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Great ride with one bad experience on 8/14/2012 10:08:08 PM:

I just have to share information about trail one mile west of McKittrick. The farmer there does not like bike riders. He mows his grass that contains those nasty puncture vine weeds blowing them onto the trail on purpose. I had 25 thorns in my front tire alone. When you see mowed grass onto the trail, carry your bike across this portion of trail. It will save you a lot of time from changing flat tires.

Doug from Bluffton on 8/15/2012 7:11:59 AM:

Oh you poor Dear. What a tacky thing for him to do!

Anonymous on 8/15/2012 3:50:20 PM:

I noticed the same thing earlier in the summer. Classy!

Also obvious that he has some support on this board...or that he is on the board. Again...classy!

Anonymous on 8/15/2012 7:42:00 PM:

Support on what board? The Katy Trail Board??? The McKitterick Board? What on earth are you talking about?

Gene from Indiana on 8/15/2012 11:29:55 PM:

Very Simple. Spray it. Do not use Roundup (glyphoste 41 generic) as it kills everything. Use a backpack sprayer and spray to his property line. He's probably mowing on trail property. I think that is that Texax "goathead" sand burr. Look for triclopyr in the herbacide product such as Ortho's Brush-B-Gon which is probably 6% triclopyr. If it's a leafy plant, 2-4D will work too. Use 3 oz per gallon of water.
I'm using Garlon 3A for our invasive plants in our woods. Somebody get Missouri Parks on this problem.

Anonymous on 8/16/2012 10:24:50 PM:

I am assuming they meant this MESSAGE BOARD...another name for a "comment forum".

Kevin from Jefferson City on 8/18/2012 3:17:26 PM:

I talked to some DNR folks working the trail this weekend. They have been clearing the thorns at McKittrick, Machens and other spots where they have popped up.

I met a family at McKittrick who found one in their tire just from going across the parking lot. Another couple from Peoria pulled one out of a tire a couple miles down the road.

These thorns thrive in sandy dry soil, which is probably why they are so prevalent this year. They can lay dormant for several years and then pop up when conditions are right.

Jim from St. Thomas on 8/18/2012 3:36:20 PM:

Let's not jump to the conclusion that the guy had malicious intent. Maybe he just likes things to look neat in front of his house.

Buddy from Jefferson City on 8/22/2012 10:32:46 PM:

Beware. These burrs are really flourishing on the south side of the parking lot at the trailhead in Jefferson City, too.

Rich Lauer from Hermann on 8/23/2012 11:46:40 AM:

I drove almost one and one-half miles searching for this thorny stretch. I did find about 300 feet of cuttings on the trail. If you encounter situations like this please contact us immediately with the exact distance from the Mckittrick Trail head. I took a leaf blower to to what I hope was the problem. I talked to the local farmer and he indicated he wouldn't have any desire to cut on DNR property. Look somewhere else for the culprit if this was the location.

Anonymous from KC, MO on 9/11/2012 5:17:26 PM:

Mile marker 90 was the culprit this past weekend for our group. 3 of 7 bikes had flats - one bike had 3 flats (that's an entirely different story)
Don't recall seeing grass on the trail - or anything indicative of malicious intent. But there were more than 50 thorns in one set of bike tires.

Jim from St. Louis on 9/12/2012 9:54:23 PM:

Was anybody running them--do the Kevlar tires offer any protection against these thorns as they claim.

Pam O from Independence on 9/12/2012 11:22:07 PM:

Guess the next time I ride the Katy I need to do some tire work by putting puncture proof liners in my tires.

DSD on 9/16/2012 5:55:11 AM:

I would recommend if you do much riding on the KT you invest in some kevlar lined tires (Schwalbe, Specialized, Bontanger, etc.). As the Tires on the Katy comment string mentioned it will save you from these nasty thorn flats.

MidSouth from Rogersville, Mo on 9/16/2012 7:22:31 AM:

We rode from St. Charles to Machens and back yesterday. No flat, no thorns. Did see one rider with a flat.

Kevster from Ada, OK on 9/16/2012 12:03:36 PM:

just finished the ride across Katy and the day in McKittrick and Rhineland served us with 3 flats on two bikes.

Anonymous on 9/17/2012 11:46:08 PM:

Are solid tires thornproof? Are kevlar tires flat proof? What about fillling my tires with that green goop?

Dana P from smithville mo on 9/18/2012 11:41:10 PM:

Sunday 9/16. 3 flats on 2 bikes from these thorns. Picked up in booneville area. Next ride columbus day weekend w 12 year old daughter. Have yet to personally change a tube, but will get kevlar lined and practice, since just us gals!

Anonymous on 9/22/2012 8:23:56 PM:

We were proud of ourselves for getting through the Rhineland-McKittrick area with no thorns after hearing of someone with 26 (stayed on the right heading east, or the side closest to 94). But then we got some around Marthasville. Pack a pair of tweezers to get them out!

Buddy from Jefferson City on 9/22/2012 10:21:09 PM:

Don't ride or push your bikes through any of the grass around the trailheads at Treloar and Marthasville. There were lots of goat head burrs growing there last Tuesday, and also at the Warren/Montgomery County signpost.

