Katy Trail Forum

Stopped here for lunch on July 21 on day two of a four day ride. Great service and food, even was able to plug in my smartphone for a quick carge while eating. They even offered to fill my water bottles with ice water.

where was it?

http://mindfulcycling.com/post/891156665/safety
Helpful hints for a safe and fun time on the trail.

Excellent article - not just for the Katy trail but for the trails here in Overland Park. I can't begin to count the number of times that I've had to slam on my brakes because people just stop in the middle of the trail. On comment that I could add is that sometimes it's better not to call out "your left"...especially with kids. When you do, they tend to look, and then turn that direction, which causes more problems than just riding by them (assuming they are on the right side of the trail where they belong).

Thanks for the return comments. Let's just hope everyone has a safe and happy riding season.

When passing smaller kids, I usually call out that I'm coming around you on my bike. Saying on your left confuses them, especially if they don't know left from right.

Wife and I stopped here for some refreshments - wonderfully place. The restrooms were very clean and had AC which was welcomed on a hot day.

I have just had my second bad experience at the Trailside Cafe. I have not posted any comments prior to this one. I will say that it was with the same employee who is very rude and obviously is not concerned about return business. This person shouldn't be dealing with the public.



This past Friday evening my family went to Rocheport for a bike ride on the trail. We got there around 6:15. My wife is in the market for a new bike and I like the bike shop there so we stopped in to ask about new bikes and rent one for a test ride. The employee in question would not rent us a bike because there was not a full hour left in the day even though we said we would pay for the full hour. He also would not show us the new bikes. He was very rude about it and we felt somehow we were imposing on him by wanting to spend our money there. We were the only ones in the shop.



We had planned a nice evening of riding on the trial with our three kids and then having something to eat at Trailside.



My first bad experience with Trailside was on an extremely hot evening when I stopped in after my ride. My blood sugar got very low and I really needed a candy bar. As I walked up the board walk from the parking lot a man came out carrying a bucket. I said Hello. No responce but he was busy. As he walked back by and into the cafe I said, "Excuse me" and he turned and very rudely yelled, "WE'RE CLOSED!" and slammed the door.



I have had many, many good experiences at The Trailside Cafe and Bike Shop. They used to serve an excellent blackberry cobbler. This was years ago when the original couple owned it. They were always very nice and went our of their way to make people feel at ease.

I will probably still go to Trailside but not if I see this employee. The bike shop and employees there are very nice, knowledgeable and friendly.

Note that the shop closes at 7 though the website has the hours until 8. Which really means the bike rental closes at 6, which would helpful information to have posted on the website.



I am struck by the poor customer service we recieved. We are supposed to be in a bad economy with businesses shutting down all over the country. I wonder if what has happened to a lot of businesses is that people have gotten tighter with their money and are no longer willing to spend it anywhere that the service is poor. We are regulars to the Katy Trail but this employee didn't know where we were from or if we had any other experience at the Trailside Cafe. If it had been a first time experience...I would never return.

If you are open mined enough to return to the business after a couple of bad experiences, why would you never go back had the bad experience been a first time experience?



I would think after a bad first experience, you would also give a business the benefit of the doubt.

Daily Katy Trail User and Wife



Why don't you just stop going there - it sounds like it would be mutually beneficial.

Trek - You are apparently bound to dispute any negative comments.I would ask you to read the comments, location and how often we use the trail. My husband has been to Trailside MULTIPLE times and had the bad experience that he described. Did you read his last paragraph

"I have had many, many good experiences at The Trailside Cafe and Bike Shop. They used to serve an excellent blackberry cobbler. This was years ago when the original couple owned it. They were always very nice and went our of their way to make people feel at ease.

I will probably still go to Trailside but not if I see this employee. The bike shop and employees there are very nice, knowledgeable and friendly." How is that not a positive comment? We are describing an employee that was RUDE. Plain and simple. We are intelligent enough to not judge a business by one employee...but since it was the same person both times, felt the OWNERS should know. If I owned the business, I would want to know how my customers were being treated. So if your not the employee we are talking about, I don't see the relevance of your comment.

From Gary near Tebbetts MO:

Daily Katy Trail User and Wife



Why don't you just stop going there - it sounds like it would be mutually beneficial.



To Gary:

I believe our posts clearly stated that we have been customers on MULTIPLE occassions...my husband had one bad experience...then we had another last Friday. Both with the same employee. Felt if the Owners read the feedback we would want to know as owners. We are locals..supporters of the Katy Trail and our comment about a "first experience" was based on the many people that may stop there for the first time and if they experienced what we have on 2 of MULTIPLE occassions by the same employee - they would not return. Not sure why you felt giving us advise to not go there anymore would be "mutually beneficial". Our comments were honest feedback...just feel OWNERS should know how customers feel. Maybe we will see you on the Katy Trail or participating in the MS150 since you are passionate enough to comment on feedback that was honest, with no alternative motive, we then assume you are also out there giving back to the community...

