Katy Trail Forum

I'm riding the Katy from Clinton to St. Charles in a couple of weeks. I have a traditional bike saddle and my rear end is very sore. What can I do to save my butt during the trip?

Firstly, wear spandex chamois shorts. If you're one of those who think they look "unmanly," then have fun with your sore butt. Secondly, get a gel seat cover. Gel is better than the memory foam, imo. Sports Authority has them for $20. Thirdly, use Chamois Butter if chafing is an issue. Generally speaking, it takes several consecutive long rides to condition your butt.

The position of the seat could also be an issue. It may be too high....too low in the front or rear. Read online about seat adjustment or visit your local bike shop and they may be able help you with proper height, nose, tail, fore and aft adjustment.

I think the #1 reason people get a sore butt from riding is because they haven’t ridden enough. This may not be the case for you, but I think it is for most folks with this problem. The remedy is to ride at least 10 miles per day, 4-5 days per week. This will toughen-up the muscles that come in contact with your seat (saddle). Other things to consider:

1. Padded bike shorts, can be worn under your pants.

2. Consider a recumbent bike; their seats are much more comfortable.

3. Riding position. If you distribute more of your weight to your hands and feet, there will be less on your rear. This is part of the reason for drop handlebars of road bikes.

4. Seat position. A little adjustment can make a big difference. I can show you, but can’t tell you how to do this, so you may need some help.

5. They sell a variety of seats at the bike shop, but in my opinion, it is one, or all of the above. You can buy a $90 seat, but if you don’t ride on it, your butt will be sore after 30 miles on the Katy.

I'm going to second what ChrisJ said. I have done two end-to-end trips on the Katy, but will add one thing. Do not get a "comfort" or wide saddle if you ever experience chafing. This will only make it worse.



First trip: not alot of time on the bike before-hand, wide saddle, comfort bike with higher handlebars & lots of suspension = butt soreness beginning the first day, lots of chafing.



Second trip: regular smaller rides leading up to the trip, smaller saddle, road/trail bike (hard-tail), chamois butter every day - no butt soreness or chafing.



So you can see what made the difference for me...

I have many many rides of 100+ mile days and have even done Ultra distant events of

300 mile days. There is no substitute for miles on the bike to get you "seat" comfortable

for long days in the saddle. Ride often and ride distances and you will build the comfort

level.



OK... things you can do. Even with the tens of thousands of miles I have ridden, there are

times even I get sore. A Race Across America Racer friend told me to do this... Wear 2

pairs of bike shorts. Yes TWO. Wear the first pair (the pair against your skin) inside out.

Then the 2nd pair wear normal over the top. It feels a bit bulky, but on the bike you won't

notice it and I promise you wont have any soreness when you are done.



I see people wearing improper clothing. First off, never wear underwear under riding

shorts. This can and will cause chaffing. 2nd, always buy GOOD Quality bike shorts with

quality chamois. 2nd... riding a big wide comfy seat will just make things worse in most

instances. I ride a light weight racing seat... not because its cooling looking, but because

there is less there to cause pain. The seat is contacting my "sit" bone area and not much

else. Over the years I tried gel seats, wider seats, etc and they just made things worse.



Good luck and have a great time!

Interesting the two chamois short concept...I've never heard of that. It sounds reasonable though to increase the thickness of the padding. As your padding compresses through a ride, the comfort level goes down.



I've taken an extra pair of riding shorts and changed when I became uncomfortable in the seat. That requires two pair of shorts, but you only have to wear one at a time.

Part of it also is wearing the 1st pair inside out so the "spandex" is against the skin. I know it

sounds weird, but I promise it works. Lots of Ultra Distance riders do this. I've ridden 24 hour

events with very sore feet, tired legs, stiff neck, but with my butt not much more tired then if

I had done 80-100 miles with a regular pair of shorts.

I started my hike here and so followed the advice of others and called taxi for ride to trailhead. However, after I saw bridge, I felt that I could have walked it but it would have been quite a ways on busy road so cab fare was worth it overall. However, it takes an hour for the cab to get to the train station so consider calling them BEFORE you get to JC.

Great place to stop for the hiker. If the sign says "closed" go up to the window on Saturday morning and they will likely invite you in for coffee. Good coffee. Cheap prices. I had walked 6 miles from Tebbetts and was hungry so the coffee was great until I could get more breakfast later. Very friendly folks.

Great place to stop for the hiker. If the sign says "closed" go up to the window on Saturday morning and they will likely invite you in for coffee. Good coffee. Cheap prices. I had walked 6 miles from Tebbetts and was hungry so the coffee was great until I could get more breakfast later. Very friendly folks.

