The Katy Trail 2024 - The Entire Blog

 Planning for Our Long Ride of 2024

The group of six of us (Ellen Hagerty, Tom Joseph, Mary Compton, Rex Craig, Ann and I completed two rides in 2022 and 2023:  The Erie Canal and Great Allegheny Passageway, respectively.  The discussion for the 2024 ride has been ongoing since our ride last year.  The Katy Trail is the longest rails to trails trail in America...it basically crosses Missouri.  While we enjoyed SAG wagon support from Ellen last year, we explored using a company to help with shuttle and luggage transfers.  We came upon Noble Inventions based out of Pittsburgh.  Part of the contract included a 45 minute conference call with the owner/operator, Sara Petyk.  They make all our accomodation reservations, arrange for a shuttle ride from St. Charles (our end point) to Clinton (our starting point).  They also arrange to move our luggage each day.  In the two previous rides we've had one day with no riding.  Since Hermann, MO is a German community and Oktoberfest is underway, they required a two night minimum..which making our choice of where to spend an extra day an easy one.  

HISTORY OF THE KATY TRAIL

The Katy Trail is now managed by Missouri State Parks, but began as the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad. The railroad line, nicknamed the “Katy”, was built in the 1890s during the expansion of US interests to the West. The railroads were the most reliable method for transporting goods across the rapidly growing country.

The railroad ceased operations in 1986. A portion of the right-of-way was acquired by Missouri State Parks, through legislation as well as a generous donation from Edward D. “Ted” Jones Jr. and Pat Jones.

 The first section of the Katy Trail was opened to cyclists in 1990 at Rocheport. Further land acquisitions were completed through the 1990s until the entire 237.7-mile length was completed between Clinton and Machens (just past St Charles) in 1999.

Currently land acquisitions and construction are underway to extend the Katy Trail westward from  Windsor toward Kansas City.

Travel Days - Powhatan to Lexington to St. Charles & Shuttle to Clinton, MO

 October 10-12

We left Powhatan at 8:15 with a full charge on the Tesla.  Our destination was Lexington, KY.  There was lots of construction but no real problems.  The Tesla was conservative in its mileage estimates causing us to make one extra charging stop in Charleston, WV.  In Lexington we found a Supercharger near our hotel and just across the street from a Steak'n'Shake.  I had purchased Steak'n'Shake gift cards at Christmas 2023 mistaking it for another burger place in Richmond.  Our Steak'n'Shake closed several years ago...so we got to use the gift cards in Lexington.

Our drive the next day was just 5 hours and with one charging stop along the way.   When we arrived in St. Charles, we found a destination Tesla charging station with no idle fees, so we plugged in, set the car to fully charge and took a ride on the Katy Trail.  While St. Charles will be our final destination in about 8 days, the trail actually runs 13 miles east of St. Charles to Machens, MO, where the Katy met a north-south train line.   We got to ring the bell at Machens.

When we returned, it was time to check into our hotel, the Country Inn and Suites...where we met up with our fellow riders for cocktails and dinner.

On Saturday morning October 12, we met our shuttle ride at the white gazebo behind the Country Inn and Suites.  Rick, our driver, loaded the bikes and luggage in the trailer and drove us to Clinton, MO stopping at several places along the way to drop of bikes, riders and luggage.  We arrived in Clinton about 3PM.   We were able to check into the Hampton Inn and get situated.  We had time for a swim.  Tom, Ellen, Rex and Mary did Mass.  We met up at 6:30 in the Truman Lounge for marguaritas, appropriate for the dinner planned at El Camino Real that evening.  We had a great dinner on the patio (one of our last warm nights for the week).  We were ready to ride tomorrow morning!!

Day 1 - Clinton to Sedalia

 October 13

We rose to a beautiful morning in Clinton.  Breakfast at the Hampton Inn at 7:00.   We got our bags repacked and placed in the lobby for the shuttle driver to pick up by 9am.  We hit the trail at about 9:15.  It took awhile to get to the trailhead (about 3 miles).  After trying to adjust tire pressures and ringing the obligatory bell at the start of the ride, we began in earnest at about 10am.  

We had about 40 miles to ride to Sedalia.   The only lunch spot along the trail was at Green Ridge where we stopped at Mona's Red Barn Cafe.  They had two specials, fried chicken and smoked pork chops.  We tried both.   Our server was Della.  Mona never appeared, but her husband was in the dining room with us.  He said, he just did what he was told.  

We rolled into Sedalia around 3pm.  We were able to check in, take our bikes to the room, retrieve our bags (which had been delivered and placed the now obsolete telephone booths in the lobby.  The hotel Bothwell was opened in 1927.  After cleaning up, we met for cocktails in the lobby where we had a long discussion with Carla & Craig, folks from southern Illinois.  After drinks we crossed the street to the only restaurant opened in Sedalia on a Sunday night, Fitter's.  We enjoyed sandwiches and salads. It was a good day on the Katy!

