Web Album

https://picasaweb.google.com/Denbo1510/KatyTrip?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKyVkpHg_5iO3wE&feat=directlink

I thought it might be time to repost the album of our May 2013 ride on the Katy Trail.

Thanks for the repost. I'm the guy on the "tricked out touring bike" that took your picture at the Clifton City trailhead.

Either will do just fine. So will any number of other bikes. The Katy is not real demanding--it's a flat rail bed with a hard surface, and good shelter from the wind.

Anything you spend more than $400 on will work great, stay adjusted, etc. i personally think a hybrid with 32s or 37s is the best way to go for most people. I say start there. Then, if you get Into it, go buy what you want once you know what you want.

More importantly, spend as much time as you can on your new bike before you get to the Katy. Adjust it. Tweak it. Make it fit you. Get in shape to ride it. Learn how to drink when you are not thirsty, and eat when you are not hungry so you can ride as long as you want to ride. Make sure you can fix a flat, and adjust the tension on your new shifter cable (or bring someone with you who can). Buy a chain tool and a master link, and know what to do with them too.

Those things, not the type of bike you have, will make it a great trip

Sound advice....has nothing to do with the previous posts....but sound advice.

"Katy is not real demanding."

????

Depends on a whole lot of factors including your physical condition and how hard and how long you want to ride on it.

For example...tell that to the folks who have ridden Clinton to St. Charles in a single day...

Katy is not real demanding. Yes, this was mis-posted to the wrong thread. But I stand by my statement that "Katy is not real demanding": At least as compared to other rides.

Go spend 200 miles on the Trans-Iowa Gravel Grinder, or The Dirty Kanza in Kansas. Go spend some time in Leadville,Co, or anywhere in the Rocky Mountains. Go do some of that stuff on a bike, then come back to the Katy and tell me honestly that lolly gagging on a hard packed limestone rail trail is not less demanding than some other rides. Having a place to get a cold drink, food, etc, at least every 20 miles is a very nice luxury on the Katy compared to many other rides.

A one day Katy attempt is a daunting task that would require lots of preparation, but I think, comparatively, it would be an easy ride. Yes, I think it is easier than the same distance on the road because you do not have to deal with cars, (as much) wind, heat, etc. If you pick the right day, you might even get a 240 mile tailwind. I'm thinking about a one day Katy attempt next year: I am not stupid enough to try Dirty Kanza EVER again!

For several years, I rode an old 1990s mountain bike with slicks on it and did great on the Katy. I would not think about taking it out to some of those other rides. Any decent quality bike that fits you will work good enough on the Katy.

So then the bottom line is the person and how fit they are to ride the trail and their ability to endure. Just because you have a tricked out touring bike doesn't mean you'll last more than a few hours out on the trail. A cheaper bike with greater knowledge of it and where you are riding may make more sense than the ability to brag about your oh so cool bike.

Here is a picture of the ramp to the bridge lane to Jefferson
city.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XqqyAJk1q1A/UZWVcVQmbzI/AAAAAAAAK9s/d59ccuMvfNE/s1600/Jefferson-City-MO-bike-switchback-ramp-infrastructure-bridge.jpg

This is a report I emailed to a friend who wants to ride the Katy this year. I am posting it here for those who are lurking, but may want the information themselves.


There is a guidebook available. The author is in the process of revising it for the 10th edition and it would be available in about June. Info on the Katy Trail website. http://www.bikekatytrail.com/default.aspx I used the 9th edition and the website for all planning info, then I called each place at which I planned to stay or eat to make sure it was open and get the hours of operation. I read all the comments below the info on each of these places on the web site to see what the folks thought about them. There was one place that had lots of negative comments, but we were pleasantly surprised when we ate lunch there.

We drove to St. Charles and the Lococo House B&B. Leo and Rhona Lococo have a shuttle service we could use, if we stayed at their B&B. I booked them for the end of the ride and they took us to Clinton the day before we started.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Clinton. About a 1.5 ride to the trailhead. Total miles that day 41.66 to Sedalia and the Hotel Bothwell. We ate lunch at Raymond's in Windsor and had beers and ate dinner at the hotel. Very nice lady running the bar. It rained several hours in the morning, which made the crushed limestone kind of soft, about a gear or 2 lower. The first 2 days are a little hilly, not nearly as much as the GAP, but we had a support wagon on that one.

Next morning, we spent some money at a trail depot in Sedalia, then rode to Boonville's Holiday Inn Express. There was a cutoff a couple miles short of town that we took to the hotel. Total miles 35.89. We took a taxi to town