Bike/camp east-west. Poke holes in my gameplan

Never done this before, so I have a rough plan in my head, but not having done it I figure anyone reading this will be more of a veteran than I am and be able to expose problems I have not thought of:

June.
Thursday am, train from Union Station (KC) to Kirkwood with loaded (saddlebags) bike.
Use a service listed here and set up a pickup at Kirkwood and take me to St. Charles trailhead. Get going and then camp Augusta.
Friday to N Jeff City and camp.
Saturday to Pilot Grove and camp.
Sunday to Clinton.

I'll drink Camelback, assuming water along the route will suffice. I'll eat MREs and lots of gels and bars. One person tent and strap it to handlebars w/o bag? Is that feasible or should I buy bag?

That's alot just off the top of my head--like I say I know I'm missing something. Thanks to any/all who read and respond.

Don’t know from personal experience but I’ve heard that the campsite at North JC can sometimes be a party place for the locals. Party place or not it’s very close to the bridges leading in and out of the city so you’ll have traffic noise for sure. You might want to consider stopping at Tebbetts instead. For $6 you can stay at the Turner Shelter. It’s hostel style accommodations - bunk beds with foam mattresses, a bathroom, showers and a small kitchen area with a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, toaster and hot plate. The downside of stopping in Tebbetts is that it leaves you a 72 mile day on your 3rd day but it knocks your second day down to 65 miles instead of 77 miles.

I changed my plans from riding STL to KC when someone mentioned the prevailing winds are west to east. Plus it is generally downhill from west to east. Not sure how much difference it will make. Hopefully the trail will be dry since it can be mushy when wet and make pedaling more difficult.....this is why gravel bike tires are better than wide mountain bike tires. I am planning a training ride on the Blue River Rail Trail from Marysville, KS to Lincoln, NE which is 76 miles. It is a similar trail to the Katy.

The "prevailing Westerlies" are trade winds in the Northern Hemisphere which are most predictable out in the ocean. The trade ships with sails could mostly depend on the winds to carry them to the East (and opposite in the Southern Hemisphere). However, on land, all that changes as the geography and climate play a much larger role in wind direction and speed. Wind is so locally variable that you cannot put a wind farm just anywhere.

Even within just Missouri, the most prevalent wind direction is different in KC (SW) than STL (SSE). But if you had to generalize wind on the Katy, it's from the South most of the year, thanks to the Gulf of Mexico. But when that South wind hits the river bluffs, it goes in all directions. On a windy day, it's not unusual to have the wind at your back one minute, and then have it hit you full in the face the next. So, I tell people to not count on the wind as a help or a harm, but to plan an extra "weather day" into your trip to account for wind, rain, cold, etc.

I've ridden the Katy end-to-end many times mostly in June. In general I think that east to west is better. I've run into head winds going west that were tough especially from Boonville to Clinton when the wind was coming out of the southwest. However last September I rode east to west and had tailwinds most of the way. Mother Nature sure likes to fool with people.

As far as tires, I've used 700x32 or 26x2.125 tires that had very little tread. The Katy is very hard packed in most places and knobby MTB tires would be overkill.

You need to do a dry run and see if what you are describing seems fun once you are doing it.

Load your bike down with two days worth of your chosen food/gels and all of your gear. Ride on a bumpy gravel road for 60 miles, stopping to eat MREs and gels and to refill your camelbak. Spend the night. Ride 60 more miles, stopping to eat your MREs and gels.

What shook off the bike?

Did the tent require constant readjustment? Did it interfere with your grip on the bars?

Did you like the food?

Was the camelbak water sufficient and palatable? Or should you pack another gallon? And some drink mix?

This will give you the answers that only you can answer.

Because here's what happens.

People get out there, and they have never ridden on a bike with 30 lbs of gear on it, and it's just not real fun for them.

Their tent wasn't strapped on right, and it fell off the bike 10 miles ago.

After about three gels, they get sick of the taste and can't keep them down anymore.

Plain warm water from the camelbak tastes gross, so they under drink and get dehydrated.

They don't feel like stopping because it's raining, so they go a couple of hours without eating and they get bonked.

And pretty soon what seemed like a good idea while they were sitting at their desk seems like four days of no fun at all.

So if you do a little shakedown, you'll figure out how to be really ready for your trip.

Signed, a guy who learned this stuff the hard way. :)

Excellent points, Bill from Houston!

Spot-on Bill, but you forgot to mention that you also get lost somewhere on a diversion or even on the trail and have to cycle an extra ten miles of torture! And I remember that there is nothing on earth like warm Camelbak water when you are really thirsty, thank goodness.
And seriously, if you want to enjoy the ride, follow all of Bill's instructions and cut down the daily mileage. We are old fit fogies, but we do 40 a day max, and my better half grumbles a lot about even that.

Follow advice here. It is all good. You can easily get sick of water. I carry Mio usually with b vitamins don't need caffeine crap. It will help some. You dont want to get dehydrated. Winds are FUBAR in my book. Have ridden the trail both ways and West to East was a horrid T storm with 65 mph winds one day. I still have nightmares. 3 miles in 3 inch mud pant for 10 minutes and go on. But it was still fun!

I usually keep it to around 45-55 miles per day. At home I ride dirt roads 90 percent of the time. Check your gear make sure it wont fall off. I use a bike rack with 2 saddlebags with my tent in the middle of them shoved under my seat and bungee corded to the rack.

Have fun!

I have 3 days and I will be on the trail. First time in the spring! Have done 2 Falls and one Winter.

Mr. Jerry Whittle from Belleville -- Could I ask you about your KT experience in the summer? I read that Spring and Fall are best, are you fine with the heat, do you ride early in the morning? I planned on riding it this year, end-to-end, late summer (hot) or early fall (less hot).

To Mike B. from Boston,
I'm an early morning rider, plus all of my training rides will be in the heat and humidity of May and June in South Carolina. I'm more worried about the long, gradual climb going from east to west. I live at a whopping sixteen feet above sea level, so I notice thinning air.

John: Missouri does have heat and humidity, however it will likely not be to the extent of what you experience in South Carolina. On the plus side we don’t have sand fleas. Mosquitoes and ticks are our nuisances. Altitude sickness doesn’t begin to cause issues until above 5000’ and the highest elevation on the trail is 955’. The key to managing or avoiding altitude sickness is allowing the body to acclimate slowly to altitude. This is done over the course of several days. You will probably already be doing this even if you flew to STL. If the long climb uphill is a concern, you could start in KC and go east. Personally I’m more concerned about the increased difficulty riding on gravel vs pavement.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Into_thin_air_Medical_problems_at_new_heights

Mike B. from Boston: I like to get on the trail early especially when it's hot. A few years ago it was predicted to get up to 102°F and humid on a long day. I got on the bike before sunrise. Technically illegal but I had good front and tail lights and I thought it safer to get to my destination before the heat got dangerous.

Last September heat wasn't an issue. If anything it was a little cool two of the morning. Of course you never know. On RAGBRAI one night it got down to 49°F in July. I didn't have any long pants or shirts so it was a cold night sleeping in a tent plus a rather cold bike ride until it warmed up.

John, don't sweat the gradual climb. The total elevation gain is about 350 feet from the Missouri River at Boonville (where the elevation gain starts) to the highest point at Bryson. That's about a 0.1% grade, which is not really noticeable. However, it's the hills that cause people the biggest issues. The rest of the Katy is flat, but from Boonville to Windsor, there are quite a few hills. The good news is that you are going down the hills about the same as you are going up them.