Katy Trail Forum

As my knees began to hurt all of the time I decided it was time to give up running and try out biking instead. I have been biking the KT most of the summer and love it! However, as I was not sure that I would enjoy it I have been making due with the bike that I had. I am now sold on riding and I'm ready to purchase a better bike. Since I am new to this I need advise on the brands, styles, etc...of bike to purchase that is best suited for trail riding. Any help that can be given is greatly appreciated!

I ride a Raleigh gruv, its a pedal forward bike and very comfy, 7 speed, 26 inch wheels, perfect bike for riding the Katy. If your interested I have one for sale as I have several of them. 573-254-3744 Thanks, Ron

I'd suggest looking into a Cyclocross bike. If you're not familiar with them, they look like road bikes but have a slightly different geometry and wider, knobby tires. They're very versatile bikes, easy to ride, comfortable, and quick.

I agree with Speedy. You can change the tires out for road rides or touring and run wider tires for the trail. Several even have rack and fender mounts to use for touring. You can get a really nice one for around $1100 new. Then you can go on any rides your friends might want to do.

If by 'trail' riding you are referring to continuing to ride other trails around the country like the Katy, then a Cyclocross bike would be awesome! If by 'trail' you mean going off-road and riding over stumps, etc, I would highly suggest looking more into a hard-tail or full-suspension mountain bike.



Most of your big bike companies make entry and mid-level cyclocross bikes these days from the $400-500 range on up.



If you want something a little more unique, here are a few great companies depending on your budget....



www.surlybikes.com

www.gunnarbikes.com

www.salsacycles.com

www.ifbikes.com (very nice frames, but pricey)



Good luck!!

I have purchased three bicycles made by JAMIS Bikes and have been very pleased with their quality and the level of components offered compared to the purchase price. I suffered a lower back injury in 2006 and knew that my days on an aluminum bike were limited. I have a CODA COMP, which is a 520 Reynolds steel frame with a full carbon fork, and good components and wheelset, for $800.00. I purchased one for my wife also. We rode 50 miles on the Katy the other day and the steel frame and carbon fork soak up the rough stuff with only about a pound more weight than a comparable aluminum bike; and much less weight than a mountain bike with a suspension fork. There is a dealer in Chesterfield that carries JAMIS and I highly recommend both of them(bike and dealer). Check out their website at Jamis bikes.com. My other JAMIS is a self built custom road bike that I have put three thousand comfortable miles on so far this year. Check out this companies machines, they are very high quality.

I ride a Trek hybrid and it has been everything I need for the Katy Trail. I can't see investing a whole lot more in a bike for the trail unless one is into speed.

Yeah, I forgot to mention in my last post that steel frames are great for a nice, comfortable ride. If you're wanting to spend more money, grab a titanium frame since they ride like a steel frame but weigh far less. I also agree with the above post, Jamis bikes are nice bikes. If you aren't getting a mountain bike, make sure you get a cyclocross from their 'roadbike' section on their website.......their streetbikes do not have the bottom bracket clearance that you'll probably be looking for in a cyclocross style bike. Also be aware that they do tend to use some chinsy components on a lot of their bikes to keep the overall cost down. There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck in the middle of nowhere with crappy gear that decides it doesn't want to work for whatever reason.

Robin, My wife and I ride Giant Hybrid bikes and we have found they are great for the Katy. If you are looking for a bargin on Saturday morning Oct. 18 the bike shop in Defiance MO is selling their rental bikes. Every year they sale the bikes they have used for rental during the past year. They are Raliegh bikes that are set up for the trial. They sale them for $150.00. They are sold on a first come basis. They start giving out numbers around midnight Friday night and start selling them at 8AM. I have bought three of them for family members and they really like them. You get a good bike and save a few hundred dollars. If you are interested be sure and get there early.

Before you buy anything, go to one/two/or however many bike shops and ride as many bikes as you can. The most important thing to find is one that fits. Once you find one or more that fit, go back a few days later and ride them again. Everyone is different, some prefer the straight up position on a hybrid, some prefer the more aggressive position found on cyclocross bikes. Myself, I prefer my hardtail mountain bike with street tires because it will haul a load of stuff and isn't dicey on the sand and gravel left over from the bad weather. Do keep in mind that the Katy Trail is like an Interstate compared to some other rails to trails.

Above missive very important....whatever you get, get yourself "fitted" to the bike as that will among other things perhaps prevent knees from hurting. When in doubt...ride your bike. Mark

Very important note......if you're knees are hurting chances are that your seat is not high enough. I see a TON of people riding that have their seats too low and it will definitely cause knee problems.



