Katy Trail Forum

What has happened to this place? It's always been one of my favorite places to eat while biking through Rocheport, I've recommend it several times on this site. Saturday we stopped in for lunch and it was a very bad experience. After waiting for about 10 minutes for a waitress, {and they were not very busy}, the waitress walks up to take our order and that's when it turned bad. When asked what the soup was she told us chilled cucumber and then another kind she did'nt know what it was called. When we asked her what it was she said she did'nt know, and when my brother-in-law asked if it had vegetables in it she said yeah I think so. Well we decide against soup and ordered salads, to which she replied, we are out of lettuce but we're going to making some. We then ordered sandwiches and a pizza for my nephew. About ten minutes later she comes back to our table and says yeah I forgot to tell you we are out of pizzas. I told her to cancel the order and she says the whole order. We left and went to the Trailside Cafe and Bike Shop and had a tasty cheeseburger. I sure hope they get their act together because I have always enjoyed eating there in the past.

We were refused service both times that we tried to go to the General Store, although we were still within their posted hours. So your experience only confirms ours. We have no intention of attempting to go here again, in spite of the other positive comments we have seen. It's just not worth the time, just to be refused.

Wow! I am surprised to hear this. I had one of the best sandwiches I have ever had there, the Rocheport sandwich (Muffetta?) which had an olive spread that was just rediculous! The veggie soup was just...oh...mmmmm. Then, peach and blueberry cobbler. Perfect.



We had good service, and I would like to stop back in there if I am ever through again. I am sure glad I didn't have one of those experiences because I wouldn't have ever met that sandwich...

I ate at the general store a few days ago. I had a great grilled cheese sandwich and pie/plus drink. It was very good. I was surprised to read your posting as we found it to be extrememly nice and clean and provided a great "cool" break from the summer heat. I recommend it to others.

I have stopped there several times and always had a great experience. It is very neat and clean and the atmosphere has always been great. I had read other post about bad experiences there and always questioned them, but as I said in my earlier post my last time there was awful. I know everybody has a bad day, but if it was my business I would want to make sure no one experienced what I did. I'll give it one more try and I hope things are better.

Polly's B&B was a joy. My father and I stayed there on August 2 and had a wonderful time. We planned on leaving from Polly's at 6:00 a.m. to begin riding to Hartsburg, and Polly awoke well beforehand and by 5:30 a.m. had pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, cereal, toast, and orange juice ready for us.



Her home is comfortable and the stay both entertaining and relaxing. Polly is a wealth of information about the surrounding area.



Both her service and her hospitality were much appreciated. Any overnight trip along the Katy Trail should include a night's stay at Polly's.

I noticed the baggage restrictions on Amtrak and it listed recumbents and tandems. I wrote Amtrak a note and I got a sortof reply. They didn't say no but they didn't say yes. I was hoping to use the in train car bike rack to make the trip from Krikwood to Sedalia. Has anyone successfully taken a recumbent on Amtrak? Mine is a short wheel base and it fits in most bike racks. I will not have the resources to box my bike for the trip back to my start and was going to ride the train.

I think you probably can take the recumbent. The only snag I foresee is it there are other bikes. The place where you put the bikes is just a spot that they remove the seats (unless that's changed since I last rode the train). And be prepared for delays.

Also, you could add Couplers. If you could fold the bike in half, you can probably put it in a convenient box! It would cost a few hundred bucks, but eliminates above worries...



P.S. Go bent!

Jsample is correct. We just leaned our bikes up against another one in the front of the train car. We were surprised it was so easy. I think Amtrak is just happy to have the customers these days, so I bet they don't give you a hard time.

Our bike club is planning a trip starting September 26th for about 6 or 7 days riding west to east. We will be following the proposed itinerary to camp our way across the Katy as suggested by John James in the back of Brett Dufur's book. Our question is, will we have to call ahead for camp sites or possibly a B and B at this time of year? Thanks so much for the input. Lynn, Mansfield, Ohio

Not knowing who else is on the trail and where....or how many are in your group or theirs......it is always wise to call ahead and know that you have accomodations when you arrive, no matter where you travel.

September is a very busy time on the trail - usually. I strongly recommend reservations.

Dutzow is a very safe Farm community, it would be ok to leave a locked car overnight for sure

I would like to ride from St. Charles to Alton, Ill., and then connect to trails from there to take me to the Arch in St. Louis. My plan thus far would be to cross the river via the ferry at Porteges de Souix, and connect to the Vadalabene trail in Alton, then the MCT confluence trail to Chain of Rocks Bridge, then along the Riverfront to the Arch.



