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Category: katy trail (Page 2 of 4)

KATY Trail 2011 – Day 2

May 18, 2011 /
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Today the cycling gods smiled upon us with spectacular weather and a harder packed trail surface.

Our mileage today was to be only 35, but we decided to ride the Columbia spur, adding about 18 more miles in total.

We did have a mechanical (in the words of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin) today. Mark’s seat post bolt somehow stripped and wouldn’t hold his saddle in the right position. It kept slipping down and resting on the top of the seat tube! Which was just about 6 inches too low! He had to pedal the last 10 miles – in his words – “riding a clown bike”. When we got to the Globe Hotel where we’ re staying tonight, we met a group of cyclists who were on day 2 of a 2700 mile bike tour! They helped him MacGyver it so he’s all set for tomorrow. Tomorrow we ride to McKittrick, about the same mileage as today.

Today’s ride began in Boonville and ended in Hartsburg, via Columbia, for a total of 54 miles. Words can’t do the Katy justice so I’ll close with pictures and a video to give you an idea of the sights and sounds of the KATY Trail.

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Missouri River
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KATY Trail 2011 – Day 1

May 16, 2011 /
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Riding on crushed limestone with 22 pounds of gear on the bike isn’t easy. It is enjoyable and fun, but somewhat difficult and definitely more tiring than road riding.  My piriformis muscle and IT band have complained all day. 

The trail is softer than last year, probably because of recent rains, and more difficult to handle with a loaded bike.  I expected it to be harder going carrying our own stuff but it was actually tougher than expected.

All the pain and difficulty aside, it was a perfect Spring day and a great ride. The wildflowers are out as are the indigo buntings and bluebirds. The KATY is an amazing park and just a great place to ride.

We are staying in the Hotel Frederick, a beautiful old hotel with unique rooms. Dinner at the Blind Ref and now back in relaxing and wondering why I brought so much stuff!

By the way, I am typing and uploading each day’s KT post from my Samsung phone.

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Do I Really Need It?

May 14, 2011 /
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Packing and re-packing…trying to get it down to the bare minimum. Well, my bare minimum anyway.

If I pack it – I have to carry it – I may have found a cure for over-packing.

Stay tuned, I’ll be posting here daily (if my system for uploading via my phone works), including pics of our Katy Trail ride.

Can’t wait to get started!

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KATY Trail Calling

March 29, 2011 /
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IMG_3724It has been almost a year since we last rode the Katy Trail and she’s calling us back!

Our last ride on the Missouri Katy trail, we used a service to haul our stuff to each day’s lodging. The service also provided emergency help if needed, fortunately, it wasn’t.  It was our first time to bike tour on our own for a week and since we were less than sure about doing it completely self-supported we chose to use them.   

With that trip and another weeklong tour under our belt, we feel ready and able to do the Katy Trail on our own this time. Hauling our own stuff (should take care of any urge to over-pack) and dealing with any emergencies on our own or with help that we manage to scrounge up on the fly.

It isn’t just about the money we will save doing the trip on our own. it is more about traveling completely by our own means. We pedaled our bikes the entire way on our own last year, so we will take the next step and carry our own stuff too.

I am excited at the prospect of doing a self-supported or self-contained as they are sometimes called, bike tour. Also excited about riding the Katy again!

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Stay tuned, more details to come.

New Year – Looking Back

January 2, 2011 /
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happy-new-year

At the beginning of a new year, I can’t help but look back… at the same time I focus on what lies ahead. 

No, not while I’m riding.  😉

As I think about my plans and goals for 2011, I look back at the goals I made for 2010 – and feel a little smug about the ones I accomplished (8), a little sheepish about the ones I didn’t (3), and something in between for the goals I partially completed (4).

One thing I like about blogging is it gives me a record of the year.  With my memory, I need it!  I love all the posts about our bike tours (Katy Trail and Vermont – Quebec City), they allow me to go back and relive the trips.

I also like the plethora of posts I did on the 2010 Tour de France. 

Thirty-four posts to be exact. 

For every day of the Tour, including both rest days, I did at least 1 post, and most days, 2.  We’re not talking short posts either; for each stage of the Tour (21 stages – 20 stage races + a prologue race) I wrote a detailed recap of what transpired and my own analysis of it.

For Tour novices I wrote a Tour de France Primer to serve as a guide for understanding the Tour, and bike racing in general.

Why?  Because I love the Tour.  For 3 weeks in July my life is the Tour and riding my bike.  Yep, July is one of my favorite months.  Bike ride in the morning – Tour in the afternoon and evening.  Food in between.  It’s a good life.

If you are interested, you can peruse a summary of my Tour posts here.

I’ll get back to 2011 later…

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