A lot of fun but not for the faint of heart! I enjoyed it but there was no food that night so I went hungry. Good conversation and cold beer however. A real slice of Americana if there ever was one.

A lot of fun but not for the faint of heart! I enjoyed it but there was no food that night so I went hungry. Good conversation and cold beer however. A real slice of Americana if there ever was one.

Enjoyed a great catfish sandwich but they do not take credit cards so go prepared. Very friendly atmosphere. Would like to come back here someday.

Enjoyed a great catfish sandwich but they do not take credit cards so go prepared. Very friendly atmosphere. Would like to come back here someday.

This hostel was a real life saver and just a great place to stay. I was hiking from Jeff City to Herrman and this was my first stop. Hostel had great showers, was clean and it was a good nights sleep for the first night out. Would really recommend it. How can you beat this price?

This hostel was a real life saver and just a great place to stay. I was hiking from Jeff City to Herrman and this was my first stop. Hostel had great showers, was clean and it was a good nights sleep for the first night out. Would really recommend it. How can you beat this price?

This is a very fun place. Hostel was great although probably best enjoyed with others since it can be a bit strange by yourself as I was. Food is not available in Tebbetts so bring some or do without. However, just enjoy it for what it is. Modern day Brigadoon for sure.

I did a hike from Jefferson City to Herrman last weekend and had the privilege to stay with Doug at Rendleman Home. It was a great time. Doug fixed a fabulous dinner; one that I enjoyed very much having hiked 20 miles that day with a pack. Breakfast was equally good and it was a very nice time all around. Doug offered to make a bonfire but I was too tired to take advantage of it. Everything was great.

I did a hike from Jefferson City to Herrman last weekend and had the privilege to stay with Doug at Rendleman Home. It was a great time. Doug fixed a fabulous dinner; one that I enjoyed very much having hiked 20 miles that day with a pack. Breakfast was equally good and it was a very nice time all around. Doug offered to make a bonfire but I was too tired to take advantage of it. Everything was great.

Three of us will be riding Sedalia to St. Charles from Oct 11 to 17. We won't be carrying sleeping bags and would rather not share beds. Many places have just B&B and inns that have only one bed per room. Renting 3 rooms is beyond our budget. Do you know any places with 3 beds per room? Twin beds and a rollaway or bunk rooms would work. Towns with motels should offer something, but the smaller towns are problematic. I did see there are bunk rooms at Schoolhouse B&B and Katy Trail B&B in Rocheport. Also at Steamboat Junction campground (near Bluffton). Other suggestions?

The Rendleman Home in Bluffton has one room with two twin beds and a room with a double bed and futon in it. A single heavy air mattress could be added. If one of those rooms was available on the night you want it would be $53 per person, dinner breakfast and tax included.

in ST Chsrles there are two locations that can accomodate 3 guys, Lococo House lll @636-946-0619 or (the new) Lococo House of St Charles @636-255-4910

Remember Hartsburg will be having their annual Pumpkin Festival on the 10th and 11th of October where 50,000 plus people show up. Otherwise you could stay in our Volunteer Park for free. Good luck.

Leaving on the 11th probably would put you in Hartsburg after the Pumpkin Fest making Volunteer Park for free a viable option.

Concord Hill B&B between Treloar and Marthasville has a very nice loft with three separate Futons. Great for 3 guys. I stayed there recently with two other stags as part of a larger group that included couples. Maggie is the proprietor. I don't know if she'll rent the loft separately but it's worth a shot if that fits your schedule. Her # is 636-782-2042. Great hot breakfast at the B&B and they'll fix dinner, too, with prior notice.

The hotels/motels in the larger towns have two-kingbed rooms, which can be shared easily. Yet, these places are not right next to the trail, although many of them offer free pickup at the trailheads.



If you were to stay at the DeVille or the Truman in Jeff City, for example, they will pick you up. Otherwise, the 1-1/2-mile ride over the bridge to get there is risky during rush hour traffic. The southbound side has three lanes, but no shoulder to speak of, so daring riders want to exit at the first Main-Street exit once over the river. This street will take you to the capital bldg and the downtown section just south of it.



Since you won't be carrying sleeping gear, the shelter in Tebbetts ($5 a night each) probably won't work for you. That is, unless you don't mind sleeping in your clothes after a hot shower. The shelter does have heat.



The trail is scenic this time of the year. Good luck.

