Day 17 – Katy Trail from Start to Finish (This means lots of pictures)



The morning began on a very sad note, my very trusty, helpful, and accurate cyclometer stopped working during the night. There was no seeming reason, but this makes it a very song day of riding for someone like me. I am the kind of person who sets goals while I am riding. I know that in “x” number of miles another town is coming, so I check what mile my cyclometer says and I know when the town is supposed to be. I also like to know what my heart rate is doing, whether I am pushing it too hard and would not possibly be able to sustain that kind of effort all day or whether the heart rate is too low and I am slipping backwards in my conditioning. All this in a stupid computer, you might ask. YES! I am pretty attached.
While I was trying to get my cyclometer to work, or even just turn on, Dad was repairing the crank on the trailer. The tensioning pin had fallen out or had sheered off, this made it so that the trailer at the tongue would not go up or down. This would not be a bad thing except that it would be impossible for the trailer to get off the Suburban. A quick fix with a piece of a coat hanger and we could finally get on the road!
Thankfully, for my little mind, the Katy Trail is marked every mile with a post! The day began at #110 and would end at #229. So the day was broken up into smaller chunks.
The first item of interest that we encountered was this “Mysterious Standing Rock”.

This is mysterious because no one knows where it came from since it is sand stone and not harder rock like the bluffs above. It is also mysterious since no one knows who carved 7 dates in it. These seven dates correspond with the 7 major floods of the Missouri River. This is incredible since this rock is more than a mile from the banks of the river during non-flood time. We came to the rock just as an older couple were leaving. We stopped and talked to them for a moment and inquired shortly about their bike (a tandem). They took off before we did but we would see them again.
While we got going again, both of us kind of bummed out, because of the cyclometer and the trailer, Dad received a voicemail, so we stopped to listen to it. It was my brother Joseph. I know it verbatim because it was so awesome and I got one a little later as soon as I got reception. He said, “Dad, Justin Verlander just threw a no hitter.” No superlatives or excitement in his voice but it was just he pick-me-up that we both needed! It gave us something else to talk about and concentrate on beside the mile posts going by one at a time (I know novel concept).
A little while later we were riding along and heard the honk of a very familiar vehicle. It was our families! We stopped in the next “stopping area” (I use this because the word city really doesn’t fit) and talked for a little while. It was nice to see them but we needed to make some miles so we hit the trail again.
Our first scheduled stop was Jefferson City. It was about 26 miles from where we started and so it was a nice first break for the day. As we came in view of the city I pedaled in awe of the amazing capital building. It was magnificient!

We stopped and were able to talk a second time with the nice couple with the tandem.

They have done a trans-con but had to do it in two blocks. Each block was separated by a year of recovery. The man said that they were in the first week of their trip in OR and they blew a front tire (this was the result of the manufacturer not putting something on properly). He did his best to hold the bike straight but was unable and they went down. He broke is shoulder and she broke her elbow. End of trip. A year later they picked up in the city where they had their accident and finished! They were neat and an inspiration to get a tandem for Abby and I.

Hartsburg, MO was the next planned stop and we hoped to get lunch there. The sign in Jefferson City said that the restaurant did not take credit card so Dad and I both thought that they would at least have an ATM. We got to the city and found the café and sure enough they did not take the card. There was also no ATM. This was bad since Dad only had $6 for the both of us to have lunch. We decided to split the cheese burger and fries meal for $4.95. This would not go far for two hungry men. Then I remembered that I had some money in my little camera bag under my seat. $12 in all! We ate like kings!
The day was getting late. It was 2:00 and we still had 80 miles to go. Not real encouraging. So the plan was to get more water and fuel in another city 22 miles up the trail. The sights of these bluffs were almost enough to make us forget about the mileage that was being gained so slowly.

We got to the city, and just like one other day in the not so recent past, it was CLOSED!

Only on Wednesdays though! Great. Well, off we went through this beautiful tunnel to the city where the Missouri is crossed, Boonville, MO.

We arrived and I fueled up with chocolate milk, Gatorade, and a Fastbreak Bar (best one ever made). We put much needed ice in our CamelPaks and were off again. There were 30 miles to go. I was wondering if the day would ever end just like you are wondering if this blog entry will ever end.
The trail had been about a C+ up to that point and allowed us only moderate to slow speeds but between Boonville and Sedalia, our final destination, it was a A+!!! It was awesome. Packed smooth with no stones on top.

We both pushed the speed (only because the LORD allowed a beautiful canopy of trees to shelter us from the heat of the sun! All Praise to Him!)and finally arrived in Sedalia, MO at about 7:30. We were gone for 11 hours. Not all biking but it still made for a long day. We ate supper at Pizza Hut and quickly returned to go to bed. Tomorrow is the shortest day of the week at 93 planned miles.
This was a long day with a long blog entry to match. I hope the blog doesn’t tire you out as much as the day did me!