Reply to Newbie planning a 3-3.5 day ride, advice please :)

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to ride the Katy in mid October, and wanted to get your opinions on 3 vs 3.5 days, and east-west vs west-east.

Here are the relevant (I think) details:
1) I live in St. Louis. it looks like Clinton is about a 4 hour drive from here, and St Charles is about a half hour away.

2) My mother has decided to come along (driving), so we will be staying in BnBs and I shouldn't be carrying more than water, snacks and minimal gear.

3) I was biking about 40mi a week over the summer. Since I got back to school I've started to 'train' for this, and can go 25mi/day two days in a row with absolutely no problems at this point and feel like I could probably do 35-40 without straining much, especially if it's flat. I'm assuming I can get up to 70-80 mi/day for a few days running by mid october.(If that sounds ridiculous, please tell me.)I plan on riding 10-15mi most weekdays and progressively longer rides on the weekends between now and riding the Katy.

4)I ride at about 10-11mph on rolling hills with traffic, around 12mph on flat terrain. Oh, and I ride a hybrid.

5) I only have 3.5 days to do this. on Thursday I get done at 3 and can leave by 3.30. I figure I can either drive to Clinton, stay the night and start riding Friday morning, or I can drive to St Charles and ride 20-30 miles on Thursday and space the rest out over Fri-Sun... with the latter option I'd have to factor in time needed to drive back from Clinton to get home at a reasonable hour.

6)I'm not much of a sight-seer... riding amidst fall foliage and away from city noise will be sufficient beauty for me. :)

If anyone has suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. I hear it's slightly downhill going west-east? Also, do people usually bike one big chunk in the morning, or bike halfway, stop for lunch and bike the rest of the way (whatever the planned mileage is) in the afternoon?

Thanks!

Be sure to ride the trail after it has rained and when it is dry so you experience the difference. Take some time on weekends and ride west from St. Charles and see how far you can comfortably get in one days time.

You are right, the trail generally slopes downward from Boonville (since it basically follows the Missouri river) but it is not so flat from Clinton to Boonville. You may want to start at Boonville and ride towards St. Charles for your first long ride on the trail.

If you would like a copy of a graph I made of the DNR elevation posted at each trailhead, send your request to garyirwin@ktis.net

Happy trails to you.

Noticed on my ride last week a lot of unrepaired ruts especially East of jefferson city and lasting close to Saint Louis. thought several times that they would be very dangerous if covered by leaves. (October).. On a good Hybrid, without packing gear and cooler weather you will have no physical problem making the trip in 3 to 3.5 days.

Having ridden the KATY west to east and done 3 100 mile rides east to west...my STRONG recommendation is to go WEST to EAST. Start at Clinton. It has a grade for a good while, but overall I believe you will be VERY HAPPY to be going east.

I won't ever take another ride over 25 miles going anything other than west to east.

That's my 2 cents.

Enjoy!