Katy Trail ride

[TrekTheKaty]

The Katy can be done on your own with the use of the website and the guidebook. (Turn by directions--uh, it's hard to get lost on the Katy.) And the bridge in Jeff City is the easiest one.

However, the cost of the shuttle and guaranteed (?) hotels would be nice (during peak season, it can sometimes be difficult to coordinate all the B&B's). Also, the peace of mind of emergency assistance would be worth it. You can be FAR from the nearest town (and town can be literally one farm with a gravel road--if you're lucky, a post office and gas station) and there aren't very many bike shops anymore.

Luggage transfer: We've only done single, overnight trips. The first time we had 2 racks with 2 bike bags. We've learned we can get by with less than that. Remember after a full day of biking, you just want to eat, shower and take a nap. Nothing to dress up for in these small towns. For one night, we packed:

sandals
t-shirt
shorts
clean underwear
toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant (I didn't even style my hair--why?)
sunblock, chamois butter in the handlebar bag
(change of cycling clothes)

However, we learned on the first trip that we didn't want to put our dirty cycling clothes back in our bag (even if you put them in a plastic bag, they will be "baked" before you get home). So we rinsed them out in the tub--DUH, they dried by the next morning. Plus, many of the B&B's cater to cyclists and have facilities to do laundry (one night we washed them in the jacuzzi tub )

Now the two of us can overnight with one rack and rack bag with fold down panniers--and there is still room for me to pack some emergency food!

But if I was on the 5 day ride, I would take advantage of the luggage transfer for my laptop, a cooler (I'm celiac so sometimes snacks/food is difficult) your souvenirs you buy along the way, and my pillow.

[indysteel]

Thanks for the info. I imagine it would be doable as a self-supported ride. The issue for us--at least for the near term--is that we both don't have bikes that could be set up for panniers, and we don't plan to get touring bikes for some time, if ever. So, the fact that there is at least one company out there that would carry our luggage makes the Katy doable. We're pretty sure my road bike will accomodate up to 700 x 30 cc tires.

In any event, I think I have my DH talked into it, so it's just a question of when. I think we already took this year's big trip, so maybe next year. Any thoughts on which month? I'd like some warm and dry weather (don't we all?), so maybe mid to late September. The tours I've done thus far in Tennessee have been in that time frame, and the weather has been ideal.

[SLash]

Thanks for the info. I imagine it would be doable as a self-supported ride. The issue for us--at least for the near term--is that we both don't have bikes that could be set up for panniers, and we don't plan to get touring bikes for some time, if ever. So, the fact that there is at least one company out there that would carry our luggage makes the Katy doable. We're pretty sure my road bike will accomodate up to 700 x 30 cc tires.

In any event, I think I have my DH talked into it, so it's just a question of when. I think we already took this year's big trip, so maybe next year. Any thoughts on which month? I'd like some warm and dry weather (don't we all?), so maybe mid to late September. The tours I've done thus far in Tennessee have been in that time frame, and the weather has been ideal.

If you decide you to do a self supported ride there are still businesses that you can use for an emergency pick up for that additional peace of mind. I believe there is info about them on the Bike Katy Trail website. A couple of people mentioned this, but I'm not familiar with the name of them.

Katy Bike Rentals rents trailers you can pull behind the bike.

Regarding when, May is apparently the rainiest month. During our week rain was predicted nearly every day but it actually only rained the one day. The summer is very busy from what we were told so that nixed it for us. October is supposed to be a great time because of fall colors, I can tell you early May is beautiful because of all the flowers, another plus being the very light traffic on the trail.

[indysteel]

I picker up my Jamis Aurora yesterday. DH is waiting for the 2011s to come out so. I really like how the bike rides, although I only went for a short test ride. We're planning on signing up for the end to end Katy Trail trip sometime in September. I generally find it to be a pretty dry but comfortable month. Yay!