Reply to Rode StCh-Jeff City, Sept 26-27

We hit a few heavy storms between St Charles and Hermann on Saturday, but the weather was cool and conducive to making good time. That part of the trail is in great shape and we had a good time. Augusta has a great rest stop with bike supplies, but that was about it the rest of the ride. We had a good lunch in Dutzow, but places to eat seemed far and few between. Make sure you bring a lot of water for yourself.

The trail between Hermann and JC was a bit rougher, but not that bad at all, really. The sun came out and so did the wind. Riding East to West is NOT recommended. Makes the trip a lot tougher. I also made the mistake of putting everything in my camelbak, and not using racks. This put a lot of extra weight on my tender parts and I got pretty sore, although I was using a cyclocross race bike with a lightweight saddle. Even one of those racks that clamps to your seatpost would have been a welcome addition. They sold those in Augusta, but I wasn't as sore quite yet.

There isn't much between Hermann and JC to eat, we stopped at a bar in Tebbetts, and had some ok food. At least it was cheap and there was Powerade.

Next time we plan on going West to East, and I'll be using a rack!

thanks for the good report.

How strong was the wind when you rode? I'm riding from East to West this year (have always
ridden west to east in years past). I'm now second guessing my decision.