May 26, 2017
| THE KATY TRAIL | |
May 21 to May 26, 2017 |
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| Our Bike trip along Missouri's Katy Trail was provided by Wilderness Voyageurs, of Ohiopyle, PA. The Katy Trail State Park is built on the corridor of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad, better known as the Katy. The Park has 26 Trailheads, offering trail access, maps, local info, and restrooms. We stopped at 20 trailheads along our 240-mile trip. | |||
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| Itinerary - OverNight Stays - Beds - Meals and Rest Stops Trailhead Signs - Mileage - Whiteboard of the Day Stanley Cup Playoffs |
Group Photos - Trail Photos - Room Photos Lewis and Clark Museum - Missouri River Daniel Boone - Cliffs - Sites |
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Itinerary
Liz and I flew from Pittsburgh to St. Louis on Saturday, May 20, with our own bicycle seats in our luggage. James and John, our guides, picked us up early Sunday morning, and drove our group of 12 bikers, westward across Missouri to Clinton, the start of the Katy Trail. Liz and I had our rental bikes fitted with our seats, and adjusted for us. A helmet, water bottle, and jersey were also provided. A Garmin GPS was added to our bikes, and we were ready to go.
There were five overnight stays along the trail, as we biked from Clinton back to St. Charles. Details of stops, mileage, lodging, and meals are below. Friday was a short 28 miles, and we all gathered in St. Charles for our final lunch together. After lunch, James and John dropped us off at the St. Louis Airport. That evening, Liz and I flew back to Pittsburgh, after a short stop in Chicago.
The entire trip was well organized, with great accommodations. James and John eagerly saw to all of our needs. You couldn't ask for more gracious hosts.
OverNight Stays
| Night | Lodging | Location | George (Room Photos) | Liz | Bikes |
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| 0 | Best Western Plus The Charles Hotel | St. Charles, MO | Room 614 | Room 104 | |
| 1 | Hotel Bothwell | Sedalia, MO | Room 603 | Room 407 | In Ballroom |
| 2 | School House Bed and Breakfast | Rocheport, MO | Room 7, School Master | Room 8, School Marm | In Back Shed |
| 3 | Capital Plaza Hotel | Jefferson City, MO | Room 316 | Room 317 | Lobby Storage |
| 4 | Hermann Crown Suites | Hermann, MO | Arminius Room, Annex Bldg, First Floor | Veterans Room, Second Floor | Annex Bldg |
| 5 | Red Brick Inn | Augusta, MO | Attic, Bedroom | Attic, Living Room | In Garage |
Beds
This may seem to be a strange topic to highlight, but after the Erie Canal rides, with 8 nights in a tent, these beds were very much appreciated on this ride. Actually, overnight stays in Hotels and B&Bs, was a big deciding factor for signing up to do this supported ride with Wilderness Voyageurs.
| Night 0 | Night 1 | Night 2 | Night 3 | Night 4 | Night 5 |
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Meals and Rest Stops
| Day | Breakfast | Morning RS | Lunch | Afternoon RS | Before Dinner | Dinner |
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| 0 | At Home Dravosburg, PA |
Auntie Anne's at PIT airport |
Breakfast Buffet, Best Western, St. Charles, MO |
Ice Cream Cone, Main St., St.Charles, MO |
Bar and Grille, Ameristar Casino, St. Charles, MO |
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| 1 | Panera Bread off of I-70 | Calhoun, MO | Windsor, MO | Green Ridge, MO | Fitters Pub, Sedalia, MO |
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| 2 | Hotel Bothwell, Sedalia, MO |
Clifton City, MO | Pilot Grove, MO | Boonville, MO | Les Bourgeois Vineyards, Rocheport, MO |
Mayor's General Store, Rocheport, MO |
| 3 | School House B&B, Rocheport, MO |
McBaine, MO | Hartsburg, MO | North Jefferson, MO | Central Dairy, Jefferson City, MO |
Madison's, Jefferson City, MO |
| 4 | Capital Plaza Hotel, Jefferson City, MO |
Tebbets, MO | Portland, MO | Rhineland, MO | Tin Mill Brewery, Hermann, MO |
Tin Mill Restaurant, Hermann, MO |
| 5 | Hermann Crown Suites, Hermann, MO |
Treloar, MO | Marthasville, MO | Beer Garden, Augusta Brewing, Augusta, MO |
Montelle Winery, Augusta, MO |
Kate's Coffee, Augusta, MO |
| 6 | Red Brick Inn Augusta, MO |
Weldon Spring, MO | RS - Greens Bottom, MO | Lunch - Trail Head Brewing, St. Charles, MO |
Jim's Kitchen, McMurray, PA |
Trailhead Signs
I pulled these signs from my photos. Click on each one to see the photo of that stop along the Katy Trail.
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Mileage
| Daily | May 21 | May 22 | May 23 | May 24 | May 25 | May 26 | Total Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official Biking Miles | 38.2 | 50.1 | 38.3 | 47.6 | 36.9* | 27.7 | 238.8* |
* About 2 miles were added going to Daniel Boone's Grave Site.
