Riding Katy over thanksgiving break

My husband and I were wanting to ride trail over thanksgiving break. What are the difficulties we might encounter as to lodging and shuttle issues because of holiday? How many miles is recommended per day for a physically fit person but has not conditioned on the bike? Does the small rock cause problems with a hybrid bike?

I just finished a ride Nov 6-7-8, clocked 233 miles over the three days. Biggest inconvenience I noticed was water being turned off at all trail heads (except restrooms at Rocheport. If you plan properly ahead of time my guess is the B&B's will be open, restaurants should be on the weekend. I packed a sandwich each day in case there was not a restaurant open - paid off on Monday.

If your tires are in good condition you will not have a problem. Most of my riding has been on regular hybrids, but did switch over to cyclocross for my ride only because of condition of my tires. Trail surface varies along the ride, can be packed dirt, loose fine gravel, or in a few place larger gravel packed into the base. In my opinion the trail west of Sedalia to Clinton is the best groomed section - well packed fine gravel.

Be sure you ride West to East - otherwise you will be going up grade most of time between Clifton City and Calhoun. If you get get a southerly or westerly breeze against you going east to west, it will really slow you down. Going West to East there is some uphill grade between Clifton City and Pilot Grove, but then generally downhill into Boonville. East of Boonville is mostly level.

Physical condition - depends on legs. I had ridden quite a bit this fall in preparation, but my quads were sore after the third day (89 mile day battling headwind half the day).

Hopefully you have ridden some in cooler weather - it does seem to me to make a difference.

Good luck.

I will be home over the holiday's if you want to spend the night in Sedalia. Have a great trip. Maxine's Rooms for Rent.

Well our trip was great! The weather held out for us. Got on the Katy Saturday morning after a long shuttle ride, by our new friends at Monette's cabin,at 11:30 temp about 52. The wind was blowing in our face all day, really wore us out, ended up at 61 degrees. Stayed in B&B in Rhineland Saturday night (Loutre Lane also a great place) then got back to the Katy at 9:30 Sunday starting temp 51 degrees. Wind was at our back for the first part of the day and temp was 69. It seemed like summer again. Picturesque views the entire trip. The bluffs and river most of the section we road. Can't wait to ride it again. The Katy is great and wish we had a nice riding trail like this in Indiana.

we are open 365 days a year for accomodations or shuttle service call 636-946-0619 ---- ask for Rhona ( Lococo House III, B&B )