What a difference a day makes! Woke up to sunny weather...cool but sunny. Eventually it warmed up to 68F and it felt good to be riding in shorts and short sleeves. I hope I didn't jinx myself...I stopped at the Boonville post office to mail home some of my cold weather riding gear in an effort to lighten the load. I am obsessed with a minimal load and anything that's not useful has to go.
The first couple of hours was a wig-wag through the rolling Missouri countryside. Mostly paved roads but some gravel. It's very scenic, green and lush and spring-like. I noticed many barns sporting a large decorative quilt motif. I asked a local and he tells me it's the "Barn quilts of Cooper County" program. They are very proud of their barn quilts. Big quilting area in Cooper County.
Barn Quilts of Cooper County
The master plan of this week's ride was to spend 200 miles on the Katy Trail, America's longest rails-to-trails effort. "Katy" is an acronym for KT, the common name of the old user of this route, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad.
Katy Trail. Lots of this...
The Katy Trail isn't paved, it's made of crushed limestone and totally suited to bikes, but after all the wet weather I thought it might be sloppy and unridable. Before I committed to the routing for the rest
of the day I took a 5 mile test run along the KT Trail and it was awesome! Sure the bike sinks at the occasional soft spot and the pace is a bit slower but it's totally worth it. No need to worry about traffic, road hazards (except at the turtle crossings) or navigation. It's all very relaxing. The trail winds along the eastern edge of the Missouri River hugging an ancient riverbank of dramatic limestone cliffs. Most of the trail is lined with trees which makes a nice wind break and it's very remote...at least today's 60 miles was. A small hamlet every 15 miles or so but all very sleepy. Constant woodsy scenery and the bright red cardinals (we don't have those where I live) kept me amused for a few hours.
of the day I took a 5 mile test run along the KT Trail and it was awesome! Sure the bike sinks at the occasional soft spot and the pace is a bit slower but it's totally worth it. No need to worry about traffic, road hazards (except at the turtle crossings) or navigation. It's all very relaxing. The trail winds along the eastern edge of the Missouri River hugging an ancient riverbank of dramatic limestone cliffs. Most of the trail is lined with trees which makes a nice wind break and it's very remote...at least today's 60 miles was. A small hamlet every 15 miles or so but all very sleepy. Constant woodsy scenery and the bright red cardinals (we don't have those where I live) kept me amused for a few hours.
...and some of this!
Boat-Henge!
At mile 86 I left the Katy Trail and found my way back across the Missouri River to Jefferson City, the state capital. Do state government employees get excused at 4pm? I rolled into town at 420pm
and the roads were nuts! Definitely the most dangerous part of this week so far. Then stopped at a local bike shop to stock up on tubes after yesterday's debacle.
and the roads were nuts! Definitely the most dangerous part of this week so far. Then stopped at a local bike shop to stock up on tubes after yesterday's debacle.
Tomorrow is the longest day of the week, 110 miles along the Katy Trail, to St. Charles...just north of St. Louis.
Love the pictures, the boat henge is so fun. Glad you had better weather too. Tomorrow will be even better and it's fun to read your blog. Love you
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool trail and it's 200 miles of that? That's way better than riding the highway. Keep it up and I'll keep following ya.
ReplyDeleteDavid
Love love love the pictures! The bridge and boat henge will definitely make it into your book. :).
ReplyDelete