Katy Trail Forum

My friend and I ride the Katy trail very frequently, and we have noticed that whenever we ride an area of the trail that one of us has never been to before, something mildly inconvenient occurs (loosing keys, loosing cell phone, rain, flat tires). This most recently occurred to me on Monday when I went to check out the short stretch that is now open between Machens and St. Charles. Right as we got to the Machens trail head, my back tire went flat. I hope no one else shares this curse with me, but I am curious to know what everyone thinks.

Bad JooJoo dude. Get 5 locusts and tape them inside your seatpost tube. and only ride to the east for one month.

I'm not sure about others, but I DO NOT share this curse with you. I had at one time shared it with someone else and strange as it seems the cure was very similar to Dougs. I only used 4 locusts, but think in your case the 5th may be what it takes to snap you out of it.

Everybody knows Cicadas work better than Locust.



Paulie

Too late in the season for cicadas. Have to make do with what's available. Of course if you only rode east for a month you could use fresh shrimp in the shell.

I tried the locust thing, but hell I lost them too while riding through Weldon Springs, startled by the sound of rapid gunfire, which caused me to drop and run over my cell phone, which caused a massive blow out of my back tire, ending upside down in the ditch.



Definitely should have used Cicadas.

Proving once again the safety value of the hands free feature. Maybe we could get a law passed.......

How many mosquitos equal five locusts? And if I shoot my cellphone and drop it into "horse waste" while trying to cross the Missouri River on the Katy bridge, will I know what type of bike to use on the trail? ;-)

1786. Yes. Everyone else will be quite lost tho.

does it count that i had the same bad luck when riding the virginia creeper trail last august. 17 miles, pouring down rain, 3 flat tires, and had to walk the final 3 miles due to all tubes ripped and the cell phones didn't work in damascus, va.



by the way, never no problem on the katy, but i always tape at least 10 cicadas to the handle bars.



it's gettin real deep here folks, real quick.

That's the ticket; preventive maintenance. One reason I ALWAYS have my manure shovel handy when on the Katy............................. Website

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'm still laughing.

There is no curse on the Machens leg, just people that aren't cut out to handle the task (hee hee).

I'm pretty sure I can handle a 10 mile stretch of the Katy trail, haha.

Know it is a bit off the trail...but anyone ever stayed here? We are looking at options for a girls weekend...

Thanks!

We heard they were moving to Columbia,but we don't know where or when!

We heard they were moving to Columbia,but we don't know where or when!

They have moved to Columbia, MO, they are open and the food is great! Have your appetite ready when you go!

They have moved to Columbia, MO, they are open and the food is great! Have your appetite ready when you go!

They are on Broadway in downtown Columbia. Not far from the Katy spur and easy if driving. I'm not sure of address but closer to the east end of the downtown area.

They are on Broadway in downtown Columbia. Not far from the Katy spur and easy if driving. I'm not sure of address but closer to the east end of the downtown area.

Does anyone know whether you can park over night at this parking area?

I can't believe someone would be upset about this!!! I am from St. Louis and found out about

the trail by accident. My husband and I are going to do an overnight and looking forward to a

great trip.

Does anyone know whether you can park over night at this parking area?

I can't believe someone would be upset about this!!! I am from St. Louis and found out about

the trail by accident. My husband and I are going to do an overnight and looking forward to a

great trip.

why not just park here?



http://www.bikekatytrail.com/site.aspx?sid=1

why not just park here?



http://www.bikekatytrail.com/site.aspx?sid=1

I beleive you are talking about the park and ride lot there. Scout troops meet at those and leave vehicles there for the weekend as well as for the entire week of summer camp. I've seen dozens of cars left at the ones on hwy 70 for days sometimes weeks on end without appearing to move, as long as the plates are current and the tires full of air. St Charles Yellow Cab picks people up at those and takes them to the airport, then returns them to there cars as much as a week later, and I've never seen a ticket on them, nor has the car been missing.

I beleive you are talking about the park and ride lot there. Scout troops meet at those and leave vehicles there for the weekend as well as for the entire week of summer camp. I've seen dozens of cars left at the ones on hwy 70 for days sometimes weeks on end without appearing to move, as long as the plates are current and the tires full of air. St Charles Yellow Cab picks people up at those and takes them to the airport, then returns them to there cars as much as a week later, and I've never seen a ticket on them, nor has the car been missing.

BOO!

BOO!

That's what my wife said to the cockroach she saw crawling across the salad bar a few years ago. We haven't been back since.

That's what my wife said to the cockroach she saw crawling across the salad bar a few years ago. We haven't been back since.

A FEW YEARS AGO!? C'mon, post a timely comment for cryin' out loud.

A FEW YEARS AGO!? C'mon, post a timely comment for cryin' out loud.

My mother has gone as a special dinner at least twice a year for the last 8 years. She loves it. I've gone wiht her 3 times now and always had a very enjoyable experience. The place is quaint, obvioulsy it is a barely remodeled house. The salad bar is fairly small but has an eclictic variety of things I do not normally find at the buffet bars. The owner has come to our table to say hi each evening and always brought some sort of food or dessert nibble family style to be scoop out of a large serving dish. Moms brought at least a dozen various friends there now and all have seemed to enjoy themselves. Be sure to make reservations ahead of time for any special days.