I am the General Manager of the Hotel Frederick which is across the street from the KATY Trail as it crosses the Missouri River on the north end of Boonville. We have rooms that have 2 queens and 2 singles and if you roll in here during the week, I can give you a good rate. Send your request to hotelfrederick@sbcglobal.net and mention that I responded to your request on this site.

Good Luck and enjoy this beautiful state.

Parris Johnson

General Manager

Hotel Frederick

I was on the Katy Trail today between Mokane and Portland in the afternoon. It was an incredibly beautiful day for a ride. Every time I ride on the trail, I see something new. Today I saw goats on the trail. That was a first for me. Has anyone else seen goats on the trail?

I didn't know they could ride bicycles!

Probably just Mountain Goats on Mountain bikes.

Klondike park camps grounds and cabins book very earlies in the fall. Plan ahead

Klondike park camps grounds and cabins book very earlies in the fall. Plan ahead

just waited several minutes for our order to be taken at drive up. there was only 1 customer inside & 5 employees. ordered bbq wings and as always they didn't have any made. had to wait 10 min. got order home only to discover we had wings but no bbq. spoke with shift manager (mary) on the phone who didn't seem too concerned. offered me a few bisquits to make up for the fact I had to drive all the way back(a total of a 20 min. trip plus time inside) I asked for the owners name & phone number and she gave me an 800 survey number. Took my name because she wanted to make sure the owner knew I'd been taken care of. Every time we go there they have no wings cooked. This manager did not satisfy the fact I had to use my time & gas to get what I ordered 30 min earlier. I will never go back

just waited several minutes for our order to be taken at drive up. there was only 1 customer inside & 5 employees. ordered bbq wings and as always they didn't have any made. had to wait 10 min. got order home only to discover we had wings but no bbq. spoke with shift manager (mary) on the phone who didn't seem too concerned. offered me a few bisquits to make up for the fact I had to drive all the way back(a total of a 20 min. trip plus time inside) I asked for the owners name & phone number and she gave me an 800 survey number. Took my name because she wanted to make sure the owner knew I'd been taken care of. Every time we go there they have no wings cooked. This manager did not satisfy the fact I had to use my time & gas to get what I ordered 30 min earlier. I will never go back

Hhmmmm......unbelievable.



Contact PETA.....they'll put some pressure on em.

Hhmmmm......unbelievable.



Contact PETA.....they'll put some pressure on em.

I guess we're not even going to pretend this is forum for things related to the Katy Trail anymore........

I guess we're not even going to pretend this is forum for things related to the Katy Trail anymore........

I guess we're not even going to pretend this is a forum for things related to the Katy Trail anymore........

I guess we're not even going to pretend this is a forum for things related to the Katy Trail anymore........

Actually, this might show the anonymous poster that the manager cares even more than the average trail user. Ray, please delete this nonsense.

Actually, this might show the anonymous poster that the manager cares even more than the average trail user. Ray, please delete this nonsense.

Stayed July 27th 2009. I was met by Dorian (owner out of burg) The food was great. Had the whole place to my self. Nice to a have access to a clothes washer as I was packing light for the ride from Kansas to the Arch. Asked for a 6am breakfast and Dorian had it ready. I was on the Trail by 0620. Lucky Dorain had the key to the camping store. Was able to get a cold coke. Good stop....curt Thanks for letting me stay

Stayed July 27th 2009. I was met by Dorian (owner out of burg) The food was great. Had the whole place to my self. Nice to a have access to a clothes washer as I was packing light for the ride from Kansas to the Arch. Asked for a 6am breakfast and Dorian had it ready. I was on the Trail by 0620. Lucky Dorain had the key to the camping store. Was able to get a cold coke. Good stop....curt Thanks for letting me stay

We hit a few heavy storms between St Charles and Hermann on Saturday, but the weather was cool and conducive to making good time. That part of the trail is in great shape and we had a good time. Augusta has a great rest stop with bike supplies, but that was about it the rest of the ride. We had a good lunch in Dutzow, but places to eat seemed far and few between. Make sure you bring a lot of water for yourself.



The trail between Hermann and JC was a bit rougher, but not that bad at all, really. The sun came out and so did the wind. Riding East to West is NOT recommended. Makes the trip a lot tougher. I also made the mistake of putting everything in my camelbak, and not using racks. This put a lot of extra weight on my tender parts and I got pretty sore, although I was using a cyclocross race bike with a lightweight saddle. Even one of those racks that clamps to your seatpost would have been a welcome addition. They sold those in Augusta, but I wasn't as sore quite yet.



