rode The Trail last first days of the oct. on my dedicated touring bike, the tires are The 700mm-35s. No problems and very fast. I be in the trail again this oct 8 at St Charles becouse my wife wants to ride it to. My bike is a Green Raleigh and hes a black comfort Cannondale, in case you see us!!!

Your high end rode bike probably has 700x23 or 700x25 tires they will work but there is spots with large gravel. Also if it rains they will tend to SINK into the trail. I ride my cyclo cross bike

I prefer a tire that is 28-32 wide, but buddy rides it with 25s. No matter the width - look for a tire with good flat protection on the KATY (in my opinion).

Super place to stay from the Katy Trail. A wonderful old home recently updated with all modern conveniences make this a very comfortable place to stay. Amanda loves to cook and it shows! She was such a nice host. The weather forecast was bad for our next day, so Amanda took us in her car to our next stop. We look forward to staying here again.

My husband and I stayed at the Dollhouse our first night out on the trail, Monday 09/19/11. It was a rough day for me (complete with a nice fall about 1-1/2 miles from Rhineland), we arrived much later than expected, and Amanda was so very gracious and welcoming. She knew I was hurting and immediately offered up fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, the Jacuzzi tub, and her homemade bath salts to soothe my aching body and psyche. The next morning she served up a HUGE, delicious breakfast, and even packed up the left-over fresh fruit for us to take on the trail. When we arrived Monday evening, I honestly didn't think I would be able to face the rest of the trail, but after a comfortable stay at the Dollhouse and Amanda's wonderful breakfast, I was able to complete 48 miles the next day in pretty fine fashion. A giant thanks to Amanda (and Jeff, who we only briefly met, but he seemed very nice as well).

Great place to stay

We stayed there early Sept. Came in from the rain and the warm cookies were very welcomed. In fact we ate them all. Breakfast was enormous and filling. Amanda went out of her way to accommodate us for all our needs. Told her will definitely be staying with her next year.

We will be biking the Katy Trail from St. Louis to Clinton Oct.10-15. Just want to make sure the trail conditions are good. We've had so much rain back East some of the rails to trails have been significantly damaged / washed out. Will the leaves be changing then?
Happy trails!

Hi! Yes, the leaves should be turning then. So far I believe the trais are all open and no problems. If you haven't made your reservations yet, I suggest you do so as places fill up rather quickly around here. We'd love to have you stay with us at the High Street Victorian. Check out our website! Enjoy your ride!

Four of us just completed the entire trail from Clinton to Machens on Friday and we found the trail to be in good condition. Even though it rained the day before we began our ride the trail seemed to drain well and was just a bit mushy in places. Have fun...we did.

On 9/19/11 Modot will begin work on the bridge over Auxvasse Creek on Hwy 94 in Callaway County. The bridge will be closed and traffic will have to detour. I believe this is somewhere in the vicinity of Mokane. If you will be biking on the trail I think you should be fine. But if you plan to drive on Hwy 94 ( for example if you have someone in a support vehicle) be aware of the need to detour.

The detour is a JOKE! It is roughly a 40 minute detour (traveling at approx 60mph) that takes you 4 miles down 94!! You have to detour at Mokane, and at the end of the detour it drops you off on 94 right just 4 miles from Mokane. VERY frustrating....way to go MoDot!!!!

Just curious.....what can MoDot do about the length of the detour? Maybe build a new parallel road with a new bridge before they replace the old bridge? We're going to have to deal with this on our annual Octoberfest ride but looking at Goggle maps it looks like you can take some county roads and shave some miles off of the detour. We'll see how it goes.

For thoses of you who may be sagging or just driving to Hermann for Octoberfest, you can cut about 20 minutes or so off of the offical detour using the following route.

Take C north out of Mokane. Turn right on State Rd VV (that's V V not W). VV will eventually turn into County Rd 447 which is gravel. Immediately after 447 crosses the Katy Trail turn left on County Rd 454. 454 will hit State Rd CC in about 1000'. A right turn on CC takes you to Hwy 94. We used this route going from JC to Rhineland for Clam Chowder Friday night.

Went for lunch on Saturday. Service very poor. After waitress got the order wrong, she never did come back to refill drinks. Food was ok. Will not go back.

We stayed at the Katyrest in late July and it was great! It was about 110 degrees outside and we arrived in late afternoon. The air conditioner was already running and it was beautiful and cool inside. Bill wasn't home, but left us a note and we soon found him in town while on our way to the Big Muddy for some great dinner. Bill was very helpful and took good care of us as we headed back out the next morning to brave the heat again. This was our favorite stop along the trail and we plan on returning soon!

Unfortunately, I have found that the Sedalia House Bed and Breakfast closed its doors to become a private farm again some time back. I will miss Kim and Mark's wonderful hospitality and that grand white house on the hill (Kim's granola too!). If they ever check back to the comment forum I'd like to wish them well.

For the best directory of services, lodging, etc. that matter to cyclists when planning a Katy Trail trip, I recommend the town's tourism website at www.rocheport.com. It's very helpful for planning our annual Fall cycling trip from Sedalia back to St. Charles. We like to spend a night at the School House B&B and enjoy a great dinner at Abigail's (good thing it's walking distance after being on a bike for 50 miles!) Just don't forget to make dinner reservations there since it's pretty small and can fill up even on a weekday.

