brand new to outdoor riding

I have been a spinning instructor for the past 8 years and am finally
taking the plunge to get legit with a "real" bike. My goal is to ride
the entire Katy Trail in the fall 2011. Please advise on best bike, and
gear to bring along. I plan on trying to bike it in 2 or 3 days at
most-and to stay either motels or b&b's on the way. Will be with a
seasoned biker friend. And advise on how to train would be great too.
Thanks.

You have plenty of time to gather complete info needed. This site has most of it; study well. Read the FAQ and Ride/Run/Hike reports for details, also the safety and weather issues.

Cyclocross, hybrid, or MB w/quality cruising tires and extras tubes work well. Midweek (Tues-Thurs) is very good for lodging and food then. Build yourself up to century riding. Carry energy food, extra water, camera.

The whole trail can be done in 3-days easily, 2-days with extra effort if in shape.

The best bike type would be either a hybrid or a road bike with at least 700 x 28 tires on it.

Travel light with a multi-tool, a couple of spare tubes, and a patch kit just in case. Carry a couple of water bottles and top them off at every opportunity so you don't run out. Not all trailheads have running water.

Depending on how you break the trip up, I'd do a less expensive motel stay instead of the B&B. You probably won't be at the nights destination long enough to warrant the extra dollars just to sleep. I'd want to leave early in the morning too, which would eliminate an important element of the B&B. Treat yourself at the back end of your trip when you have time to relax and reflect on the good times you had.

Train by riding the bike with the saddle that you are going to ride the 200 plus miles on. Legs and lungs are important, but if you can't stay in the saddle you won't put too many miles behind you.

Everything said above and maybe think about utilizing Amtrak for your transportation. Only takes you as far as Sedalia, but if you want to ride all the way to the end of the trail(from Sedalia) it can be done as extra 35x2 mile out-in-back. Personaly, I'd not even do that section unless you just feel the need to ride the entire trail.

And Monday is a bad on the Katy if you need supplies. I've found many businesses are closed.

Happy Trails, Paulie

You have the biggest thing about riding down. Many "legit" cyclists take spinning classes to try to improve themselves (specifically speed/cadence), and if you've been teaching it for 8 years, you're way ahead of the curve.

The best bike for the Katy is as the others say, a hybrid or road bike, but consider the other riding you wish to do (road, harder trails - the Katy is basically flat, cyclocross?) as well as the kind and weight of the gear you wish to carry. Different terrain has different demands on gear, as well as whether you plan to camp or just light travel. My suggestion is to also get a professional bike fitting if possible (i'll explain why later).

As I see it for other issues, Trek hints well at one of them. Learn basic maintenance well (fixing flats, adjusting brakes, and your handlebars and seat), and carry the necessary tools you need to do these things on your rides. Nothing sucks more than to be 5 or 10 miles (more on other rides besides the Katy) away from civilization and have no way to get help other than to hike the rest of your day out. It's just a fact of life - it will happen and eventually you will need to deal with it. You need to learn how.

The only other factor that will concern you is the long ride times. You are like already ahead of the curve *somewhat* in conditioning, but a long ride is more like a marathon than a sprint and you will need to learn how to deal with those. This will include seat time of those long durations to condition your muscles and backside to be used to it. As well, you will learn whether the fit of your bike is good or not (see above). Your bike may be fine in the first 30 minutes, but even a small error in fit will show up in 4-5 hours and can be very painful.

(continued)

The other conditioning thing to learn for long rides is nutrition, both during the ride and after. You can be physically fit and able to handle a long ride, but kill your chance of success by poor nutritional choices during the course of the ride. This will take some experience to work out your needs, but generally it involves getting the right amounts of food and water at the right times.

If you can get hold of a MS-150 ride prep guide, it will give you more information on long distance riding as well as some training tips. Also, read up a little bit on logistics and planning for long rides (in general). This site will be a useful resource on the specifics of the Katy.

Also, feel free to ask if you want to know anything else. There are plenty of folks here with the kinds of experience that will be helpful in making your "transition" a success.

