Katy Trail: Riding Part One

(I am embarrassed to admit how long this took to finally write and post. I started writing it right after the trip, which was mid-May. I then had issues with uploading all the pictures onto the computer to get on the blog. And then I just...didn't write. So with much delay, I am posting this)

I am pleased to announce that my friend, Q and I survived the Katy Trail. 

Which, honestly, I am shocked. The trip almost didn't happen. This just goes to show that it does not matter how much you plan something out, sometimes life has other ideas.

My last post had our official plan. See it here if you would like. However, this plan ended up completely changing. Here's what went down.

Q's parents were nice enough to drive us to Columbia where Patty was meeting us with the RV. We were then to drive that evening to Clinton so we could start biking Monday morning. Patty made it to Columbia shortly after we did...aaand the RV died. Seriously. All the planning, all the training, all the anticipation, and the one thing we did not even consider could happen, happened.

The RV!

So we ended up staying the evening in Columbia, unsure if we would be able to get to do any of the trail and we were all in rather foul moods. What do I do when I am frustrated/angry/sad/stressed? Go to a park, of course. So Q showed me around and we walked around two nearby parks. One had cool exercise machines around a trail and I am pretty stoked to say I finally did my first ever unassisted pull up and chin up. 

Anyway, the RV got fixed Monday morning and we were able to get on the road to Clinton. Instead of getting to bike early in the morning, we did not get to bike until about 2:30 PM. Needless to say, our 70 mile day did not occur. We ended up only doing 37 miles, making it to Sedalia. 

We had to take before pictures!

I wish I could say that 37 miles was easy for me, but that would be a giant lie. I completely struggled with day one. Which freaked me out. If I struggled with just doing 37 miles, how the heck did I expect to do the up coming longer days?! I was also worried that Q, who spent more time on a bike than I did regularly would get super sick of my slow pace.

This stretch of the trail was sort of boring in comparison to other stretches. However, you do get to get to the "High Point" of the trail. Despite the Katy being more or less a flat trail (since it used to be a rail road track), there is some change in elevation. And when you are in the areas of just open land and fields and there is no shade in sight, you can feel that ever so slight up-hill feeling.

The very sunny high point of the trail

We did not know where we were going to stay the first night since our plan was not being followed anymore. We realized that Sedalia was as far as we would make it, so we started searching for RV options. We rolled into the Sedalia train depot (which was super adorable, by the way) and Patty was waiting for us. We saw a couple sitting outside their RV in the parking lot so Patty went over to them to ask where they were staying for the night. They said they got permission from the depot to just park there for the night, so we did the same. 

Tired. Worn Out. Happy to be off the bike. 

We Made it to Sedalia!

Despite day one being much shorter than we had originally planned, I was just excited we were even on the trail. I forgot how much harder the Katy Trail was compared to paved bike trails. I don't even know how many times we looked at each other the first few miles and just exclaimed our excitement and disbelief that we were actually on the Katy.

Our accidental matching outfits for day two

Day two we took off from Sedalia and made it to Hartsburg, making that day 72.5 miles. We ended up rolling into the last stop a few minutes past Sunset. The last few miles were awfully miserable; I was tired and sore (especially my thighs and bum) and the bugs were just ridiculous as the day went on. We did get to go through some tunnels and over many bridges that day, which meant some neat pictures. 

Q in a Tunnel

Resting on a Bridge

We rested at every trailhead, which ranged between 5 miles to 16 miles. The trailheads are located in the towns that the MKT Railroad had stopped in. Each trailhead looked like a mini train stop. I really enjoyed all the train details throughout the entire trip. Each rest time was about 10-20 minutes, depending on how long we had biked to get there. Sometimes on the longer legs we stopped after X amount of biking just to rest our bodies or hydrate. We also took about an hour break each day for lunch where we could eat, stretch, and rest in the shade. Lunch breaks were a God send, seriously. I think letting your body rest up and power up is insanely important in order to do the long days. And we had some 10-12 hour days of biking. 

And, let's face it. I was not in as good of shape as Q. He was so patient with me and we balanced each other nicely. I tried to bike quicker for his sake, and he slowed down for me. 

Once we made it to the first stop after Sedalia (Clifton City) we kept running into the same little groups of cyclists along the way. We would all end up meeting at each rest place around the same time. It was fun getting to talk to other riders along the way and hear their experience levels and advice. Some of them were doing it for the first time, like us, and were taking much more time to do it. Others had done this ten plus times before. But when we hit about 50 miles for the day, we lost all the people we had been meeting up with, because they stopped. We pushed on another 20+ miles.