Whiteboard of the Day, and Weather
James and John provided info for each day's ride. They included: Rest Stop locations, Points of Interest, that day's Weather, and on Day 5, where we were staying overnight (but that changed).
Click on each to get a larger view.
The best thing about the weather was that it didn't rain on us while biking. This was unexpected, since Missouri had record rains and flooding two weeks before, and was still recovering.
The temperature was on the cool side all week, except for Thursday's warm afternoon, when Liz and I had a swim.
| Day 0 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 |
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| Noon - some drizzle. Evening downpour. |
Sunny all day. | Sunny morning. Overcast afternoon. Rain after dinner. |
Cloudy morning. Sunny afternoon and evening. |
Sunny morning. Cloudy afternoon. Sunny evening. |
Sunny all day. | Rain before breakfast. Sunny morning. Cloudy afternoon. |
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Stanley Cup Playoffs
| This is another strange topic to include in a description of a bicycle trip, but the Pittsburgh Penguins (still the current 2016 Stanley Cup Champions) were in the Third Round of the 2017 playoffs. The series was tied at 2-2 on Friday, May 19. Liz and I left Pittsburgh early Saturday morning. The next game was on Sunday. I didn't know if I would be able to follow the game results during our week of biking. |
| Sunday, May 21 | Game 5 against the Ottawa Senators in Pittsburgh at 3:00 PM Eastern, with the series tied 2-2. We started our biking from Clinton, MO about Noon Central time. At game time, we were at our Windsor, MO lunch stop. By the end of the game, around 6 pm Eastern, we were just arriving at Sedalia, MO, our overnight stop. Once I was in my Room 603, at the Bothwell Hotel, I checked the TV sports channels to learn that the Penguins had won the game with a 7-0 score. Go Pens! |
| Tuesday, May 23 | Game 6 against the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa at 8:00 PM Eastern. Pittsburgh leads the series 3-2. As we were walking back to our Hotel, after having dinner at Madison's, I was excited about watching the Penguins' game that evening. We were staying at the fancy Capital Plaza Hotel, in Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. There were two TVs in my suite. At 7:00 Central, I was going through the channels on my TV, looking for the game on NBC Sports. (No "Guide" was available to check which channel it would be on.) I couldn't find it. Liz and I went down to the Lobby Bar, to see if they had sports channels. They did have a list of available channels, but it was the same ones I had seen in my room. No NBC Sports. Our solution: I had the bedroom TV on ESPN showing a baseball game, and the living room TV on ESPN2 showing women's basketball. Topics scrolled across the bottom of the screens, and I waited for the NHL one to make its way slowly to the left, for a brief glimpse of the score of the game. I went between the two rooms to catch the updates. But at times I dozed off. I took this photo of the Hotel's central fountain after the first period, to help me stay awake. Then I had a more reliable source of information. Jim, in Pittsburgh, texted to Liz, the score at the end of each period. Then she called me on the room phone, to pass on the news. Bad news at the end. Ottawa won 2-1. |
| Thursday, May 25 | Game 7 against the Ottawa Senators in Pittsburgh at 8:00 PM Eastern. The series is tied 3-3. Remembering the hassle of trying to watch Tuesday's game, while in a major City, I didn't have much hope of catching Game 7 that night. The Augusta, Missouri website describes their town as "a small quaint town where you will find eleven Bed and Breakfast Inns ... with a population of 300." There weren't any TVs in our rooms. Five of us, walked back to the Red Brick Inn, after a very good dinner at Kate's Coffee. It was 7:30 Central time. The game had already started. Then, the owner of our B&B came to the rescue. He had a Direct TV Satellite box in the basement game room. After 3 of us got the cable connected to the TV, we had the Penguin game showing on a large-screen TV. Comfortable sofas, air-conditioning, and free pop. All was good. At the end of the first period, the score was 0-0. After the second period, the score was 1-1. The end of the third period had a score of 2-2. Now they're headed to overtime. At that point it was around 10:00 pm Central time. All during the week, that had been my bedtime. Liz was watching the game, reading a book, and occasionally dozing off. The other member of our audience was Mike from Harrisburg. We got up, walked around, I got another can of pop, all trying to stay awake for the overtime. Then, it was still tied up after the First overtime period. Now it's really getting hard to stay awake (especially during the same old commercials). Mike gave up, and headed to his room. Liz and I stayed. Then it happened! Chris Kunitz scored a goal at 5:09 into the Second overtime period. (Assist from Sidney Crosby) The Pittsburgh Penguins won the game 3-2. It was just before 11:00 pm Central, and Midnight in Pittsburgh. We didn't have much time to celebrate. It was off to bed. Breakfast was at 7:30 am, and we had the last 28 miles of our trip to finish on Friday. I was able to update the rest of our group, on Friday, about the Penguin's success. Then it was time to go up against the Nashville Predators in the Final Round. |
| Sunday, June 11 |
Just to finish this part of the story, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the 2017 Stanley Cup Championship. They fought off the Predators in 6 games, to become back-to-back champs. |