Robin from Macon on 9/24/2012 8:06:55 AM:

Rode Jeff City to Dutzow on Saturday --- 3 flats for us and many more for other riders that we encountered. Ours did not start happening until about Tealor.

Jim from St. Louis on 9/24/2012 10:05:31 AM:

Two of us rode yesterday from McKittrick to Treloar without problems--did run Kevlar tires, but didn't see any riders changng flats.

Anonymous on 9/25/2012 8:21:08 AM:

4 flats between 3 bikes between Mokane and Rhineland yesterday. Thank goodness we wrote down the Hermann bike shop # posted at Mokane. He saved us!! & those burrs were the culprits

MAH from Blue Springs, MO on 9/25/2012 11:24:54 AM:

Always appreciate a heads up...we will be going through that area in a few weeks.

Shayne from Wentzville on 9/29/2012 10:27:51 PM:

I just rode from Weldon Springs to Steedman and back to Weldon Springs today and had no issues with thorns or flats

Hank from New Have, MO on 9/30/2012 7:06:40 PM:

Hermann to McKittrick to Treloar and back today, no flats. We're riding normal cheap tires. Lots of walnuts and squirrels on the trail. Leaves already changing.

BILL from JEFFERSON CITY, MO on 10/2/2012 10:48:50 PM:

I rode between McKittrick and Rhineland round trip today. Based upon this thread, I was super careful to avoid grass clippings. My Catrike has 3 opportunities for thorns instead of 2. I was lucky, but I encountered someone who was not so lucky. This was about 1 mile West of McKittrick. He showed me the thorn as he was changing his tire. Lots of leaves on the trail now in wooded areas and lots of walnuts. Leaves are just beginning to turn.

BILL from JEFFERSON CITY on 10/3/2012 7:37:47 PM:

As I was cleaning up the Catrike this morning from yesterday's ride between McKittrick and Rhineland, I discovered a thorn still lodged in one of my tires. Fortunately, it was in the thickest part of the tread and the tires have only around 200 miles on them. It did not penetrate the tire and get to the tube. My tires are Schwalbe Marathon Racers (standard on the Catrike) and I think they have kevlar bands. I was grateful for not having a flat.

denise wallace from Fulton on 10/6/2012 6:42:23 PM:

We just rode through there this week. We got the heads up from other riders.We walked our bikes through cut grass and ended up with only one flat tire. We saw the farmer cutting. Not sure it was on purpose. He was just cutting. Ride down the middle and walk through cut grass!

merkin4 from St Peters MO on 10/9/2012 2:24:46 PM:

I rode St. Charles to Machens on Saturday - got a flat Frontier Park on the way back. Changed the tube and was about to start up again and heard the hiss start up again. Decided to call it a day. Managed 60 miles on Sunday, though. The flat happened even with Kevlar bands. I just bought a super-heavy-duty Slime tube for the front tire, and will install that this week.

Stopped on my Sunday ride to help a gentleman who'd been in a crash. A reminder to all you riders - Karma points are a good thing to earn. Two minutes of my time saved the guy several miles of walking with a locked-up wheel.

Darrylth from Union, MO on 10/14/2012 8:15:57 PM:

Two weeks ago we road from Treloar to Dutzow and had three flats on three bikes. We pulled out probably 10 thers that didn't cause a flat (we have the self sealing tires - though they do not always work). This week we road from Augusta to Marthasville and didn't have any problems.

Doug from Edwardsville, IL on 10/15/2012 6:35:26 PM:

Rode the entire trail last week, 2 hybrids and one 2-wheel trailer. Got a flat on the trailer near Pilot Grove on an unprotected tire. The hybrids had thorn-resistant tubes and tires. We kept looking for goatheads but did not see any. But we were careful around clippings and appreciate the heads-up from others here.

Bill Penland from Ottawa, KS on 10/16/2012 6:23:23 AM:

A buddy and I rode the trail end to end (Clinton to Machens) this past Weds-Sat. We had much trepidation about this section of trail due to this thread, but thankfully never flatted. We did use a lot of caution from roughly Portland to Dutzow to try to ride over NOTHING organic - no clippings, no leaves, no branches, etc.

Happily we got through without issue - however, next afternoon I DID notice one thorn in my outer tire rubber. It hadn't penetrated through to the tube, and since I saw it in the afternoon, I may well have picked it up somewhere further east of Dutzow (the start of our last day).

Will from Ottawa on 12/12/2019 8:56:51 AM:

Mondays & Tuesdays -- Hi, was doing to research for a 2020 end-to-end west-to-east self-supported ride. I am a first-timer and see over and over again that Mondays and Tuesdays can be a little difficult because shops/restaurants/facilities in some towns are closed those days. Are there specific cities/routes that should be avoided on those days? What are the best days to start a ride from Clinton? Thanks in advance

FEEDBACK! - Please let us know if you have suggestions, corrections, complaints, or ideas. Your input is valued and appreciated - thanks in advance!

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