Standing in the Rocheport Tunnel

Day two had the most beautiful stretch of the trail in my opinion, especially the Rocheport area. The above picture is me inside the Rocheport tunnel, which is one of the iconic stops along the Katy Trail. It is a beautiful tunnel. I loved all the aspects along the trail that made you think about the history of the trail and the importance of the railroad, and this tunnel just embodies that. 

Q decided we needed to go off the trail and go to the Big Tree which can be found just near McBaine, MO. This tree is 350-400 years old and is 90 feet tall. Talk about feeling tiny and insignificant. This is a sight that is definitely worth seeing and is just a quick ride away from the trail.

I just needed to hug it

Q snuggled up to it, too.

Needless to say, I am very happy we took the time to go look at The Big Tree. If/when I ride the Katy again, I will give myself more days to do it so I can do more exploring like this along the way. There is just so much to see!

Like I mentioned, we rolled into the last stop of day two as the sun was setting. That night we camped where we originally planned, a camp ground in Jefferson City called Binder Park. We stopped in Hartsburg, which meant the drive to Jeff City was a bit longer than we had planned, but we ran out of daylight hours to bike any more. We decided backtracking the next morning would be easier. We insisted in getting all the miles on the trail and not skipping any sections. 

Last Stop of day two

By the time we got to the campground, it was completely dark and we could not find the campground host. So, we just grabbed a nearby spot and got situated for the night. A shower had not felt that wonderful since I went 5 days without a shower when camping at Yellowstone National Park. Well, we found out in the daylight the next morning that we picked the handicap camp spot. And we apparently did not register correctly. Two strikes against us by the campground host. Luckily, Patty was able to get on his good side by talking to him about the movie RV and we told him we were mid riding the entire Katy and rolled in super late last night. He softened and ended up joking around with us...whew...

Okay this post just got super long so that is all for now and I will continue on in the next post with days 3 and 4 of our epic Katy trip!

Preparing for The Katy

My friend, Q, and I are riding the whole Katy Trail mid May. We are starting in Clinton, MO and riding West to East towards St. Charles. We plan on doing this in four days.

Originally we had hoped to camp the whole time in tents, but that would mean purchasing a whole lot of supplies that we do not currently own. I have a great 4 person tent, but it is super heavy and would not work with biking. Sadly, I do not currently own much in the ways of light weight camping gear.

Hotels and the great B&Bs that are along the Trail would cost us more than we are willing to spend, so we moved on to the next plan.

RVing. 

A friend of ours has a RV and the availability to act as our support team along the way, such as meeting us at trailheads, carrying our over night supplies to keep our bikes lighter, and being around in case of an emergency. I am very excited about this plan! I would love to someday actually camp the entire trail, but this works well for us for our first time. 

Once all the details are completely finalized, I will post the stops with the mileage, the supplies we bring, and other fun details.

I'd love to hear any and all suggestions from others who have made thia trek. I have beeb reading through the Bike Katy Trail website. 

I have been training all winter in the gym, but now the weather is FINALLY starting to be okay enough to train outdoors, so I have to get my butt in gear. 

I have been thinking about this for almost two years, and I can't believe it is finally happening!

Biking Illinois: Madison County Transit Trails

Missouri was recently named the best trails state by American Trails. I think this is a very well deserved honor for Missouri to earn. You may have noticed just how much I love Missouri and am a big fan of the state park system here. I have been to many places in the country, and time and time again it seems that other states just cannot compare when it comes to their state parks. 

This being said I must admit something to you all. I am in love with Illinois bike trails.

Yes, I said it. 

I have been cheating on Missouri with bike trails across the river. My sister and her husband live in Edwardsville and they are super close to a trailhead for the Watershed Trail, just a small part of the Madison County Transit Trails (MCT). The great thing about these trails is that you can do however big or small of a loop as you want. It is this interconnected web of trails that spans about 100 miles according to their website. That is a lot of trail that is connected.

I know, I know. I live right by the Katy Trail and that has 225+ miles of bike trails. 

But this. This is paved, which I love. Missouri has great trails and pathways, obviously. We would not have been named the best if we didn't. And the St. Louis area is working hard on making the trails around here even better. But that is all a big work in progress right now. Within a few years even more trails will be built connected current trails and adding to the web of them in our area.

Turns out I am really bad at taking pictures while biking. This took about  5 attempts. Half of those were blurry pictures of the trail on accident. That is my sister pulling the trailer. 

But until then, I am glad I have the MCT. The longest stretch my sister and I have done so far has been 20 miles. We could have done more that day, but it was PX's first time in his brand new bike trailer and he was not amused. As in cried and screamed for about 15 miles of the ride. The only time he was happy was when he was asleep in the trailer or playing at the playground we stopped at.