Here is a great page with some common cycling issues explained.....there is a good explanation for knee issues linked in the 'knees' section as well.



http://www.sheldonbrown.com/pain.html

Hey...BIG thanks to all that replied to my post. I certainly attained alot of good advise and things to think about prior to my bike purchase! I knew my fellow KT riders would be a great resource and I was right!!! Happy Trails and Thanks again!

I have to agree with Murf....I also ride a Trek hybrid & it seems to me to be a perfect fit to the KATY trail....and it doesn't do too bad on a good hard surface.

My husband & I suggested we try it with our friends (2 other couples) & we were all disappointed with our dining experience. The service was very slow, food was not good and prices were too high for what you got. None of us will ever go there again when we visit Boonville

My husband & I suggested we try it with our friends (2 other couples) & we were all disappointed with our dining experience. The service was very slow, food was not good and prices were too high for what you got. None of us will ever go there again when we visit Boonville

How was your ride on the Katy though??

How was your ride on the Katy though??

Glenn's is the main reason I even ride this section of the trail, which is a little boring. I do like riding over the Missouri River bridge though. The thing I like about Glenn's is the really good seafood/fish, the veggie side choices and just the feel of the old building. My friend and I usually arrange to end our ride at the hotel, because we are wine drinkers. Meals I've tried and loved are the shrimp creole, trout, and blackened redfish.

Glenn's is the main reason I even ride this section of the trail, which is a little boring. I do like riding over the Missouri River bridge though. The thing I like about Glenn's is the really good seafood/fish, the veggie side choices and just the feel of the old building. My friend and I usually arrange to end our ride at the hotel, because we are wine drinkers. Meals I've tried and loved are the shrimp creole, trout, and blackened redfish.

There is a new asphalt paved trail connecting to the Katy about 6 miles west of the Greens Bottom Trailhead (or 4 miles east of the Weldon Springs Trailhead). It has several bridges, stone walls and iron fencing. It looks like it was rather expensive to construct. It ends at a water treatment plant. Does anyone have any details on this trail. Thanks John

Originally planned on camping at the Park. DUMP! No bathrooms - only the remains of what was, at one time, bathrooms.

Hi all. I am prepping for an October ride, and would like to be prepared. I am hoping for great weather obviously, but need to know what people typically do in the event they are caught out in the open or in the woods during a thunderstorm? If I am near a trailhead, I figure being under the trailhead shelters would be the best place. But what about in the middle of nowhere?



Also, other than a rain jacket, what do people use to stay relatively comfy in the rain?

I see from the silence so far that everyone else must have the same plan as I do...pedal like heck to get to something resembling shelter.

Greetings,



Two of us are planning a self-contained bicycle tour of the Katy Trail in early October. What I use during a downpour is my ground tarp for my tent or my tent fly. I suspend it between some trees and get out my ultra-light swing lounge chair and enjoy the rain. If there are not any trees from which to suspend my ground cover (which has gromets on the corners), I place the tarp over the bicycle and myself while sitting in my ultra-light sling lounge chair.

Missouri very seldomly has lightning in the fall. Actually I would not worry about it. In the event you do have lightening, the safest bet is to either stay on your bike and keep riding or find a good structure to take shelter in. Any building or trailhead shelter will work. Just don't run up in the woods and get under a big tree.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with the last poster on this. Being on the bike is not safe at all,

it's not like a car where you're protected but still grounded by the rubber tires. Being in the

woods surrounded by trees of similar size is actually the safest bet. NOT under a lone tree or

under the tallest tree around, mind you.

Fine point note: Rubber tires do not ground a car. Rubber is actually an excellent insulator. The realitive safety from lightning strikes inside a car is provided by the metallic body that is a excellent conductor. Electricity takes the path of least resistance, so when a car gets struck by lightning, it goes through the car's body and not you.

http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/vehicle_strike.html

It's best to not be touching anything metal on the vehicle while you're inside. If the current flow finds a path to earth ground its best to not be part of that connection.

Thanks, Paul, glad to know that.

So again...if I am in the middle of miles of open fields, what should I do? Get off the bike and sit in the rain until it passes? Ride on til I get to something that offers cover?

On the Katy there is a town every 10 miles or so. So theoretically the most miles you would have to ride if there was such an event, would be 5 to 6. If you keep your eye on the weather and any pending storm you should not find yourself in a situation where you were in the middle of nowhere with lightening bolts pelting you. Usually when we are going any distance we carry a battery powered weather radio. It can be set to receive the wave from the closest station no matter where you are. Its a handy and inexpensive way to keep track of the weather in effort to avoid a lightening storm. Although we've riden in the rain, we've never tried riding through a lightening storm and have cancelled trips when the weather wasn't favorable.