Wow! These guys know what they're talking about.

Let me say each section of the trail has its own select quality or voice, all worth experiencing at one time or another. Recommend doing the whole trail that time of year (autumn).

Also, consider taking athletic powder, repellent, emergency numbers ranger, sheriff) with your cell, and a personal safety device, like pepper spray, although you won’t need the latter one. Most dogs and users on the trail are friendly. You'll also learn about dust, heat, and mud as you study up on the trail.

If desired, bring along a non-biking driver for your vehicle, which will fix any transportation issues. But it can also cut into the adventurous fun of being on the trail with nothing but bikes and a few supplies. Good luck.

I would go with a hybrid bike. Mine has 700 x 38C tires, and it has worked very well on trails like Katy, Allegheny Passage, C&O Canal, Ohio & Erie Towpath, and other gravel trails. Just make sure to get a comfortable seat for your bike - nothing ruins a trip like a sore butt.

As for stuff to take with you - you obviously need an extra tube, tire pump, tire tools, multi-purpose tool, and at least 2 water bottles. And I've found a handful of cable tires are extremely useful for a variety of trail repairs. Also - pack your stuff in waterproof bags.

There is a lot of good advice in some of the previous posts. Whether you go with a hybrid bike, a cyclocross or something else, I'd strongly consider drop down handlebars if the model you choose doesn't come with those. You'll likely be on the bike for quite a few hours every day (don't know how many days you're planning on) and there is a lot of value in being able to vary your position. Drop downs allow you to bike leaning forward as well as ride more upright. You can also have a second set of brake levers mounted above which allows you to brake without changing your position if you're riding upright.
Another consideration is to make certain that the type of bike you buy accomodates panniers or other type of bags if you intend to carry a fair amount of gear with you. Not all bikes have the attachment points on their frames to mount bags. You will need to consider just how you plan to travel on your bike. Hope this helps.

You recieved some advice about panniers and I wanted to present another option for a long KATY trip which is a bike trailer. I've had several cargo trailers and the one that I am absolutely sold on is made by Burley. They have either their Flatbed which is totally open or the Nomad which is covered. These are not day trip kid hauling trailers but very serious well engineered pieces of equipment that will allow you to not load all your stuff on your bike. I use the Nomad. It will carry 100 lbs of stuff which is almost ridiculous for primitive+ camping and when well loaded with balance over the wheels is done, is almost invisible to the biker. Do not commit to panniers until you have a chance to check this out. Even if I was going to stay in B&B's and do a credit card ride I would still use the trailer because you can so easily take along simple things that could make all the difference on a great trip such as what you are planning: tripod for the camera, a rain shelter, extra whatevers that don't fit into bags on the bike easily such as kites or fishing poles....and if you B&B your tow weight will be so slight on your bike that you really truly won't know that the trailer is there. With a Burley Nomad you won't be pulling along a liability but rather being able to take solutions to other possible problems with you on the trail. And no, I don't work for Burley, I just have owned one for 4 years. By the way, if your budget can handle it, get the optional cargo rack too and also put some Schwalbe Big Apple tires on the trailer. This is a serious recommendation from someone who has been both routes and knows what works.

The Burley works great for hauling wine on trips to Hermann. Panniers just won't hold enough to make the trip cost effective. If you're runnin wine, go for a trailer. A BOB would trump panniers too.

This too is a serious recommendation from someone who has been both routes and knows what works.

I'm Trek, and I approved this message.

If "fall" means after October 31 be aware all of the trail facilities with running water will be shut off, except the Rocheport one. Also, restaurants are mostly closed on Monday.

A luxury, but to me a necessity, is be sure to take a camera along, especially if you will be doing the trail during fall color season.

I found that frequent trail mix snacks and plenty water is helpful.

Wow---thanks for all the great info! I will probably print out everything and go from there. I have bought several training videos--including a century ride to simply put miles in the saddle. Now that the weather is nice, I can put those miles on my "real" bike!