Late August 5 Day

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Jack from Columbus on 6/28/2021 10:02:53 PM:

Wanted some experienced feedback for a planned 5 day trip in late Aug:
D1 - Drive to STL, Rent van, Park own car in St. Charles, drive to Lee's Summit, drop van, hotel
D2 - Lee's Summit to Windsor with box lunch or Chilhoee convenience
D3 - Windsor to Rochport with lunch Pilot Grove
D4 - Rochport to Buffton with lunch Jeff City
D5 - Bluffton to St. Charles (long day) lunch in Dutzow, Drive home

Also have a 6 day which we really don't want to do which would be Windor, Boonville, Jeff City, Marthasville, St. Charles

I know these are long segments but we have ridden the Erie Canal, Ohio to Erie and GAP/C&O. With the GAP we have experienced the crushed limestone. I wanted to keep the total around 300 and the days around 60 but the spread of housing (we don't camp) makes it difficult.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

ArkyKenny on 7/1/2021 12:24:42 PM:

You missed Hermann and the Wursthaus. Daniel Boone’s grave (I think he is still there and that the Kentucky folks got the wrong skeleton) is a really cool place to visit too. If you don’t gain weight on your trip, you’re doing it wrong.

Doug from Bluffton on 7/1/2021 12:59:36 PM:

How many people and what type of bikes?

Anonymous on 7/1/2021 3:20:10 PM:

We all have different motives and time frames to deal with, but for me I'd take more time to enjoy time on the trail. And to visit Hermann. The spread of housing makes it difficult? I'd think camping options would be the most restrictive as many small towns have lodging, but no camping.

Jack from Columbus on 7/1/2021 7:40:00 PM:

I tried to figure out a Herman stop but that became difficult. I would do 40 mile days but work wise we can't afford the time and one 40 mile day pushes us into 1-2 more days. Depending on how we are progressing we could ride into Herman for a break.

I ride a Jamis Exploit which is an adventure bike with 34's and my son rides a KHS Flite 747 XXXL. It is a steel frame road bike with 32's. He is 6'10" and it is the largest production bike I could find at the time. The steel frame allows us to add the pannier weight, luckily he is tall but not that heavy. He did fine on the GAP but the C&O was too bumpy for his bike.

The GAP slowed us down 1-2 mph on average but I have to say the GAP was really in impressive shape. I was expecting a lot worse for a stone trail. We typically did 35-40, leisurely lunch and then 25-30.

Mapmedic from KCMO on 7/1/2021 9:15:27 PM:

For my cross state ride I will miss the Katy section from Clinton to Windsor, so I rode that a few weeks ago. If you’re having lunch in Windsor, I really enjoyed my lunch at Judys Kitchen. Kim from Kim’s Kabins recommended them when I asked who had the best burger in town…..because I need to make up for all those calories I’m burning. While waiting for my food I noticed the Tuesday special was pan fried tacos which looked really good….I ordered one and was glad I did.
You are going to see lots of Casey’s gas stations along the way. They have pretty good pizza for a gas station and it’s sold by the slice too. The breakfast pizza is great. They make energy circles too! Some people call them donuts.
Hopefully you are aware many trail businesses are closed the first part of the week. Good luck, I’m going in early September…Westwood, KS to Grafton, IL then down to Gateway Arch. About 350 miles in six days.

Jack from Columbus on 7/1/2021 10:54:21 PM:

Thanks for the feedback. Good luck on your ride, it sounds like a good one.

Jerry Whittle from Belleville on 7/2/2021 6:53:05 AM:

My wife and I just did the GAP and C&O last month on a tandem. The C&O was quite an 'adventure' with lots of mud, near single-track in places, plus plenty of places to fall into rivers and streams.

I'm happy to report that the Katy is much more like the GAP. Aside from the recent flood damage, it's mostly smooth riding on crushed limestone. I've done it end to end many times on 700x32 tires.

Question for Jack or anyone else who knows: Is the Erie Canal like the Gap/Katy or C&O? The Erie Canal might be next on our to do list.

Too bad that you may miss Hermann. Good food, camping, and B&Bs. It's about 2.5 miles off the trail so a break there will add about 5 miles.

Ray (webmaster) on 7/2/2021 9:16:55 AM:

Hi Jerry! The Erie Canal is a lot more like the Katy, pretty firmly packed chat. And I'm guessing maybe about a third or even half of it is paved.

Here's a map where you can see the trail surfaces: https://www.ptny.org/bike-canal/map/
Purple is crushed stone/chat, and red is paved.

And here's a not-so-humble suggestion of a great website reference for the Erie Canalway Trail (you'll notice it looks a LOT like BikeKatyTrail.com): https://bikeErieCanal.com/

... or the larger Empire State Trail, of which Erie Canal makes up a portion: https://bikeEmpireState.com/

Happy trails!

Jack from Columbus on 7/2/2021 2:04:41 PM:

We do not remember that much crushed stone on the Erie Canalway so it must have been in good shape. My son was blown away with the GAP/C&O but then came out and said the Erie Canal was his favorite ride. I highly recommend it and even the hills outside of Syracuse which we were swearing at have good memories now. The canal towns really add to the ride.

Yes the C&O is a bit rustic and more rutted single track than anything. We ended up taking the White's Ferry across to Leesburg and the paved trail into DC which was a good ride. Unfortunately the ferry is no longer running, that was cool. I am blown away that the GAP is volunteer maintained.

Doug from Bluffton on 7/3/2021 4:46:01 PM:

Jack, have you considered a shuttle rather than rental? Might be cost effective; would certainly save some time and steps. Get picked up when you get to St.Charles and taken straight to destination. After driving from Columbus the time you would save not dealing with rental might be well worth it. Call me at Bluffton Barn if you want to discuss it.

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