Day 2 October 14 Sedalia to Boonville

The temperature dropped overnight resulted in a cold start to our morning ride.   We traveled by corn fields and farm lands.  We saw one remaining Katy Railroad traffic signal. We stopped for lunch in Pilot Grove and warmed up in the sun.  Our lunch spot, Katarina's Home Style Cafe, was closed because evidentally Katarina had had a baby boy! So we just snacked on apples, stroopwaffles and energy bars.  We arrived in Boonville at around 3pm to check into the Hotel Frederick, a hotel built in the early 1900's with a few upgrades but with glimpses of earlier construction.   Rather than bikes in our rooms, they had to be secured in a "bike room" with about 20-30 other bikes, a lot of which were plugged in and charging.  

Cocktail hour was in the lobby of the hotel.  Becuase of this being a Monday (and Columbus Day) only three options were open for dinner:  Maggie's Bar and Grill, a Mexican restaurant and Breadeaux Pizza.  We had earlier selected Breadeax and we were not disappointed.  They did a nice job of pizza, Greek salad and breadsticks.   

Because of our shorter ride tomorrow, we opted to sleep in with breakfast at 8, bags out at 9 and departing Boonville at 10. 

Day 3 Boonville to Columbia October 15

We opted for a later breakfast and start time since we had a fairly short ride over to Columbia. The breakfast room was a little bit smaller so we ended up eating in a nearby conference room. The breakfast was definitely more Continental. There were no cooked items at all. No waffles, no pancakes, no eggs, no sausage, no bacon. At approximately 14 mi we stopped at a noted restaurant bike shop called The Merryweather Cafe. We had a delightful waitress. Mariah, who was often kidded about being named after a wind. We all ordered either a breakfast or a lunch and hot coffee to warm us up. We were joined at the table by Tim, a retired policeman from Concord, North Carolina. He had been married 25 years but his wife became schizophrenic and she passed away a couple of years ago. They had some really neat bike jerseys but they weren't identified as bring in the Katy Trail. So Ann opted just to get a really nice Meriweather Cafe t-shirt instead. 

A local lady at the Meriweather that told us we needed to stop at the Burr oak tree before we got to the MKT Trail that leads to Columbia. We all missed the cut off to the burrow tree. When we arrived at the MKT trailhead, we turned back and rode back approximately a mile and turn left down to the Burr oak tree. The baroque tree is approximately 400 years old and sits lonely out in a field near the road. The name of the tree got its name from. It's very unusual. Acorns that have a fur like thing around the the acorn. 

After we left the tree, we had it down the trail and then took a left on the MKT Trail, which we think was a former rail spur that goes up to Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri. 

We hope to have had dinner at a German restaurant. Hans Gunter Hans but they were not serving dinner that night just pretzels and beer. So we opted to go across the street to a deli called the Pickleman.

Day 4 Columbia to Jefferson City October 16

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast that was included in our room rate (thank's Noble Inventions).   We could have any one entree and a drink, including specialty coffees.  Before getting back on the trail we rode to the University of Missouri campus to see the "columns" and the quad.  U or M was the first state university in the Louisana Purchase territory.  There's a statue of Jefferson and his original tombstone. The columns were the remains of the Academic Hall, built in 1840 and burned in 1892. 

We weaved our way back to the MKT trail to return the 8.8 miles to the Katy Trail on our way to Jefferson City (called by locals "Jeff City").  We didn't think there was an open restaurant on our way, so we packed snacks for the ride.  But at Cooper Landing there was a snack bar at an RV campground along the Missouri Rive.  A scenic place to stop.   We met up with a retired Air Force pulmonolgist and a geography professor (we never learned how they met).  We had a delightful conversation with them.

At Jefferson City we had trouble finding the Katy Trail spur headed south because it wasn't well marked.  At the Missouri Rive bridge we came upon a multi layer spiral incline to get up to the deck of the bridge, which had a dedicated bike lane.   We were just a few blocks shy of our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott.  We were able to get in a swim and laundry before cocktails and dinner.  We ate at Paddy Malone's, an Irish pub for bratwurst, Red Ale and Reubens.

 Day 5 Jefferson City to Hermann October 17 

Today will be our longest day on the trail...47 miles.   We had a complimentary breakfast at the Courtyard Marriott...limited to $20 each.  Ours ended up $39.68.  We stopped in Portland, MO for lunch at the Holzhauser Bar and Grill after 30 miles.  We had delicious catfish and pork tenderloin.   Then we only had 17 miles to go to get to Hermann.

The spur to Hermann was well marked and there was a nice paved bike lane into town.  We had a little trouble checking in because we hadn't received the email with the door code.  Neither the phone number of the inn nor the one for Noble Inventions answered.  We were able to reach Sarah Petyk on the Noble Emergency line, but we were called back by the innkeeper with the code to let us enter.  Our bags were all there.   

Each of us had a king sized luxury suite with "jacuzzi" soaker tub and gas log fireplace.   We were able to sit in the enclosed courtyard for cocktails..where they had a gas patio firepit.  

