Reply to Clear and Uniform Reporting?

Hi, everyone. It seems that many people are seeking information, and that many people have information. It also seems like there's not a good matchup between the two.

Locals are a great source of information. You guys get out and ride sections of the trail on a weekly or even daily basis. You know the trail like the back of your hand.

Without you, the trail would die, because you are THE ONLY up to date source of info! THANK YOU!!!

To those of us who don't know the trail well, we generally think of the trail in terms of the little yellow dots with blue text on the map up above.

So for non-locals, something like the following is really helpful, just as an fictitious example:
Sedalia to Pilot Grove is basically fully rideable.
Bridge washout near Pilot Grove has been repaired, but I had to lift my bike over a four foot plastic fence.
A large tree is down approximately 2 miles west of Pilot Grove, but we were able to easily walk through.
Very close to Pilot Grove, there was a 300 foot section of silt that was dry enough to ride on, but it might turn to mud in a hurry if it rains. There’s an obvious ridearound on a local road, though.

But something like this doesn’t mean a lot to us:
Rode from the old Kiwani’s boat ramp at the Clear Creek Bend to the closed Taylor’s Bait Shop. The parking lot of the bait shop flooded, but the store didn't. We made it, but it was a little dicey. Some gravel and some mud. Watch out where the highway crosses.

We just don’t even know where those places are, or what dicey means to you, or how strong of a rider you are, or what highway, or why a flooded parking lot is significant. Because we only know the little yellow dots and the blue text.

So maybe as you awesome, helpful locals get out and ride, you could make a post with the name of the little yellow dot you started at, and the little dot you rode to, and describe what you saw in a way that makes sense to us poor out-of-towners who don’t get to live next to the greatest bike trail in the world.

The locals are really what makes the trail great. There are plenty of 200 mile gravel roads we could ride on. They just don’t have the amazing support that the Katy does! Our favorite parts of the trail were the beautiful, peaceful scenery, and the great locals we met in the little towns along the way.

Thanks for your help as we all try to figure out our plans!!!

Has any one been on the section leaving from Jefferson City then on to Portland and from Portland to Mckendrick?

Well said Bill, most eloquently stated. We really do appreciate the updates from those of you lucky enough to be around the Trail (lucky unless you got flooded).
I also wish that out-of-towners would stop asking the same questions which have already been asked a hundred times: "can we cycle the whole trail?", and "will it be ok by X date?". The answer seems to be come back loud and clear: "We just don't know; watch this space; stay positive".
And a very big thanks to all those working to get the Trail back in shape.
We have booked 26 September to 1 October 2019 (definitely 2019 - I love the thread of reincarnated posts from 2013) and come hell or high water will be cycling somewhere on the KATY.

Good on ya both, Bill and Michael. I've had similar thoughts. All of the repetition in questions when people won't read the forum is crazy. And the ramble that often doesn't really clarify where a problem is just doesn't help sometimes.

Perhaps Ray could help with a page to report trail conditions/closures. A form perhaps that allowed the same format of report each time. Tic boxes to select specific locations and conditions encountered that would generate reports in chronological order could be of benefit.

Thanks for the input - you guys are offering some great ideas!

Especially this year, there's a real need for making the most current trail condition info readily available and easy to digest. I've been struggling with how to effectively do this beyond the forum posts, and the ideas above provide a good framework.

I'm thinking of a page where you would enter:
- the date
- Point A
- Point B
- a scale where you could assess that section from 1 (impassible) to 5 (perfect condition)
- a free-form text box to add details

Then there would be a reporting page where you could see all the trail condition entries, with the ability to filter and sort by date and/or location.

It would still take a little effort to digest the info, due to overlapping entries - for example, rider #1 reports on Augusta-Jeff City on Monday, and Rider 2 reports on Portland - Hartsburg on Wednesday. But still, it would be way more organized and understandable than trying to sort through the text of all the forum entries.

I'll work on this over the next few days, and hopefully have a handy trail conditions reporting tool within a week or so.

Thanks for the input, and happy trails!

That would be fantastic Ray.

Is there anyway that locations could be pinpointed on a map to readily see where the issues are?

Again, thank you again for all that you do for the Katy community. This website is top notch and all that you do is very appreciated.

Ray, that sounds like it would be super helpful. Thanks for the work you do for us.

Yes, Ray - that information would be super helpful.

I recently printed maps of the Katy and highlighted the sections that the Missouri State Parks Website said were closed. Then I scoured this site for any information related to those closed areas and marked those up on the same map. I then utilized Google Maps to research highway detours, even went as far as going to street level view to understand what the highway would look like for riding. All of this took about 2 hours to put together. My Clinton to Machens trip is scheduled for the end of August. From what I've learned, my trip is a go. We have a car that will be traveling with our group, so we'll just have them pick us up if we get into a detour situation that we don't feel comfortable with. Sounds like there will be some rough sections, but there are many sections that are still rideable - and as other posters mentioned, those stores/restaurants could use our business. I'd like to continue to update my maps as we get closer to the date, so any organized way that there is to be able to share information would be super helpful.

And thank you to everyone who has posted information on here related to the trail conditions. It's been super helpful.

I like the map idea. MODOT does it with road conditions, but still has problems with keeping it updated. For instance, HWY94 shows flooded between our house and Wainwright yet the water finally went down a few days ago. Then there is the problem of inaccurate input especially with multiple people providing the information. If those problems could be overcome, the map would be an excellent source for a quick trip planning tool.