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Riding in rain
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Trying to complete the entire trail from Kansas City on 5/29/2025 6:27:55 AM:
How hard is it to ride in the rain? Would we be silly to try it today? Thursday 5/29


 
Gary from Near Tebbetts on 5/29/2025 9:23:23 AM:
The main things to consider are:
Tire width, narrower tires will tend to sink in soft spots.
Rain gear, do you have ponchos or at least garbage bags to keep you dry and waterproof gloves and small bags to put on your feet to keep them dry.

Good news is it is not suppose to have a lot of heavy rain or thunderstorms today, just cold drizzle with light winds from the north.

After today it should be sunny and warmer.

 
Jerry Whittle from O Fallon Illinois on 5/30/2025 9:29:14 AM:
I'll add to what Gary said. If the trail is wet, it can be very mushy especially in the west as it isn't packed down.

Wider tires are better; however, they should have deep tread or knobbies. I once was riding on 650b x 47s smooth tires near Windsor. The rear tire was spinning as I was pedaling. I changed those tires to a pair that had small knobbies and the problem went away. Same on my MTB tandem which really helped on the muddy C&O Towpath trail.

I also highly recommend fenders. They really help in the rain or even when the Katy is dry and dusty.
 
Eric from KCMO on 5/31/2025 2:55:32 PM:
Please follow up with your post and it sounds like this might be worth a separate post about your experiences.
The crushed rock surface of Katy is about as close to being paved as it can get. Some people only want paved trails, but we have freeze/thaw cycles and plentiful tree roots here. Both will heave trails and ultimately make pavement broken and rough, adding to the already expensive cost to maintain. We will keep our crushed rock trail and be glad to have it (comment/opinion written for everyone not just you) When wet it’s a little mushy, but not bad….unless it rained a lot.
 
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