Can anyone tell me about 94, and how safe it is for cycling? Any other ways to get to Alton that are more safe than 94 for cycling?

The new segment of the trail to Machens should be open fairly soon. It can be used now if you are willing to ride on grass/dirt for a few miles. Machens is on Hwy 94 which leads to 367(?) that leads to the bridge to Alton. It is a newish bridge, but I couldnt attest to wether it has a bike/ped lane. Another option might be the ferry that crosses the Mississippi in that area. Is it the Portage des Sioux? It has been 30 years since I lived in that area, so I am shaky on the details. Anyone have any better info?

Thanks GC...



I would really rather avoid the dirt/grass, so I am really looking into 94, but I really need to know what the traffic is like...



I am also wandering how we find the ferry in Porteges de Souix, and how much it will cost...any info anyone?

I have a group that will be going from Jefferson City to St Louis in Oct. We have gotten alot of good info from Momentum Cycles in St Charles as far as riding on the roads and crossing on the ferry. Pere Marquette State Parks reservation desk also gave some great options for taking not one but two ferries. We also got a great visitor guide from Alton and bike maps from Madison County Transit. Also check the web site www.confluencegreenway.org for more info on the Illinois trails and points of interest.

I called the cycle shop and a lady answered who didn't know much about that particular ferry, but had taken one in the area for $4, so I think it should be a similar fee for us. She did tell me about highway 94. She said traffic was light but fast. For my mom and I this is much more up our alley than riding through St. Louis...thanks for your help Jeanne and the unidentified perwon! You all have been a huge help for us!

MY Mom and i are going to be taking the katy trip from clinton to st charles on september 14-20, any suggestion on what to stop and see? also anyone knows what the weather is like that time of year please let me know, FYI you will know us by the american flag on the back of my Redline Conquest, stop and say a shout would love to chat with ya, im sure we will be stopping in every town along the way, also where are some good places to get t shirts and stuff, kinda a collector of bike shop shirts, thanks for your help

Try using the “Plan a Ride” feature of this website by clicking on the “Plan a Ride” button above. There, select Points of Interest, Bike Rental, Bike Repair, etc. to help you figure out where you might find something that you'd like to see or where to pick up a trail tee. The depot in Sedalia would be a good stop for you to find Katy memorabilia. Also, clicking on the “Guidebook” button above, you will find the Katy Trail Guidebook by Bret Dufur. It is a very valuable resource for the first timer as well as those of use who frequent the trail.



From the homepage of this site, scroll down to “Weather Alert” and then click on the link for Missouri average temperatures for your weather information. It will probably be very similar to the weather that you experience in Gladstone.



Basically, spend some time surfin this website. It too, is a very valuable tool in planning a trip. Plan in advance……and enjoy your ride.

Hi guys.



I have decided to give the shoe leather a break for a while and see how things work out on two wheels, but I am admittedly a greenhorn. So I bought a cheap bike (Wallyworld) to test out before I make a bigger investment. So I have a question:



I recall a posting or three on here about tire treatments for the trail. It seems there was either an insert (kevlar, slime, something else?) that some folks were using that made tires virtually invulnerable to the trail... anyone remember that thread?



Thanks for your help

Use the Search button above and Google this site for puncture..kevlar...tire, or the like and you will find several threads and a good "article" by a poster on the tire issue and various tire choices.

Use a full dosage of Slime.

This will add a pound or two of weight to the Wally World bought bike but thats OK with the firm knowlage that you won't get a flat.



With bike touring its all about comfort so I would set a realistic expectation that your bike set up should be comefortable at least a couple of hours, then the usual suspects will set in like a sore back, neck,

legs (sometimes the hands).



Best of luck!

The Hotel Frederick is now open for business. Across the street from the trailhead in Boonville, this property has been restored to a new level of excellence. If you are looking for a hotel that offers comfort and hospitality in Boonville, please try it!

Suites with whirlpool baths, custom designed linens, flat screen tvs, all tile bathrooms with heated towel racks and floors.

Glenn's Cafe for your dining pleasure and much more. All trail riders will receive $20 off any room. Call 660-882-2828 for more information or for reservations. hotelfrederick@sbcglobal.net

Not to nitpick, but the trailhead is on Spring street between First & Second street. I remember the Hotel Frederick at Main & High streets, next to the approach to bridge.

How much to stay here...not on their website ?

Not on trailhead but trail goes right past the hotel. It is at the the base of the bridge where the trail enters Boonville. Had a wonderful evening here! VERY cold beer served and food at Glenn's can't be beat. Such a nice treat after being out all day! Whirlpool tub and plush towels really helped gear me up for day 2. Can't wait to bring my buddies for round 2!