My mother has gone as a special dinner at least twice a year for the last 8 years. She loves it. I've gone wiht her 3 times now and always had a very enjoyable experience. The place is quaint, obvioulsy it is a barely remodeled house. The salad bar is fairly small but has an eclictic variety of things I do not normally find at the buffet bars. The owner has come to our table to say hi each evening and always brought some sort of food or dessert nibble family style to be scoop out of a large serving dish. Moms brought at least a dozen various friends there now and all have seemed to enjoy themselves. Be sure to make reservations ahead of time for any special days.

Have stayed several times over the years. Always clean, friendly, especially the cats, owner constantly working on renovations / restorations. A place and a town to relax in - except during the Pumpkin Festival -

Have stayed several times over the years. Always clean, friendly, especially the cats, owner constantly working on renovations / restorations. A place and a town to relax in - except during the Pumpkin Festival -

I ran from the Page Bridge to the 39 mile marker on Sat., I was wondering...do the official mile markers map out/measure the trail as it winds behind the arena and quarry, or in front of the arena? Thanks!

The Katy is the gravel trail that wraps behind the Arena and through the quarry.

I am not completely sure, but I have always assumed the mile markers on the Katy are trail miles and not linear miles. My odometer backs up this assumption.

It is my understanding that the milage markers are in the original rail line placement. There are a couple of places along the trail where there is a slight variance due to the trail being moved off the original line.

Yes, that is my understanding, too. The mile markers reflect the railroad mileage.

The St. Chuck arena, the little jag in Rhineland, the diversion off the old roadbed to bypass the Katy Railroad Bridge in Boonville and the route through downtown Sedalia are the four areas where I would guess the actual mileage and the signposts don't synch.

This is a very lovely home. Very historical. They are great hosts and your stay will be remembered. I know alot of people return year after year to stay here along their travels.

This is a very lovely home. Very historical. They are great hosts and your stay will be remembered. I know alot of people return year after year to stay here along their travels.

My wife and were planning a two day trip from Sedalia to St. Charles. How difficult is the terrain? I imagine it's mostly flat with some modest inclines, but wanted to see if anyone would comment.

We are new to biking and won't do this until we have trained.

go the other way...... we did this trip it took us 5 days but we did it pretty mellow.... though

if you go the other way its alot more down hill.... they say its only a 5% grade here and there

but the first day we rode to boonville it was up hill 30 miles.... no joke

I'd check the elevation chart and the prevailing wind direction. Although there is a modest incline between Clifton City and Pilot Grove, the trail is mostly downhill going west to east. The elevation at Sedalia is 905 feet and is 452 at St. Chuck. West to east allows for some good coasting down Lard Hill in Boonville too. The prevailing wind direction is west-northwest to east-southeast. I much prefer opting for the chance of the wind at my back with a downward slope in front of me.

Trek is right, but you notice he included the word "chance". Seems like every time I ride into St.Charle the wind is out of the east for 5 hours. Either way,ride a little slower into the wind or a little faster with it. Still a great day. Just allow enough time per day to be sidetracked and it won't matter. If you talk to enough people during the ride you won't notice the difference anyway.

I have read about the new bike lane across the Hermann bridge to help you get across, but what about the rest of the journey? Is there a good trail to get you to the bridge or do you have to ride on the shoulder of the highway? Is if flat or hilly? Just wondering what we may be in for if we take that journey.

You have to go on the shoulder of the highway. However, it is a pretty wide shoulder and the traffic usually isn't too outrageous. There is a foot path worn into the embankment from the trail up to the road.

And DNR is currently grading and preparing the new bike path from the Katy to the south bound shoulder of 94 that will take you right in to Hermann. It will be less than 100 yards of a mild grade up to the shoulder. Extremely easy. Then you ride right into town. Well, you are supposed to do a kind of loop drop to the bike lane over the bridge and that is not a problem. You can also just ride the shoulder over the bridge into Hermann. The only problem with that is the debris on the shoulder. Either way is not a biggie.

I'm planning a fall trip to the trail and wondered if there was any damage from the earlier floods?

In a word, No.

It is unfortunate that the forum was shutdown, this IS about the Katy Trail, Greg! People who enjoy the Katy trail should be informed when businesses, groups, or entities move to disrupt or change what we all enjoy so we can exercise our free speach ammendment.



This IS NOT a Pro-gun vs anti-gun issue.

I am a 2nd ammendment proponent, CCW, and card carring NRA member. I go to a gunrange on a regular basis.

But this proposed range will be in earshot of the trail, and my understanding is it will allow rapid fire and could extend to automatic weapons. It will be noisy, constant, and yes the sound will travel quite well across an open field.

This is the issue! People enjoy the quiet on the trail.

I feel they should build an indoor range or move the outside range further away to preserve the attractions of the trail.

