wild on the katy / dnr ride

this is to all the participants on the dnr ride. have fun, enjoy yourself, be safe. tell us all abouts it when your home..

I had a good time hauling bikes & bags and visiting with many of the riders. Some people said that this ride has the best support of any ride they have done!
We had a little rain Monday morning and it got hot Thursday afternoon, but overall, the weather was good this year; no rain in camp and no violent storms.
A few people sagged in to Columbia on Tuesday, but it was fewer than I expected. We only made one trip to Hindman Junction with a baggage truck to get bicycles.
I enjoyed the band at Mokane Wednesday evening.
Toyota trucks was a big sponsor of the ride this year. They had vehicles on display in camp and gave away promotional items each day including water bottles, can koozies, T-shirts, PowerBars, key rings, hats, etc. Toyota also provided trucks for use by the DNR staff for the week. Thanks Toyota!!

It was a great week! Savage (Doug), I saw you introduced the last night at the Augusta riders meeting and figured you were the guy from the bike katy trail comment board.
The DNR did an awesome job. It has to be hard to coordinate the camping, meals, sags, etc for 300+ riders, but you guys pulled it off in great fashion. I would recomend this ride to everyone (just get miles in beforehand to get your legs and bottom ready). The oldest rider this year was 83 and the youngest I believe was 6. We met so many interesting people, ate LOTS of good food, and really enjoyed ourselves.

I would like to thank the ranger at the Augusta trailhead, the people working the sign-in desk at the campsite that day, the bike repair guy, and a gentleman named Bruce.

My front tire blew out just a few hundred yards from the trailhead and I crashed, resulting in a bloody elbow and hip. The ranger, who had EMT training, checked me out and gave me supplies and instructions on how to take care of my injuries.

The people at the sign-in area gave me a free bottle of powerade when I was looking a little wasted and some free anti-biotic salve when I lost what the ranger gave me. The bike repair guy at the sign-in area booted the tire for free, and gave me an extra boot and an inner tube, also for free.

I'm so sorry I didn't get names. I'm really bad about that kind of thing. Ask the remaining family members who are still talking to me and the few friends I have :->

Unfortunately the booted tire wasn't holding up. I then asked at the rider's meeting if anyone had a spare 20" (recumbent) tire I could buy. Bruce gave me a free one!

I made it to St Charles safely.

THANKS BRUCE! AND THANKS AGAIN TO THE STAFF, RANGERS AND BIKE REPAIR PEOPLE!

GREAT ride. It was my first time, and my dad's second. He was right (as parents annoyingly are): It's like summer camp for adults!

Many thanks to DNR's Andrea, who provided a lot of cheering and support to everyone. And Clarence was a trooper, too. The guy handling the bags was amazing, as well. Becky was great about shuttling us weenies off to our hotels at night (hey, if I'd known the weather was going to be this amenable, I might've camped! Then again, maybe not!). Really showed off Missouri's Dept. of Natural Resources in a positive light. The interpretive spots were interesting, as well.

Next year, I plan to make the dinners and camp activities, and especially the meetings. I just took a look at the DNR's pics and I think we really missed out-- Then again, we supported a lot of cab services and local restaurants, so maybe we can have a pass for stimulating the local economies?

Next year, I also plan to stop along the way, explore the towns more. And I'll definitely be taking more pictures. I can't believe how everyone pounced on them when I came back home. And it sounds like more people want to do it.

Three cheers for the DNR! And to all the riders, communities, and sponsors for making it so great!

Where can one find the DNR's pics of the ride?

http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/2007ride.htm