Reply to Availability of gluten-free food along the trail

I'm helping with meal planning for my family members who are biking the Katy Trail next month. One of them has celiac disease and must have gluten-free food. I know there's a B&B at Hermann that offers gluten-free meals with lodging. Is gluten-free food available at any restaurants or groceries along the trail?

Hi! I am the owner of The Doll House Bed & Breakfast, and while I can't speak for all of the bed and breakfasts along the trail, I would imagine that a lot of them do the same as we do. It is not uncommon at all for me to have customers with this food restriction. There are many options, such as using rice flour for pancakes. One time, the other customers that didn't have this issue liked the gluten-free pancake option so much that they ate all of them! The only time there has been any issue is when the customer fails to tell me at booking or check-in that this is an issue. We serve enough other options, that it always works out. Good luck to you!

We had a wonderful breakfast at the Doll House (she served so much food, I didn't feel left out by skipping the French toast--plenty of fruit and eggs). My sister (celiac) recommended Capt Wahlt Inn and I also had a wonderful breakfast there (also celiac). Just make sure that wherever you stay doesn't have a continental breakfast--aka gluten, gluten, gluten. A hot breakfast with eggs is mandatory. (We ride hard, and I'm frequently starving as I try to keep up with my husband).

Celiac is hard on the trail. Many of the little diners in the small towns have limited menus. I recommend ordering cheeseburgers no bun and french fries (yes, cross contamination is a possible problem). I also recommend carrying a small handlebar bag with enough snacks to get you through the day, restocking if possible. Add restaurant phone numbers to your mileage chart and call ahead to discuss gluten-free issues and to confirm they will be open. We've arrived at our lunch stop, to find them closed for the day. Also, one of the "best" stops is a biker bar--yes bicycles and motorcycles mingled freely but I wasn't going to argue with the cook about contamination.

We ride without support, but if you have a support vehicle, I would bring a cooler full of food including lunch meat, hard-boiled eggs and gf pasta salads.