Howdy blog! It’s Tubb. The team has been so busy biking, teaching, and experiencing this unique journey since we said “KC-you-later.” In this three-part blog, I’ll fill y’all in on the fantastic four days we spent on the Katy Trail, which we used to traverse Missouri from Kansas City to St. Louis
Part 1: The Trail
When we planned our time in Missouri back in Nevada, we were disappointed to learn that the most popular trans-Missouri cycling route would be inaccessible to us. That’s because the Katy Trail, named after the old KT railroad that used to cross the state, is gravel. And as a team, our experiences with gravel in the American West have been, to put it mildly, less than stellar. I was sad — I’d read such great things about the trail and was disappointed our gear would prevent us from checking it out. Or so we thought.
In Salida, a local bike shop mechanic heard we’d be passing through Missouri and recommended we at least give the trail a shot and see how it felt. He was worried especially for Hunter, Kawther, and Eva on their 25s but thought it might work. Then, our Topeka warm showers hosts told us we could probably pull it off. So, our mapping wizard Hunter started designing routes to conquer the trail.
On day one, Eva and I saddled up early and hit the gravel. Our first realization was that not all gravel is created equal. Like not even close. The Katy trail is made of PUG, a type of crushed limestone smoother than some west-half roads. For >90% of the trail, we rode with almost no issue. In fact, we averaged less flats on the trail than we did off of it.
Besides the surface, there were so many other awesome aspects of the trail. I started writing them in a sentence, but it became a run-on super fast, so see the list below:
Shade! Shade! Shade! Colorado and Kansas had treated us to beating sun, so the “tree tunnels” that form most of the Katy canopy were incredibly appreciated. The temperature was perfect, the Spokes weren’t sunburned, and the vibes were good.
The views…first of all, the forests of Missouri are absolutely beautiful. We saw lots of cool wildlife (I definitely didn’t get hit by an errant groundhog) and the river vistas, tunnels, and railroad bridges wonderfully punctuated the bikes.
The grade…because the Katy Trail is a rail trail (meaning it was created from the old KT walk-along), it can’t be any steeper than the old railroad. And old railroads weren’t very steep, meaning we were able to keep speed and avoid torturous climbs for almost the entire state.
The people we met…see part 2.
The beautiful towns along the way…see part 3.
The opportunity to reflect and think from really within nature…see part 4.
Before parts 2, 3, and 4, I’ll drop some stats from the four days on the trail:
Day 1, Kansas City to Sedalia, 100.43 miles, 2166 feet climbed, 32.3 mph top speed
Day 2, Sedalia to Columbia, 69.45 miles, 1106 feet climbed, 24.1 mph top speed
Day 3, Columbia to Hermann, 78.26 miles, 423 feet climbed, 0 mph top speed (I drove the van)
Day 4, Hermann to St. Louis, 82.38 miles, 1326 feet climbed, 29.0 mph top speed
See some trail pictures below:
Part 2: The People
Most noticeably, we lost someone right as we started along the Katy trail. Will left the team from KC and returned to St. Louis, meaning he unfortunately missed all of the trail.
But in his absence we met so many cool people…
In Sedalia, we stayed at a beautiful United Methodist Church where we were met with overwhelming hospitality from the pastor, community, and even early morning ping pong club.
In Columbia, we stayed with Vince and Denise through warmshowers. We shared great stories, they made amazing lasagna, and we slept amazingly. They gave us a great ice cream recommendation we took advantage of the next day in Jefferson City.
In Hermann, we stayed with Keeley and Lee through warmshowers. We spoke with them about everything from cycling to off-the-grid living to sustainable farming. Their cats were incredibly regal and thankfully not too allergenic.
And in St. Louis, we met Eva’s family! More to come on that in the next blog.
Lastly, we met so many people on the trail. Unfortunately I am impressively bad with names, but we loved meeting the cross-country cyclist from Bellingham, WA, the adventurer who owned the KT Caboose (best lunch of the trail), the antique store owner in Augusta, and everybody else we met during the four days. The unexpected interactions on the side of the trail or in a random antique store make this trip so amazing.
Part 3: The Places
To be frank, I wasn’t expecting anything crazy out of Missouri. But it was awesome (sitting in second a hare behind Utah in my current states-biked-through ranking)! Some of my favorite spots included:
Every single little river and stream…great excuses for breaks and selfies.
The antique shop in Augusta…so much cool stuff, lots of amazing gifts and relics of previous eras and Missouri history. Hunter and I literally spent almost thirty minutes looking through early 1900s postcards.
The ice cream shop in Jefferson City…cool vibes but mostly I just love ice cream.
The visitor center in Booneville…cool information, a museum, and a beautifully painted old bike.
Every single Casey’s…S-tier gas station. 99 cent slushies and free ice water were gas (pun intended).
Wherever I got a scrumptious chocolate raspberry rhubarb pie in Rocheport. It went so well with an Arnold Palmer.
The big tree in Columbia…very grand.
The two live music venues I stumbled upon mid-show in Hermann.
The sunflower fields in Marthasville.
See some cool photos below:
Part 4: The Ponderings
As I mentioned above, biking the Katy Trail gave me lots of time to think. I thought about a lot of things, but I’ll talk about a few here:
The time, money, and effort organizations and local governments have put into rail trails like the Katy Trail is incredibly appreciated. It truly takes a village (and by village I mean the entire cycling community of Missouri) to maintain a resource like the Katy Trail and it’s so cool that the community is willing to devote so much to the trail. I wish I had something so cool in or near San Antonio.
Trees are amazing. This sounds stupid, but after a tragic tree shortage in east Colorado and most of Kansas, being surrounded by surprisingly lush forest had me thinking about how nice trees are for bikers and how vital they are for our environment.
I’ve said this in previous blogs, but being so immersed in the beautiful nature of Missouri in a biker’s paradise had me reflecting on how blessed we are to have this opportunity, these people around us, and this one-of-a-kind country to bike across.