Just like the workplace, driving, or anything else in life, identifying/avoiding/eliminating hazards is always superior to protective or evasive methods. But if, for whatever reason, you find yourself in an open field during a lightning storm, ASK.



AVOID: Avoid water. Avoid all metallic objects. Avoid the high ground. Avoid solitary tall trees. Avoid close contact with others - spread out 15-20 ft. apart. Avoid contact with dissimilar objects (water & land; boat & land; rock & ground; tree & ground). Avoid open spaces.



SEEK: Seek clumps of shrubs or trees of uniform height. Seek ditches, trenches or the low ground. Seek a low, crouching position with feet together with hands on ears to minimize acoujstic shock from thunder.



KEEP: Keep a high level of safety awareness for thirty minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder.



http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/ploutdoor.htm

"Seek a low, crouching position with feet together with hands on ears to minimize acoujstic shock from thunder."



If there are three of you in this position, the person to the right of you should be covering their eyes and the person to the left of you should be covering their mouth.

Does anyone know how far Les Bourgoise Winery is from School House B&B? How far is School House from the trail itself?

Les Bourgeois is a mile or two by road from the B&B. Uphill by road and by trail if you walk up from the Katy. The B&B is probably 3 blocks to the trail.

Its probably one mile from the winery to the School House B & B (all down hill). The trail is 2 blocks from the B & B.

Article noted by my son in today's (10/09/08) St. Louis Post-Dispatch:



Eastern Katy Trail Extension won't be open this Fall

By Tim Bryant



ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Cyclists and hikers who had hoped to do some leaf peeping this fall on the new eastern tip of the Katy Trail will be disappointed.



State parks officials wanted to have the trail's easternmost 11 miles open this fall. But waves of summer showers softened the levee over which dump trucks loaded with gravel must operate to complete the trail project.



Quinn Kellner, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' superintendent for the trail's eastern section, was unable to say when the job will get under way but said the project will take about three months once it starts.



He said the work will begin when the levee becomes dry enough to remain undamaged while bearing heavily loaded trucks.



"We need to allow for some pretty dry conditions to set up before they haul rock," he said. (Paragraph cut out here)



About $350,000 in state funding for the work came through in July. Katy Trail State Park officials had hoped to do the work last year, but funding was not finalized.



Pushing the trail to Machens has been a department goal for years, but the floods of 1993 and 1995 delayed completion. Floods created two large areas of standing water on the trail.



One of the areas, a 600-foot expanse called a scour hole, presented too costly an obstacle for a bridge. The state then pursued the option of putting part of the trail on a levee maintained by the Consolidated North County Levee District.



(More on alternate levee path details removed here - see online Post for full content and pictures as well)

Is there a parade at the Pumpkin festival on Sat Morning? If so what time does it start?

Is there a parade at the Pumpkin festival on Sat Morning? If so what time does it start?

The parade starts at 9 a.m. Full details available at the website: http://www.hartsburgpumpkinfest.com/ Click on "2008 Festival Map" for a map and schedule of events.

The parade starts at 9 a.m. Full details available at the website: http://www.hartsburgpumpkinfest.com/ Click on "2008 Festival Map" for a map and schedule of events.

GetAbout Columbia is having a guided ride from Columbia to Hartsburg. The ride is

free....come join us!



Hartsburg Pumpkin Fest Ride

Saturday, October 11, 8:00 A.M. – Meet at Forum MKT Trailhead

Food, crafts, music and PUMPKINS! Take a trip down the KATY to enjoy one of Mid-

Missouri’s famous festivals, The Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival. Bring plenty of water and a

join the fun. Be prepared for the weather and a long ride.

I going be ready for ride.I hope more people come ride.It going be fun fun;-)

Come join us.



#1. Its fun

#2. Its FREE

#3. Its fully sag supported with a van.

#4. Its FREE (seriously when is the last time you saw a free sag supported ride?



If it makes you feel better you can donate money to a good cause if you like.

How does one get to the trailhead in Columbia? Say from 70hwy?



I'm not sure I can make it by 8:00. I got a 2 hour ride there, but I'd like to give it a try.

Hmmmm.



I'll have someone else write a response on here since I dont drive much I really dont know.



Hold on.......

There are several, but an easy one to get to is the Martin Luther King park. From I-70 turn right onto Stadium Blvd and go south on it to the park. Stadium Blvd curves back toward the east and up a long hill.....as you go down the other side the park will be on your right. It's a couple of miles or so south of I-70.

Ya'll making me jealous!!! Free and sagged and cool weather with fall foliage. So wish I was in on that ride!! Tour de Fat in Columbia, MO. in '09!! Mark

I will be joining you! My plans for a longer trip fell through when the shuttle van lost its transmission, so I had to scramble to find other things to do on the trail.