After Thanksgiving Tour

[DebW]

I did a 3-day post-Thanksgiving bike tour on the Katy Trial in Missouri. I'd gotten laid off a couple weeks ago and was planning to visit my parents in St. Peters, MO for Thanksgiving, so figured I finally had time to ride the Katy. Besides, I could visit my parents for several days, get away for a few days, and then tolerate another short visit before flying back to Massachusetts. I made a reservation on Amtrak for Sat 11/26 from Kirkwood to Sedalia, arranged 2 nights at B&Bs and a hotel in Jefferson City. I decided to skip the 37 miles from Clinton to Sedalia, the westernmost part of the trail, because there was no easy way to get there and I thought 3.5 days in late November would be enough.

Left on the 9:45 am Amtrak train with my bike and panniers. The conductor carried my bike on board and leaned it against the wall at the end of the car. After a pleasant 3 hours, I arrived in Sedalia. It was raining and probably in the low 50s or upper 40s. I put on my rain gear and headed off, navigating by map through Sedalia until I found the trail heading east. The trail was in good shape for an unpaved trail in the rain. I had a flat about 1 mile down the trail, which taught me LESSON NUMBER 1: carry your pump inside your panniers on a rainy day when riding on sand/dirt/gravel. I had my RoadMorph mounted behind my seat tube, and though I usually use fenders which would have kept the spray off, I'd left the fenders behind because they are extra trouble to pack. When I pumped the pump the first few times, muddy water came out. The pump did work well enough to fill my tire, but felt like it had sand inside and the gage didn't work.

After a 25 mile ride in light rain, I arrived at my BB in Pilot Grove. Put my bike and wet gear in the laundry room and helped myself to a brownie that the owner had left for the guests. I was there alone for awhile until 2 other guests arrived, and later the proprietor dropped in for a visit. She and her husband stayed about an hour to chat. I woke up at 3 am and remembered that I had left my gloves outside on the porch, so went out and got them and put them on top of the heater to dry. In the morning I was fixed a hearty breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, oatmeal, and fruit. The rain had stopped over night though it was chilly - maybe upper 30s when I left and probably low 40s most of the day.

My next day had some gorgeous scenery. The Katy crossed the Missouri River in Boonville and more or less follows it all the way to St. Charles. The river bluffs were gorgeous, as was the river and occassional wetlands. Wildlife was abundant - deer, turkeys, hawks.