We made reservations at the Rendleman B and B last summer well in advance of our stay. When we arrived and entered the house at 4:30 p.m., both of us were alarmed at the conditin of the house. The kitchen was filled with dirty dishes, sacks of groceries were scattered around...there was virtualy no clean counter space. The bathrooms were not cleaned, the towels threadbare, a dead spider was in the middle of one of the bathroom floors, there was no soap and only dandruff shampoo available in one of the bathroms. The upstairs bedroom that was ours had only a double bed, old sheets and threadbare blankets, a noisy window airconditioner and no closet, drawers...only one chair. After 2 hours, we left as we did not feel this was the appropriate place for us to stay. In all of our travels, we have never encountered such conditions. We would not recommend this B and B under any circumstances.

In our many stays at the Rendleman B and B we have never encountered conditions such as you have described. We find the owner to be pleasant and accommodating in every way. The home was clean and very comfortable. We would recommend this B and B to any of our friends and family.

A happy Katy Trail rider.

I certainly wish they would have expressed these concerns to me at the time so that I would have been able to address them personally. Had I known they would have liked another chair in their room I would have been happy to bring them one. I could have also shown them the bars of soap and shampoo packets in the box that sits only 18 inches from the bathroom door, explained that the old towels are to step out of the shower onto and the new ones are to dry with. Then I could have told them "the threadbare blanket" is actually a 100+ year old handmade quilt and that I buy new sheets for the rooms every year. Yes I only have double beds, but since I tell everyone when they make a reservation that it is an old farm house I am working on and all the rooms have double beds I don't see the reason for a complaint. No closet? NO old farmhouse has closets and why would a cyclist need one unless they sleep hanging upside down? The whole house is ground source heat and A/C installed last spring. The window A/C units are so guests can adjust the room to suit themselves. Yes there were indeed groceries and pots and pans on the counter. I had just returned from the market and was in the middle of preparing dinner! Your second to last sentence is the only one of truth in that you NEVER have encountered such conditions, however I certainly hope the last one is also as I much prefer to have guests that are happy, fun, honest and that enjoy life. My place is not fancy but it is clean and I work very hard to give cyclists a comfortable and enjoyable nights stay. When people call I tell them that I am NOT Granma's Lace and Doilies. I AM Uncle Doug's beer and bonfires. Clean beds, good food hot showers. Once you have been told this, if it is not an experience you want, THEN DON'T COME! Don't show up and gripe because it was exactly what you were told it would be.

We have stayed at Rendleman Home a couple of times, and while it is not fancy, we have found it comfortable, and most especially, have found Doug to be very welcoming--and we have been more than happy with the results of his shopping and cooking! The meals have been excellent. I do think it's important not to have the wrong expectations--it is certainly not lace doilies and Victorian fringe!

Wow...if one wishes to have posh accommodation one should stay at the Hyatt, Hilton or board a luxury cruse ship. Country comforts don't seem to be your style. May you find happiness...but don't do it at the expense of others...give me that country style of life where I won't feel uptight...give me that country style.

I have been to the Rendleman B&B several times and have always enjoyed this country stay. Doug is more than gracious, courteous, fun, entertaining, accomodating, resourceful, and what a cook!!! I'm disappointed in Spokane, Washington's review. This is a farmhouse being restored and he told me that up front. It's charming, quaint, and it's in the country for heaven's sake! If Spokane had a dead spider in their bathroom then what happened to them when they encountered snakes and other wildlife on the Katy Trail??? As an avid cyclist, I truly appreciate good home cooked food, clean sheets, and an excellent host. He went out of his way to meet whatever request I had. Shame on Spokane, Washington. Hopefully when it rains, they won't drown.

Look. this was not the fanciest B and B we stayed in on our round trip on the Kathy Trail. I didn't expect it to be. In fact, I appriciated the down home atmostphere Doug provided. He welcomed us upon arrival with "Welcome home." As tribute to this and as it was Doug's birthday, we sang Happy Birthday to him. If make it back there Is unknown, But I know I have a friend along the trail if I do.
Thanks for the memories Doug.

Ah, Doug! I hope you're having a great summer with folks that appreciate your welcome, warmth, and enthusiasm for living. Different strokes for different folks. We enjoyed our stay with you last summer and continue to recommend your place to friends who are interested in the KATY!

My wife and I have ridden the trail twice and have stayed with Doug each time. Doug is a bachelor and the house reflects it. That's what makes it interesting place to stay and fun to see. He doesn't run the Holiday Inn. We found it amply clean and safe and enjoyable. We enjoyed our time around the evening dinner table eating delicious food with other riders sharing our stories, laughing and having great discussion. We would recommend his place to anyone riding the trail. Doug is a real character and one of those guys you have to meet.

Doug, we stayed with you on a bike trip in 1998. I was just reading the journal, it was the highlight of the trip. Great great cooking. An old farmhouse, low ceilings in our bedroom, great conversations, lots of laughs. How much better can it get? We still talk about our 1998 visit with you. Good to see you are still in business, we were thinking about you tonight.

We did a long weekend ride from Sedalia to Jefferson City stopping in Rocheport for the weekend. After back to back 50 mile days in the rain, we decided we had had enough and took the train to our weekend destination of Hermann. A great and successful trip!

That last line is all that counts!!