Cindy from Des Moines, IA on 9/15/2009 9:44:57 PM:
A friend and I rode from St. Charles to Sedalia September 6-10. This direction worked well for us and we had good weather the entire time. Both of us are leisure riders, with the longest training ride of only 40 miles. We rode alternative days of long, short, long, short, long (23-54 miles). Some other notes:
Great B&Bs:
o The Little House B&B, Marthasville - Had the entire house, 2 Bdrm, 1 bath, big kitchen & Living room. Great place. Secure shed for bikes.
o Meyers Hilltop Farm, McKittrick. Maggie & Eldon are wonderful hosts and Maggie makes a fantastic breakfast for riders. It carried us 54 miles! Hosts also drove us into Hermann for the afternoon and picked us up in the evening.
o The Globe B&B in Hartsburg was very comfortable. Nice place.
o School House B&B, Rocheport. Excellent, self-serve everything. Secure place for bikes. Flat-screen TV. Easy, continental breakfast.
Be careful when planning Monday & Tuesday meals as some restaurants, wineries and grocery stores are closed. We lucked out coming from the east by stopping near Hermann on a Monday. Those we talked to traveling West did not have such luck. We stopped our ride in Sedalia to take the train back to Kirkwood (St. Louis) but heard of poor trail conditions between Sedalia and Clinton and were glad we'd decided to stop in Sedalia.
Someone did unzip our bike bags during a downpour while we were at one of the wineries. Nothing stolen, but some wet stuff. Also saw some questionable riders around Clifton City. I recommend carrying pepper spray.
Met many, many nice bikers (of all levels) along the trail. All-in-all was a great trip!!