shuttle suggestions

I just finished the Trail, and wanted to offer a couple suggestions regarding one of the more logistically challenging parts of the trip for me - getting to and from the Trail.

I was going to be in St. Louis anyway for other reasons, so when I decided to tack this ride onto my trip, I decided the best way was to (1) rent a bike in St. Louis (from Big Shark, $100 for the week, including helmet and lock), (2) take the Amtrak (around $30, including the bike and AAA discount) to the closest stop to Clinton, which is Warrensburg, and (3) hire a shuttle to pick me up from the depot in Warrensburg to take me to the Clinton trailhead ($45).

Things went smoothly until I arrived at the Warrensburg depot and my shuttle (which I'd booked several weeks in advance, and confirmed via email and phone) wasn't there. I called, and the guy answering said they had no record of me on the schedule for the day, so it was going to be about 3 hours before they could get there. I was a little annoyed, but at least it gave me time to rearrange my gear and find a local grocery store to stock up with a few final things before getting on the trail.

But after 3 1/2 hours, I still hadn't heard anything from them. When I called, the guy said, "Oh yeah, I was just about to look for your number. Sorry, it's probably going to be at least another 2-3 hours." Obviously I didn't wait around any longer - I found the number of a local cab company on the wall of the station, and they were there within 3 minutes. They charged the same amount ($45) for the trip to Clinton as the other guy, and the driver was also friendly, knowledgeable, and fun to talk to -- I'd highly recommend them: Central Cab in Warrensburg, 660-429-5523.

The funny thing was that the Central driver, when I told him about why half my day had already been wasted and who was responsible for it, said that they hear stories about that other company all the time from customers left abandon

Too bad about your shuttle Boston, and thanks for the info on both companies, bad and good duly noted. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip on the Katy!

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...they hear stories about that other company all the time from customers left abandoned. I won't go into all the stories he told me, but I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND AGAINST a company called Victory Shuttle & Taxi, based in Sedalia and owned by a guy named Jerry Grable. Victory also goes by the names "B & L", "Spirit", and "A+", among others. A company that has so many aliases indicates to me either (1) they have to keep changing because with every new entity, they quickly establish a terrible reputation for themselves, or (2) they're unlicensed, and are working some sort of tax evasion scam. Either way, it's shady behavior. I noticed that "B & L" and "Victory" are both listed in the Trip Planner section of this website, so just be careful.Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can say that the rest of the trip was awesome -- weather was mostly 70s in the days, 50s at night. Beautiful scenery, interesting history, and really friendly people. I did have to make one side trip into Columbia for a mechanical issue that couldn't be fixed on the Trail, but the guys at Tryathletics took care of it for me right away, and hardly charged anything at all. When I got to St. Louis, the only issue was how to get across the river from St. Charles back to the city, since the 370 route is no longer open to bicycles or pedestrians. Google recommended taking 374, but that was way out of the way for my somewhat tight time schedule, so I ended up just getting a ride from one of the local bike shops. The guys at the 2nd Street shop said they couldn't take me, but they called Lococo for me and set it up. Again, the people at both places were awesome, and the fee to go into town from there with the bike and gear was $20 - well worth the cost given my situation.So I guess the moral is that there are a ton of friendly, helpful people along the trail, but a few sketchy ones as well - so just be sure to do your research before