There isn't much between Hermann and JC to eat, we stopped at a bar in Tebbetts, and had some ok food. At least it was cheap and there was Powerade.



Next time we plan on going West to East, and I'll be using a rack!

thanks for the good report.

How strong was the wind when you rode? I'm riding from East to West this year (have always

ridden west to east in years past). I'm now second guessing my decision.

A group of co-workers and did the trail from St.Charles to Clinton on Sept. 17, 18 and 19, 2009 the weather was great and the trail was in great shape, a few rough spots but nothing that couldn't be traveled. We were able to average about 12.2 mph with very effort. There were many interesting sites along the way (especially all the walnuts to dodge)and folks along the very friendly and helpful. We had support vehicles along and traveled with carrying little on the bikes. 5 members of the group rode the entire trip. Great Time!!!

Rode there today, best food I've had on the trail yet. Way more food options than are listed on this website. I had the burger, and have had one from the bar across the street last time I stopped in Defiance. This place has better service and WAY better food, don't miss it.

Rode there today, best food I've had on the trail yet. Way more food options than are listed on this website. I had the burger, and have had one from the bar across the street last time I stopped in Defiance. This place has better service and WAY better food, don't miss it.

Anyone know if Lucy's at McBaine is going to have the testicle festival this Saturday? Didn't know if they still did that on the first Sat of October or if maybe the rains/floods in Sept would affect them.

Not that I'm going to eat any of them (hubby likes them). I happen to think that Lucy's has the best burgers on the trail and that's what I'll be having!

If it is I am so there. Haven't been to a good testicle festival since Eldon last year.

According to the Columbia Tribune. It was on Sept 20th.



http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Sep/20080917Feat001.asp

Darn!

It was not on the 20th. The Sunday prior, they got 59" of floodwater. They spent that weekend repainting Lucy's and on Sunday, they brought everything back inside. It should be this Saturday, but I'm not 100% sure.

Thanks for the update.

So there's still hope that we havn't missed it!

Did anyone make it there this weekend?

Bump.



Does anyone know when the festival is this year??

Bump again....anyone know if/when Lucy's will have the testicle festival this year at McBaine??

I called Lucy's in McBaine and there is no festival this year.

Darn!

Did you all notice that the men wondered and wondered about Lucy's Testicle Fest BUT IT TOOK A WOMAN (Diane from Scott AFB) to think about actually calling and asking Lucy if the Fest was on. I'm riding with Diane if I ever go on the trail again. She probably reads maps and asks for directions when lost.

I was going to have my wife call for me :)

I'm not positive but it appears that it was a woman that was asking for her husband here instead of going to the source and finding out in the first place. Asking directions so to speak can be a good thing but the shot gun approach is usually not really effective.

Does anyone have a file(s) I can print out to create a large wall map of the trail? (3'-5' long) I would like to highlight the sections we ride as a family. It would be especially nice to include the Columbia branch line. The DNR map is good, I just want to get a really large copy of it. - Thanks, Mark

Probably break some copyright things here. But can't you right click the above trail map. Save it as a picture. Then use a common photoshop type of software to enlarge it (and erase the parts you don't want.



I'm not sure how much resolution you'd lose by enlarging it.

A few years back, I got a large (prob 3' x 4') Katy wall map at the Depot Store in Sedalia. Don't know if they still have any or anything close to it. Might be a place to check.

In response to Frank''s comment, yes the map at the top of the web pages is covered by copyright, but I have no problem with you using for private non-commercial use like that. Of course like Frank said, the resultion would look pretty bad at that large size.

What I did for my own use was to take two of the Katy Trail brochures from the DNR and tape them together to make the full trail, and then thumbtacked that to my wall - until it got old and ratty looking and my wife had me take it down :-). That would not be as large as you''re talking about though.

Here''s one more thing I just thought of. It would take some work, but you could take a series of screen shots of the full trail Katy Trail map - just zoom in close enough so that when you piece them all together, it would be a reasonably large size. This is basically just a Google map, which I superimposed the Katy Trail onto. Again it would be a lot of work, but just an idea...

Easiest solution would be the map that MAH mentioned. Here''s the website for the Sedalia Depot

You can use the MODOT bicycle information maps as well (they're closer to regular road maps). Most of those seem to be pretty big from the PDFs I see of them (the site says that each one prints on 22"x34" paper). You can piece those together and print them. The Katy Trail is marked on them.



http://www.modot.mo.gov/othertransportation/bike_ped/bike-pedprogram--roadandrouteinfo.htm



It appears that you want maps D4, D5, and D6.