about the Katy Trail

[bikinchris]

This time of year, the wind is from the west and when traveling West to East, it's all down hill.
DO NOT pass up the little Amish stands selling fried pies, pastries and fruit and produce.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by eddief

boring

With all the news of cyclist/car/motorist encounters coming up these days, boring is actually good...aka safe.

If you want uninterrupted ride with miles on ends with little to no interaction with cars - then Katy Trail is your jam.

Do it.

By the way, all you pals who said it's "boring"... could you tell me how exciting your lives are right now?

Right...I thought so.

I rode it back in 2007.
I was living in St Louis at the time and I found out a couple of days before that a buddy of mine was planning to ride the trail and I jumped at the opportunity to join him.

We took the train from St Charles to Sedaila and started from there. It took us three days to ride back to our start point.

The first two days were epic. About 10 miles from Columbia on the spur, we were hit by torrential rain which quickly flooded all the underground tunnels and creeks, we have to make detours around highway and broken bridges etc...water was rushing past us on both sides, they were going at such rate and formiddable force, we thought surely we will be washed away. but we survived till we get into town of Columbia where the streets were flooded too.

And then on the second day, somewhere between Easley and Hartsburg, we got into a muddy section where so much crud accumulated on the wheels that they stopped turning. Wish I had taken pictures of those epic moments, but I am not ready to risk damaging my camera for the rest of the trip getting it all soaky wet.

Hermann is a pretty town, we got in late (8:30pm), most businesses have already closed, had to buy dinner from a convenient store - pizzas, hot N spicy cheetos, frozen chicken salad sandwich, down with Nesquirk chocolate milk.

Meeting people along the way has got to be the highlight for us. Ken, the older cyclist on the Cannondale touring bike started from Oregon and has already covered 2,300 miles by the time we met him. The young hispanic kids, age 4-6, rode ten miles on the trail with their grandma that morning. Rave and Linda, the last couple we met before we got to St Charles, talked to us about his experience kayaking down the Missouri River. My buddy Jimmy and I met up with our families at the finish and had ice-cream to celebrate the completion of our three-day trek. After what happened on the first two days, the last day was just a walk in the park, a bit of drizzle in the morning and then it's home stretch all the way. We covered about 70-80 miles every day at an average pace of 12-14 mph which is comfortable and sustainable, slow enough to carry a looooong conversation. At the end of it, we felt like we had known each other for years....when really before this trip, we have ridden together with a bigger group a couple of times but never really interacted much. It was a memorable trip.

58 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

59 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

2 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

3 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

24 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

22 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

38 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

45 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

42 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

46 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

[weisan]

27 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

18 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

12 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

8 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

10 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

15 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

20 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr


35 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

36 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

54 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

[weisan]

11 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

[MO Will]

The Katy Trail is very nice. I would not want to do it in six days. It is pancake flat and the miles go very quickly. 3 days seems more reasonable. October would be a great time of year in terms of weather.

We did Sedalia to St. Charles in one day (so not quite the entire trail), and that was a real hoot. We took the train to Sedalia. We wanted to minimize on bike bags etc so we wore old ratty clothes we could throw away. We packed our kits etc for the train ride. It was October and the forecast was for low 40s in the AM getting up to 80 in the afternoon. I really couldn’t decide whether or not to bring bib knickers or bib shorts. I had both laid out, but at the last minute- I didn’t bring either! Riding 200+ miles on a gravel trail with no bike shorts was very memorable!

[nortx-Dave]

I'm in the exact same boat as the OP. I got a text today from a friend whose group needs a 4th rider. I'll know one of the other three. I enjoy small towns - currently I live in a town of 500. So the small town exploration and history interest me. This group is riding 6-11 October.

The plan with these guys is the entire trail in 5 days. So about 50 miles/day and these guys aren't hammerheads.

I'd be riding my Bishop on 30mm road tires. Will these work on that surface?

[weisan]

Originally Posted by nortx-Dave

I'd be riding my Bishop on 30mm road tires. Will these work on that surface?

Yes. But personally I prefer getting it to 32-35mm territory if your bike allows it.

Here pictured my setup when I rode it in 35mm Panaracer Pasela.

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by nortx-Dave

I'd be riding my Bishop on 30mm road tires. Will these work on that surface?

Work? Yes.
Ideal? No.

Even if it's been dry and the trail is packed down well, there will be small surprise spots that are soupy/loose.

[nortx-Dave]

So 25s on my Lynskey would be the wrong move? Was thinking of taking it instead due to potential issues while traveling to and from Missouri.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by nortx-Dave

So 25s on my Lynskey would be the wrong move?

no, not unless you are bob. Or else, be prepared for a couple of close saves or white knuckled moments with loose stuff or mud.

[cnighbor1]

In Canada Vancouver BC The Kettle Valley Railways 275 miles of abandoned railways Now bike trails
42mm tires a must

[bikinchris]

From our experience, you could ride 28 or 32mm tires on the Katy trail. There were tandems riding 28s the time we did the state parks ride.

[KonaSS]

Right - anything 28 or above is passable on the Katy. Agree with whoever said the sweetspot is probably 32-35.

Some rain ruts, maybe some areas with a little thicker gravel, but there isn't much to be weary of on the Katy.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by cnighbor1

In Canada Vancouver BC The Kettle Valley Railways 275 miles of abandoned railways Now bike trails
42mm tires a must

This trail is spectacular and runs through the Rockies. However it is not near Vancouver; starts several hundred kilometres from Vancouver.

https://www.bcrailtrails.com/rail-tr...omplete-route/

https://www.hellobc.com/stories/5-pl...ey-rail-trail/