I encourage people to contact any and all the zoning members who will be deciding on this issue in Warren County on Aug 21st.

Rick Brant, Chair 636-239-3512

Tracy Brakensiek, Vice-Chair 636-456-3044

Kelly Hardcastle, Secretary 636-528-6182

Hubert Kluesner, Commissioner 636-433-2320

Nelson Seger, Commissioner 636-456-2434

Darrell Reinhardt, Commissioner 573-486-2469

Dan Simpson, Commissioner 636-456-4343

Donald Tomschin, Commissioner 636-463-1603



Thank you all and God Bless America

You are a NIMBY. Not in my back yard. This is country not city. Relax dude. The sound of gunfire in the country, is not the same as gunfire in the hood.

Personally, I drive 40 miles from the "hood", to get to the Katy trail for a nice peaceful ride. A place where we can get away from the craziness we encounter on our St. Louis excursions. I am not a gun owner, however; I have nothing against anyone who likes the range. I would just rather not have anything loud disturbing the tranquility the Katy trail provides to my wife and I after a stressful week of work. Also; our forefathers fought for our right to own and bear arms, however; they also fought for our right to free speech and opinion; so the judging of each others opinion should stop and we should save our energy for completing the Katy trail to both ends of the state. Thank You.

As someone who grew up listening to gunfire in the country, I can assure you it was extremely annoying, not being able to walk around 20 acres of your own property, for fear of being shot accidentally (and knowing the ambulance would need at least 20 minutes to arrive). It's also unnerving.



You're right though, KCMO bike cop -- gunfire isn't the same in the country, since it travels farther and last longer.

If you hate the Katy Trail go ahead and show up at a meeting and try to tell them where

they can and cannot put their gun range.



This is EXACTLY what landowners feared when they pushed through the trail.



You are right that this has nothing to do with gun rights but I feel that this is much more

of an issue than the bridge in Booneville ever would be.



Can you imagine! Showing up at a meeting and starting with, "I live 300 miles away but I

ride the KATY trail and I think............." I think that would make many people very angry.

I live by and bike the trails around Smithville Lake. A trap range is nearby, and the sounds of shots are often heard. It does not seem to disturb the nearby wildlife, or the many users of the trails. The range is well thought out and safe, as are all controlled public ranges. Relax. Bike riders have to share the the land with others.

I think that as long as the safety issues are resolved, i.e. no chance of a ricochet, that a gun range shouldn't be an issue.



I agree with one of the above posts, if the actual, on-site neighbors are OK with it, trail-users really shouldn't have too much of a beef. If the noise bothers you, ride/walk/run along another few miles. I personally find the areas where construction is/has been going on (east end of Greens Bottom) to be annoying, but I am not going to go before a county commission meeting and try to get it shut down. I just put my head down and move on through.

The trails at Smithville Lake mentioned in Bike Cop's post above, are a pretty good example of a very diverse group of interests co-habiting. We ride the trails there often and it is very refreshing to see all the different groups using the eastern shoreline for so many different reasons. On our 40 some mile loop we've seen many, many deer, turkeys, song birds, trail riders, mountain bikers, the peace and quiet of "Sailboat Cove," the jammin loud music of the party cove, fishing boats, kite boaders, campers with their washer boxes set up on the trail, kids bikes that have been ditched along the trail near mom and dads camper, big bore V-8 powered boats that are very loud, and we also pass the gun range. The first time we rode there and heard gunfire our ears perked up until we rode on and saw that the shots were coming from a controlled area.

We can all do our own thing without infringing on others rights. And we all have many rights, whether that be to carry a concealed weapon or to speak out against something that we don't care for.

"If you hate the Katy Trail go ahead and show up at a meeting and try to tell them where they can and cannot put their gun range. This is EXACTLY what landowners feared when they pushed through the trail." Well, Robert, gun owners take up state resources all the time in Jefferson City, lobbying for gun "rights" above all else, and they'll bring in strangers and non-residents from 1,000s of miles away to do it, all the time. They push a lot of things through the legislature I'd rather not see, so I guess I'm square with the persecuted landowners. (And if the landowners in question are farmers, well...they'd have more credibility if they didn't take government subsidies.)

I agree with a previous poster, if the gunfire noise and actual shots are limited to "their" property, no problem. I do actually find some reassurance in this. Sounds like a decent, safe, secure set-up.

I think that you've proven that your problem with gun ranges is a little bigger than the trail.

Hearing gun fire on the Katy is already pretty common in the Weldon Springs area. Not only does the trail go through the conservation area where hunting is allowed, but there is also a police firing range on 94 that can be heard from the trail head in Weldon springs. I've also noticed many hunting blinds on the private properties that border the Katy. If someone opens another gun range near the Katy, I personally will not notice or care. I also will not be worried because the gun range is probably the safest place that someone can shoot their gun.

And Robert, I think you've proven that you're pro-gun and damn the consequences.

Robert, ignore Biker. I don't know where he arrived at that proven idea. Logic might fail him. Just wanted to let you know that others can see and think. You don't agree. No point in insults.