From Gary near Tebbetts MO:

Daily Katy Trail User and Wife



Why don't you just stop going there - it sounds like it would be mutually beneficial.



To Gary:

I believe our posts clearly stated that we have been customers on MULTIPLE occassions...my husband had one bad experience...then we had another last Friday. Both with the same employee. Felt if the Owners read the feedback we would want to know as owners. We are locals..supporters of the Katy Trail and our comment about a "first experience" was based on the many people that may stop there for the first time and if they experienced what we have on 2 of MULTIPLE occassions by the same employee - they would not return. Not sure why you felt giving us advise to not go there anymore would be "mutually beneficial". Our comments were honest feedback...just feel OWNERS should know how customers feel. Maybe we will see you on the Katy Trail or participating in the MS150 since you are passionate enough to comment on feedback that was honest, with no alternative motive, we then assume you are also out there giving back to the community...

Okay....nix my first question. It's too hot out for that one.



Here's a new one though beings you feel so strong about the experiences encountered with said employee. Did you tell the owner of the business?

We posted a comment assuming the owners read the feedback. Would have done so on the business' website but is is under construction. I believe our feedback is clear and no further replies to your comments will be placed.

Knowing their website was under construction, and it has been for some time now, I don't know that I'd assume that they are big web users. Without airing your complaints with Larry, all that has happened is that the users here know that someone has a beef with a mystery employee. Probably nothing has been done to solve the problem.

Trek,



Get a job other than disputing constructive critism about which you have no first hand knowledge.

I have an idea...what don't you tell your buddy Larry. I'm sure he knows who was working Friday evening. For all I know it was Larry.

I've no plans to be in Rocheport anytime soon....you all are local and could probably better handle it yourselves.

If you are in the market for a Raleigh bike go to the Hartsburg Cycle Depot in Jefferson City and let Pam and Mark Allchorn fit you for a bike, They are NEVER HATEFUL OR SURELY and they KNOW BIKES! They are across from West elementary School.

I dunno about all that. Most business owners understand that an unhappy customer is much more likely to complain to their own friends and neighbors than to take their complaint to the owner. So a business owner who really wants to be successful will do all they can to solicit and seek out any complaints. A business owner who really wants to be successful will keep an eye on their employees and seek out feedback on them, because every action an employee takes, is done as a representative of that business owner.



If you are treated rudely at a business, especially if it happens twice like in this case, then you have every right to warn others to avoid that business. And you really have no obligation to seek out the owner. It would be nice to do, but most peoples’ lives are far too busy to take on the responsibility of being some business owners’ eyes and ears.



If Larry can’t run his business well by hiring non-abusive employees, then it’s his own self-inflicted problem. That sounds harsh, but running a business puts you out there in a harsh world. Mistreated customers really have no obligation to track him down and let him know.

It's not difficult to seek out an owner or manager on the spot when you receive poor product or service. I'm more inclined to tell the owner/manager at the time of my dissappointment than to try to tell the world behind their back later on. Doing so after the fact requires much greater effort for me. Otherwise, I just figure someone had a bad day and if it wasn't a big enough deal for me to speak up at the time, then I should just give them the benefit of the doubt and move on.

Larry might have bigger problems than an abusive employee. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/aug/13/suspected-burglars-kick-in-door-at-deputys-house/

I guess things are just done differently here in Oklahoma. If a business stops renting at 6 then we assume that this is when they stop renting. If a store is closed I wouldn't dream of asking them to reopen for me. If you live in the town then why wait until 6:15 to go look at bikes? Wouldn't you want time to really look over the bikes, it doesn't seem that 45 minutes would be enough time for that. The towns small enough that you surely knew the closing times ahead of time. I wouldn't wish bad customer service on anyone but I also wouldn't wish bad customers on any clerk. I know that most stores have rules about reopening once they've closed for the day, even if it's just to sell a candy bar. I have worked in retail and customer service for 20+years and once the store is closed it's closed.

Anybody find a red digital camera?

We are new owners and are currently open with limited items. The Grand Opening is scheduled for September 11th and 12th, 2010. Happy Trails!

Wishing you much success in your new business.

So, are you in the train car just east of hwy 47 on the trail? Good luck with your business!!!!

Ray, Yes, K.T. Caboose is the same location/railcar as Choo Choo's was. I went by there last week. Hopefully, the new owners will email you their hours and contact info so you can update this site.

