Hey gang!  Hubby and I are heading out tomorrow, Friday, 6/13 for our annual, "are we really this stupid and plan on biking ridiculous number of miles in a week" trip.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, we will be biking the Katy Trail in Missouri.

The weather is questionable as well as the trail - this could be interesting. ::)

Sakina & Curlgirl will be holding down the fort here - so BE NICE everyone!

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share when we get back.  

You should have a nice trip. I don't know if the trail has any flood but the scenery is great, at least on the eastern 65 miles that I have traveled. Wish I could do this with you.

Are we ever anything but nice?   ;D

rodent wrote on Jun 12^th, 2008 at 10:30pm:

You should have a nice trip. I don't know if the trail has any flood but the scenery is great, at least on the eastern 65 miles that I have traveled. Wish I could do this with you.

I've seen on the trail conditions that there is a section that is closed due to flooding, so there will be at least 1 detour.

I wish you could do it with us as well!  We are looking forward to the scenery and a couple of wineries that are supposed to be in some of the towns.  (I just packed our corkscrew - just in case!!) ;D  Plus, I lilke how "out of touch" we are on these trips.  You forget everything and just get into the biking routine.  It is a wonderful escape.

Who knows, if this trip goes well, we might sign up for it again next year!  (which I think will be west to east - an easier ride!!)

I just checked the long term forcast. You may have thundershowers early monday but highs all week in the 80's. Great riding weather.

There are winerys in Augusta and in Herman, both on your first day out.

Added: If I am able to retire, I probably will do this trip next year.

Good luck and have fun ;)

Jerry

Well, I'm sure you're already gone; but God speed, have a fun/safe trip, and may your tires never go flat.   ;D

Have a nice trip, BB!

I hope you have a great, safe time...and take lots of pictures that you can show us when you return. :D

Here is where you can find what Robin is experiencing. It looks like great fun.
http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/2008ride.htm

Hopefully she will have her own pictures and stories of the trail when she returns. I would like to see how she likes the Katy Trail.

Cool 8-)

That looks like something I would have enjoyed a lot about 22 years ago when I was in really good shape and rode a 10-speed before I had a vehicle or a mountain bike ::)

The farthest I ever rode a bicycle in 1 day was about 80 miles which took me about 8 hours to do :o  But, if I was to even think about doing that again I would have to be in much better shape and ride my bike more than I do :P

Thank you for sharing that link with us ;)

Jerry

Jerry, your mountain bike is actually the correct bike for this trip. My furthest one day ride was 113 miles done in my mid-40's on the same trail Robin rode this week.

But not the hardest... This was two 108 mile rides on succesive days over big hills and outrunning dogs when I was 14.

Especially since my mountain bike has a front and rear shock 8-)

To be honest with you, I have only rode it in the actual mountains a few times :o


I have not ridden a 10-speed since the middle 80's and I am sure if I did it would feel very strange.


I remember when I first got a mountain bike after riding small 20" BMX bikes.  The mountain bike was like going from a compact car to a huge 18 wheeler :o


Jerry

I'm BAAAAAACK!

Wow, what a trip this was.  The weather was fantastic (minus the 2" of rain in 1 hour on Thursday evening), the trail was in great condition (other than the 2 flooded areas that we detoured around), and the scenery was beautiful.

Here are a couple of pictures to show you the beauty:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1266/4428415/19943517/322591522.jpg
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1266/4428415/19943517/322590444.jpg
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1266/4428415/19943517/322590448.jpg
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1266/4428415/19943517/322590503.jpg

We did encounter a "bit" of water.  Actually, there was water EVERYWHERE!!!!  Here is an example of how high the water was. (Hint - look for the street sign).
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1266/4428415/19943517/322590501.jpg

There were times we had water on both sides of the trail - just inches from coming across the trail.  The water was also lapping at the undersides of some of the bridges we crossed.

This was a camping trip.  Here is our tent and bikes at one of the overnights.  
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1266/4428415/19943517/322590446.jpg

All in all, it was a very relaxing, wonderful trip.  The mileage was easy for us.  65 miles the first day was a bit long, but not hard since there were no hills to contend with.  The crushed limestone was a bit loose in places, and is harder to ride on than the road, but it was not as bad as I thought it might be.

The 2nd day we rode about 58 miles, again, no hills, a nice, easy ride.

The rest of the days were much shorter distances, so we took our time and enjoyed the sights.  I had 2 flat tires - well, actually, slow leaks.  That made the ride a bit more difficult, but I still kept up without over exerting.

We were glad we were riding east to west as the threat of flooding was increasing and at least one camp area we were in was under water by the end of the week.

The ride was extremely well organized, the food was good.  I would recommend this ride to anyone wanting to try a multi-day ride for the first time.

Sir Rat;
I almost forgot - there is a brand new bridge into Hermann - it has a separated lane for pedestrians and bikers.  Very nice!

Great to have you back :)

I am glad you had a great time 8-)


Those are great pictures and Missouri looks pretty this time of year 8-)

I would love to visit St. Louis and have Sir Rat give Barb and I the grand tour ::)

Jerry

Quote:

Posted by: Jerry Posted on: Yesterday at 3:10pm ...Missouri looks pretty this time of year

Missouri IS pretty this time of year; very green.    8-)

Nice to see you back, Bikerbraid!  I'm glad that you had a good time and I really enjoyed your pictures!  Thanks for sharing them with us! :D

Oh, and I don't know why but I never thought about your overnight accomodations until I saw the tents.  You guys really roughed it (well to me that's roughing it ::)) I bet it's nice to be back in your own bed again. :)

I'm now wondering if a tent my be something fun and different to try in my backyard.  Do they keep out insects?

Yes, most tents do keep out insects (assuming you keep them zipped shut!).

FYI, there are are screen houses that are specifically designed to keep out flying bugs.  When we camp (other than our biking trips), we usually have a screen house that we put up and put the picnic table in so that we can at least eat without the bugs bothering us.

Thanks! :D

I saw a tent online that I thought was pretty cool.  It's mesh so that you can stargaze at night.  Although, I have some freaky looking bugs in my yard.  I might spray first or something to get rid of them before I sleep out in the grass... even if I am in a tent.

Most tents today have a rainfly to put over the tent.  But if you know it is not going to rain, you leave the rainfly off and you can see the stars thru the mesh.  Our tent actually has a clear plastic window in the rainfly so we can see out even when it is on.

Quote:

But if you know it is not going to rain, you leave the rainfly off and you can see the stars thru the mesh.

Oh, okay.  I saw tents with rainfly's.   I didn't know that the tents were mesh when they were removed.