One Queen bed starting at $100.



Two Queen beds starting at $250.

We just spent the weekend at The Red Brick Inn in Augusta Mo (7/28/07) and it was such a nice time! Corrine and Gary make you feel at home there and they are so friendly and down to earth. The home itself is beautiful and the back deck,hot tub, pond,arbor, garden and yard are gorgeous! the room we stayed in (the blue room) was decorated wonderfully and a large suite with a very comfortable bed and the jacuzzi tub was a nice end to the long day! the whole experience there was memorable and we will definately return! stop in the Augusta Brewery while you are in town at have lunch or dinner. Molly is very helpful there.

We just spent the weekend at The Red Brick Inn in Augusta Mo (7/28/07) and it was such a nice time! Corrine and Gary make you feel at home there and they are so friendly and down to earth. The home itself is beautiful and the back deck,hot tub, pond,arbor, garden and yard are gorgeous! the room we stayed in (the blue room) was decorated wonderfully and a large suite with a very comfortable bed and the jacuzzi tub was a nice end to the long day! the whole experience there was memorable and we will definately return! stop in the Augusta Brewery while you are in town at have lunch or dinner. Molly is very helpful there.

I forgot to include the wonderful breakfast we had in the morning...Corrine and Gary work together to make it beautiful and delicious and give you great conversation over the meal.

I forgot to include the wonderful breakfast we had in the morning...Corrine and Gary work together to make it beautiful and delicious and give you great conversation over the meal.

We found great camping at the Truman Lake, "Sparrowfoot". It's about 3-4 miles south of the trail head. Too bad it's not advertised.

Did you start at Clinton and how far did you bike? I am new to biking we were wondering how flat the trail is to Sedalia?



Thanks!!

Where is the first grave of Daniel Boone and is it on the old

Boone fort?

Good question! From Boone's wikipedia entry:



Boone died on September 26, 1820, at Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present day Marthasville, Missouri. In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. There is no contemporary evidence that this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced that it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.[26]

Link if you're interested:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boone

I am researching the Kennedy family who had a fort next to the

Boone fort. Daniel Boone loaned money to one of my Kennedy

ancesters and we have a copy of the note signed by James Kennedy

that he borrowed this money from D. Boone. Some Kennedy's are

buried in the Wright City Cemetary, but I have known there are

more graves closer to their fort. Thanks for this information.

Hello all!



My mom and I are going to ride from the KATY to the arch. I have looked at all of the routes suggested, but I have no concept of what the streets are like, what traffic is like there, etc. We would like to take the least busy route possible with regards to traffic. Which of the three routes would you suggest to avoid traffic? Also, can we ride on sidewalks through some of the busier places? Thanks!

By the way,



I want to add that we would be willing to add upwards of 10 miles to the route through town to avoid traffic. We will be used to riding 40 miles a day by that point, so we really don't care about distance as much as avoiding traffic and feeling safe. So, if anyone has any alternatives that are by far less busy with traffic, I am definately open to suggestions. Thanks again for your help...

rick, if you can find a way from st. charles to alton illinois (there is a ferry i beleieve that crosses the mississippi around west alton, i think), then you can take the arch green way trail all the way to with in 1/2 to 3/4 miles of the arch without any traffic at all. check out trailnet.net i beleieve the green way trail goes all the way from just north of the arch, crosses the mississippi on the old chain of rocks bridge, and continues on to alton, ill. the trick is gettin from st. charles / machens area to alton, ill. good luck. i do not know the routes through st. louis county and into st. louis. ask the web master, he may know better routes than this. he knows his stuff pretty well. anywhich way, have fun.

Thanks for the idea. I am definately going to explore this...



Can anyone tell me about the traffic on 94 out of St. Charles. Is this a safe road to bike on?

rick, the ferry is at portage de sioux. hope this helps

Yes this definately helps! Thanks so much for checking that out, as I was planning on going further on than portages de souix. I am going to start a new thread about Alton, Ill.



Any other ideas for avoiding traffic?

FYI: It appears that the new bridge is open between Hermann and McKittrick. It looks like they now have a crane on the old bridge and might be starting to do some work toward getting rid of the old bridge.

anybody ever try the Cowboy Trail in Nebraska? Very long---what condition in the trail in?

I've been searching online for information about the Cowboy Trail with little success. They really need a website as good as this one. I'd really be interested in hearing from anyone who has ridden the trail.