My wife and I stopped there the last two days. Noreen is very friendly and is excited to be open for business. She makes her own ice cream, which is very nice on a 100 degree day. She has big plans to add services and it sounds as if Marthasville is coming alive with new businesses. I sure hope so! You will want to stop by and check out her four person Surrey quadracycle that she rents out by the hour or the day.

My whole family just visited the Caboose tonight! Yummy treats on a hot night in August! Way to go Noreen! We'll be frequent customers!

A must stop on the Katy Trail excellent products and service. Thank you Noreen for the water and ice cream on a very hot August day.

They have yummy shaved ice and some healthy alternatives too. Come check them out!

Since some of the recently posted comments are floating around lost in cyberspace, I wanted to repost my comments letting people know Noreen is open for business and sells some wonderful homemade ice cream. Also check out her Surrey quadracycle she rents by the hour or day. I hope Marthasville is coming alive for the Katy.

I love the Caboose! I'm very happy that Marthasville has some other creative people beginning businesses besides me...I'm the one with the ORANGE building soon to be Coyote Bones Cafe and Enchanted Wine Garden. I applaud Noreen and her family for all the hard work, so far, that they have put into the business. Way to go girlfriend! Everyone looking for a sweet treat and even some healthy items please stop by the Caboose in marthasville.

You may have noticed a time gap in the comments here on the forum. My #%!$ web hosting company messed up the database, for the second time, and about 6 weeks of data was lost (i.e. 6 weeks of comments). I'm trying to find a way to recover the lost data, but am not optimistic.



I apologize for the inconvenience. I am planing to move BikeKatyTrail to a better web hosting company soon. If you are looking for a website hosting company, stay far away from WebHost4life. Their lack of competence or reliability have been horrible lately.

Thanks for all your efforts Ray. You do a great job on this site and provide a valuable service for all of us. In the meantime, just think of this setback as the ability to go back in time. Any chance of rolling back to the sixties?

I can relate to this frustration. I recently had a website highjacked and it is no fun. I too appreciate all Ray does for the Katy Trail. I think every business and town along the trail owes Ray a huge thank you for all he does. I believe many businesses would be lost if not for the mention they receive on this site.

Luckily I was able to recover pretty much all the forum back through mid-July, and then a smattering of others before that. And everything up through mid-June is still intact.

Thanks for the compliments, and sorry again about the forum threads that I was not able to recover.

Ditto on the kudos above, Ray -- you and your innovative web sites are real gems in the cyclying universe! Thanks also for the tip on your web host, although you probably should have avoided mentioning that until you get moved to a new one! :-)

Ray, this forum is so positive. I don't know how it ends up that way, if you monitor it closely, or what. But I find the discussions are so much more positive than other forums I look at. I love bicycling on the Katy Trail (although the heat has kept me at home a lot this year). But I constantly look at this forum and the comments because I won't have to see negative, discouraging discussions. The little bit of fussing I see is minor. Thanks for doing such a great job.

Thanks folks, I appreciate the compliments. Yes Cathy, I too am amazed at how positive this forum is. I take a "hands-off" approach as much as possible, and very rarely - maybe once a year or so - do I ever have to handle inappropriate comments or flame wars. Katy Trail people are just a good bunch of people.

I noticed the description of my rooms for rent is no longer under my name. Is there any way to get this back on? Also some people have commented on my place it appears on the comment forum but not on my description. I only mention this because they were positive comments:-)Thanks for the great job. We love meeting the people biking the trail, what a hardy bunch of folks. Thanks Maxine. "Maxine's rooms for rent".

We are traveling from Ohio by car and need to rent bikes. Any suggestions, please, if we only have time to ride 20 miles one way on Katy trail, then return back again, what is the most scenic part of the trail near a bike rental?

depending on where you are on the KATY, rocheport then east

I would agree with Rocheport heading East is the most scenic and it is very easy to reach from I-70 if you are headed on toward KC. However, in my opinion (and it appears to be that of many others) the best place to rent a bike on the trail is Katy Bike Rental in Defiance, close to the East end of the trail. Bike rentals @ $5 per hour and they are almost new bikes and the people are very friendly.

You probably already know the Trailside Cafe and Bike Shop in Rocheport rents bikes. Click Rocheport on the above map for more info. Enjoy.

When are you planning on doing your ride? If you are going to go to Rocheport and rent from the Trailside Cafe, be sure and check on when Trailside is open. I think they are closed on Wednesdays. If you are going to arrive on Thursday, then they should be open and able to take care of you. Going east from Rocheport is one of the best parts of the trail.