For dinner we had reservations at Zydeco (though they had not recorded our reservation, but were able to accomodate us).  As we walked to dinner we had to walk through several closed blocks for a "witch" party.  There were 100's of ladies all in varied witches costumes.  

 Betty, Travis and James were our servers/bartender.  Some of us had sazeracs, gumbo, crawfish etouffe, po boy and catfish.  It was very authentically Cajun.  We walked back to the inn for a nitght cap beside the firepit.

October 18

We had prearranged to spend two nights in Hermann....so no biking today.   All opted to just do coffee in the room instead of going for breakfast.  We met out front of the inn to summon an Uber.  We tried twice...both were never fulfilled, so we opted to do a walking tour to the Stone Hill Winery (about 1 mile from our inn).  It was a lovely morning in Hermann.  

So we stopped to see some of the city's historic homes and the City Park before reaching the winery.  We got there in time to do a wine tasting before our cellar tour.  We tasted six wines out of about 24 choices.  A few were "grayed" out as they are their pricier wines.  The wines were much better than what Bennie remembered 40 some years ago.  We picked three to actually purchase and have sent home.  

The cellar tour by Maddy (Madison???) took us through an expansive series of rooms with a mixture of oak and stainless tanks.  Maddy pointed out one pre-prohibition cask that was used by a Catholic Church for "sacramental" wine.  Prohibition devastated the wine business in Hermann....barrels and casks were destroyed, vineyards were uprooted and burned.  Before prohibition the winery overlooked a valley of vineyards, but is now filled with homes.   Stone Hill Winery didn't get restarted until 1965. 

After our tour we enjoyed our German fare in a former stable.  Ellen commented that it was some of the best German food she had had.  We shared a soft pretzel charcuterie and folks had schnitzel and brats for their meal.  Ellen and Tom treated us to a bottle of Stone Hill's white wine.  

Cassidy, our server, researched and found two transportation alternatives...one was Debby ran her own company called "Lyft You Up" and a black mini-van.  She charged $12 for each ride for the six of us.  She shuttled us from Stone Hill to Copper Mule Bourbon Distillery where we were told by Travis at Zydeco to have a Bourbon Slush and overlook the valley.  It was an excellent recommendation. 

Rex and Mary opted to walk back to town, while the rest of us relied on Debby to bring us home.  

Bennie & Ann did some shopping to find some Hermann treasures.   

We met in the courtyard for some German beers (from Munich by way of Tipton, IN) to hear Ann's enlightening Natchez Trace talk.  She received some valuable feedback to make her talk more impactful to her DAR audience.  

For dinner we walked to the nearby Concert Hall for more German fare.  It was not quite as good as our lunch repast and the venue was loud.  The building is no longer a concert hall, but it is the longest operating tavern west of the Mississippi.  

Day 6 Hermann to Augusta October 19

We woke up to a foggy morning but by the time we had had breakfast the skies were blue. We headed to the Herman Wursthaus for breakfast and enjoyed bacon, sausage biscuits, eggs and coffee before heading back to the the inn to finish packing up. 

We took photos at the Hermann Riverfront sign before heading out. 

The ride to our lunch stop got progressively warmer and we were able to shed some layers. Everyone enjoyed the sunshine. So we stopped for lunch in Marthasville at the Twin Gables Bar and ate on the patio outside. Lunch was excellent and we were ready to get back on the trail. 

The ride to Augusta was uneventful until we arrived in the town. A large uphill required some walking by the non e-bike folks. We were greeted by Kathy who had a place for both e-bikes and regular bikes. We were able to charge up in the shed she provided. 

We had a quick turnaround until supper. Dinner was at the Root. They had an eclectic menu. Alan and Bennie had the wine pairings and enjoyed the wines a little more than the food. After dinner we had the option of a hot tub or conversation at the outdoor fireplace. Both were enjoyed before heading to bed.

Day 7 - Our Final Ride - Augusta to St. Charles - October 20

So our final day of riding was Sunday and the Catholics opted to go to an 8:00 a.m. Mass about a mile away from the inn. Another guest offered her car so the four of them didn't need to walk or ride their bikes to church. Kathy had coffee ready for us at 6:00 a.m. and then had the table set for breakfast at 9:00. The breakfast included a fruit salad followed by a plate of apple dumpling, sliced apples and bacon. 

This was the shortest ride of our trip 27 miles and it was relatively uneventful. We did a brief stop at the Miss Augusta boat on the Missouri River. 

The second stop was at some sunflower decorated silos, a signature photograph often taken on the Katy Trail. 

We arrived at the Country Inn & Suites at about 1 o'clock.  We pulled our cars into the underground garage.  We went up to the lobby to retrieve our luggage. We loaded our cars, change clothes and had a celebratory toast before saying goodbye. 

Overall everyone was pleased with our great weather. We had sunshine everyday. Noble Inventions did a great job choosing our overnight stops and arranging for the luggage transport. 

The group is looking forward to our reunion next year biking the Ohio to Erie Trail.