Below are a couple of useful links on the Cowboy Trail.



http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks/guides/trails/cowboy/cowboy.asp



http://www.trailsfromrails.com/cowboy_trail.htm



I have not ridden this trail but I believe it is substantially complete between Norfolk & Valentine, NE(170 + continuous miles). There may be a few stretches that are still incomplete when you get up towards Valentine, but you can get around this by going out on the highway, which pretty much follows the trail. The surface looks pretty much like the Katy, but the reviews I have read indicates that there are some very rough sections(ie. poorly maintained) to transverse through, so I would use a mountain bike on this trail, at least the first time around. Not that you see a lot of traffic on the Katy, but I believe you will find much less traffic on this trail as the State of Nebraska does nothing to promote this trail. I am going to try to bike this trail sometime this year, but I have been saying that for 2 years now.



A much more interesting trail to me is the Mickelson Trail(114 miles), which gets up into the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota. It has some very looong 2-4% grades, which can wear a person out, but will definitely give you much different scenery than the Katy Trail.

yeah it looks like a hell of a trail. definitely have to check it out some day.

Just returned from a trip to Nebraska where we rode portions of the Cowboy Trail between Norfolk and Valentine. It's not as nice a trail as the Katy. The surface is much softer and not well maintained in some parts of the trail--don't take your road bike. Since this board is about the Katy, I'll leave it at that. If you want to know more, email me at preaves@gmail.com.

This past week NASCAR driver, Carl Edwards, rode his bike from Columbia, MO to Madison, IL. He and some friends started at Columbia, spent the first night in Jefferson City, and the second night in Defiance. They did not have reservations - just winged it. What really impresses me is that Edwards also rode his bike through St. Louis and East St. Louis to the Gateway International Speedway at Madison, IL. Then he got into a race car and drove 250 miles at 170 mph!

He must have been the guy that nudged me off the trail.

Thats just racing!

Then after the Katy trail and a NASCAR race-



OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -NASCAR driver Carl Edwards was released early Monday from an Omaha hospital after being injured Sunday night in a dirt track race in nearby Greenwood, a hospital spokeswoman said.



Details of the injury were not immediately available. Edwards' younger brother, Kenny Edwards, told the Omaha World-Herald it could be a dislocated thumb, caught in the steering wheel during a crash.



Edwards hit the back of another car that had spun out in the third lap, starting a 10-car pileup that battered his car. Edwards left the 25-lap race at I-80 Speedway in the back of an ambulance.



A prior rain delay of 45 minutes had left a slick surface on the track.



Lora Ullerich, a spokeswoman for Lakeside Hospital in Omaha, confirmed Monday that Edwards had been treated and released, but did not give further details, citing confidentiality rules.



Roush Racing spokeswoman LeAnne Howell said Roush officials had no comment.



Edwards, ranked fifth in the Nextel Cup standings and leading the Busch standings, was scheduled to be in Milwaukee on Monday for performance testing.



He raced in the late-model event with his brother and father, Carl Edwards Sr.



Edwards finished sixth at the Busch Gateway 250 on Saturday night, leading for seven laps but rubbing against the wall late.

I've never rode Amtrak. Can you buy tickets at the Kirkwood depot? OR do I need to purchase tickets online?

Tickets can be purchased on line, but tickets cannot be purcased at the Kirkwood station. The Kirkwood Station is manned by volunteers and do not handle money.

Also, they limit the number of bikes on each train, so if you are taking your bike, you definitely want to make that reservation ahead of time.

You can buy your tickets on board the train. Not recommended if you're taking your bike as pointed out by ET.

My Great Grandfather ,William T. Hensley, helped build the Katy through Texas. My Grandfather, Ersel Ray Hensley, helped tear out the track, atleast in the central Texas area. My father, Ersel Ray Hensley Jr., brought three of the original crossties to Hilo Hawaii because the Katy was such a big part of his growing up. Now my father is buried under those same crossties in my brother's yard here on the Big Island of Hawaii. By the way, the original depot for the Katy in Albany Texas is still there and is being used as a museum. I can remember playing under the depot landing in my childhood days. We used to put coins on the track to get smashed by the Katy. Thanks for listening.

We just visited Green Ridge and so broken-hearted fool spraypainted the exterior of the bathroom with a nasty comment. I hope that gets cleaned up quickly.

Did you report it to the DNR so someone could get it cleaned up quickly? Probably none of the poster here will take care of it.

Thanks, I just called DNR and they are sending someone to fix it today.

After a long bike ride we took our RV to "Lakeside Resort". It's about 30 miles south of Sedalia on the Lake of the Ozarks. It was worth the drive to enjoy the swimming and friendly campers.