That is another thing. The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon/surrounding areas have awesome parks. 

Anyway, I have done 3 different bike rides on these trails now and each time it was something a bit different. I think that is one thing I really like about the area besides it being paved is that with so many connecting trails you get to mix it up. You don't have to do the same thing each time. First ride was 11 miles, second one was the 20 mile one and this past Friday morning we did about 7 miles. It was a colder morning and my asthma was acting up, so I had to end that one sooner. 

Our bikes at the playground for break time

My sister and I want to bike to Augusta on the Katy Trail, which is about 30 miles each way. We figure if we can do 50-60 miles on the paved trails we can do 30 miles on the Katy. It really is shocking how much harder the Katy is to other trails if you are not used to it. Granted it seems like every time I choose to go on the Katy is just days after huge rain storms. I am sure when it is perfectly dry it is not all the difficult. 

So until we are ready for our trip to Augusta we are going to keep training on the MCT. Most of the trails we have been on are wooded and beautiful. There are parts that go through flat field areas. I am very much looking forward to exploring even more of these trails and Illinois in general.

Don't worry, Missouri. You are still my main love. 

First Bike Ride

My pretty (although now dirty) new bike

I took my new bike out to ride for the first time today since it was in the low 50s. I quickly learned a few things. 

1) I am SO weak. I expected to be able to bike the way I used to when I hit the Grant's Trail on a regular basis. A 20 mile ride was no big deal. It was so silly for me to think that I would have the same strength that I had 4+ years ago.

2) The Katy Trail is much harder (at least when muddy) than paved trails like the Grant's Trail. Holy cow. I was not expecting that. My wheels were slowed down most of the time and then the parts that weren't as muddy were super bumpy.

I have a lot of work ahead of me if I think I am ever going to ride the whole trail. But you can't just expect to start running and run a whole marathon. I will just keep riding and eventually it will get easier again.

Now to find a way to make my lungs stop burning as much...

Welcome to St. Charles!

The main issue with the St. Charles part of the Katy Trail is all the construction going on at the Blanchette Bridge over highway 70. However when you get past that then it is fine. Just have to snake around the construction and you are golden.

See the construction signs through the tunnel? No bueno. 

Anyway, I have lots of work ahead of me, but I am excited to going! Let's go biking!

Waiting for Warm Weather

I don't know about you, but I have been going crazy with the cold weather and snow and rain. I know that living in the midwest means dealing with indecisive weather, but it is March now. Can the warm weather please start making its way here to stay?

Today got to be the mid-fifties, which compared to the snow that was blasting Missouri the last two weeks, this was like a hot summer's day (someone remind me I said that when it actually is summer in a few months...). I have been talking about buying a bike for a good year now, and I live near one of the trailheads for the Katy Trail so I don't know why I have been dragging my feet so much. Well, I finally did it! I cleared out my honda Fit and drove to Granada and asked the nice people there what would best suit my needs. I told them I am mostly interested in riding on trails (Katy Trail and paved trails such as the Grant's Trail) so they suggested a hybrid/comfort bike. I have always enjoyed riding Giant's bikes so I picked out a silver Giant Cypress. I did not have any choice in the color, so I decided to make it up with a fashionable teal lady helmet. I will post pictures later once I located the missing camera charger.

Everyone at the bike shop was super nice and helpful from the woman who helped me pick out the bike to the man who taught me how to remove the tire to best fit it inside my Fit. He would not let me leave until he was convinced I could do it. That's customer service. He also gave me info on a group of women called The Katy Trail Biker Chicks. I am not sure yet if I will join them or not, but they look like an awesome group of women for anyone in the area who is wanting to get back into biking (or into biking for the first time) and doesn't want to hit the trail solo. Currently my schedule is so wonky that I don't think I will have the time to check it out yet. 

I also met an ex-Army medic and retired police officer while at the bike shop. He had been shopping there for years and was interested in getting a new bike. He was very chatty and I ended up spending about 30 minutes more than I had planned there, but it was well worth it. He now is a tour guide at The Missouri Wing of the Commemorative Air Force which has a World War II museum at the airport there. I never even knew this existed. How have I lived in this part of Missouri my whole life and never heard of this? Apparently you can get there via the Katy Trail, so as soon as this warm weather sticks and trail is not just a pile of mud from all the snow melting, I am hitting this place up. 

I have all sorts of dreams and plans for this year that all revolve around the weather being nice, so winter better end soon. The groundhog didn't see his shadow this year so where oh where is this early Spring?