Katy is a go!
Bob, Bruce, and I have studied the Katy Trail from Kansas City to St. Charles and have a plan for up to 12 cyclists. Most important this trip is going to be a SHARED adventure (and shared costs) asking most of you to take responsibility for one of the tasks. Here is the group https://katytrail24.blogspot.com/p/team.html. Here is the plan.
Except for Bob, all of us will meet in St. Charles (at the bicycle shop) by 2 PM (at the latest). Some will ride on the van with Ross and the others need to make their arrangement to drive with bicycles to St. Charles on Monday, May 20th. You will leave your car(s) in St. Charles and retrieve it at the end of the ride.
In St. Charles, we will rent a U-Haul and, depending on our number of cyclists, also rent a car. We need one of you each to volunteer to reserve, pick up, and drive the vehicles to Kansas City. Check https://katytrail24.blogspot.com/p/itinerary.html
Bring these vehicles to the Bicycle Shop where we will load some of the bicycles into the truck and, if needed, people into the car. We hope to “be on the road” by 3:30 PM.
It is about four hours to Kansas City. We (van, truck, car, and Bob) spend the night in the Hilton Garden Inn near the beginning of the trail. The first day’s ride is only 29 miles so we will have time to drop off the rental car and truck and get the bicycles prepared in the morning. The ride will start around 11 AM.
Our daily routes are in https://katytrail24.blogspot.com/p/routes.html and the motel destination are in https://katytrail24.blogspot.com/p/itinerary.html. ASAP we’ll book four rooms in each motel, assuming double shared rooms for our committed cyclists. Mark is camping; so he is on his own.
Except for part of day #2, most of the ride is on a trail with comfortable distances. It will be an easy pedal with plenty of time to “tour” and relax in the afternoons. On some days, we have not found convenient lunch stops. On those days we’ll plan to “pack in” box lunch.
IMPORTANT: pack as light as possible. Each day we’ll load everyone’s gear into the van. In the morning will swap/share van drives (about 10 miles each) and in the afternoon Ross will drive the van. Also, pack your rain gear, just in case. The van may not be able to fetch anyone.
The ride ends at the Bicycle Shop in St. Charles around 3 PM. We’ll drop Bob at Pear Tree Inn, pick up your cars, and drive to H’ville.
Bob, Bruce, and Tom
From: Bob Schofield <bne.schofield@gmail.com>
Tom, Bruce
This is my record of the motels that Bruce was suggesting for the Katy ride - except for Monday 20 May.
On the final day (27 May), I'll need to get from the bike shop in St Charles to the Saint Louis airport (STL) and take a motel there before flying out the next day. At a pinch, I can solicit a shuttle from the bike shop management for that. Pear Tree Inn is my current preference but I haven't made a booking yet.
For the record, on Monday 20 May, I understand the draft plan was to drive from Hendersonville to overnight at Lee's Summit and I did propose to Bruce that the group stop off at the St Charles bike shop and pick up my rental bike for transportation to Lee's Summit. The next day, I hoped to be collected at the hotel in Kansas City, Kansas, while the group was en route from Lee's Summit to the ride start point.
Hope this helps
Nov 28, 2023
Bruce, TomMy current plan is to fly into Kansas City (MCI) on Thursday, 23rd May, take the bus and light rail down to the station and board the afternoon Amtrak, arriving in Lee's Summit at 4.41pm. The station is a couple of miles from the planned hotel and I would appreciate a ride for that last leg of my journey!
If I'm delayed for any reason en route, there's a morning train that would get me into Lee's Summit around 9.30am the next day.
Bob
On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 at 12:56, Bob Schofield <bne.schofield@gmail.com> wrote:
Bruce, Tom
Isn't it Day 4 that could stand a bit of tweaking?
I suggest you keep an active recovery option mid-tour by tweaking only from the destination, ie, Booneville.
On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 at 12:19, bruce <bruceeday@gmail.com> wrote:
Tom, Bob,
Good catch on Day 5 Coopers Landing. I just overlooked it.
Agree with Days 1 and 3 being short enough to forgo formal lunch. If Bob's plans stay as per latest word, the van will be fetching Bob from airport. Extra free time that day is good. Day 3 could also be tweaked with a side trip to a not too far off the trail town. Very few roads in this region have Google street view so one cannot determine road conditions or even their very existence. Flexible execution is a must if we plan anything off route. My goal for now is to have a workable skeleton to promote to potential riders.
Sometime in the next week I'll begin investigating lodging specifics, especially cancellation and expansion potential.
Thanks for excellent reviews. Projects like this work only as long as they have good, honest critics.
On 11/27/23 17:19, Bob Schofield wrote:
Bruce, Tom
My only observations:
Day 3:
* could extend an extra mile into Clinton and turn around at the Dairy Queen;
* possible detour into Calhoun at current MP37 - Bullseye gas station.
Day 4 :
* good to have a shorter day, mid-tour
* maybe take some respite @ Pilot Grove, MP27.
Day 5 :
* did you consider the Coopers Landing store @ MP32?
* in extremis, could consider Helmis Gardens, accessible by road or, possibly, via Eagle Bluffs Overlook TH @ MP32.
Day 6:
* agree! Only the Veterans and Victorian Suites at Crown offer additional accommodation (sofa bed & trundle) at reasonable prices.
* could you consider trail rooms at The Doll House B&B, assuming there are in fact two of these rooms? It's on the KT north of the river but, unfortunately, enquiries are required by email.
Thanks for all the good work you're putting into this.
On Mon, 27 Nov 2023 at 16:42, bruce <bruceeday@gmail.com> wrote:
Bob, Tom,
I finally got motivated to finish the full RWGPS draft of KATY 2024. https://ridewithgps.com/collections/2224386?privacy_code=9mWW066xtG74XLE4Eqd6AkqOQ1D0WST5
Lunch was problematic. There's no designated lunch for days 1,4,5,6. some days are short but 5 and 6 just had no reasonable possibilities. Day 5 has a middle of nowhere trailside self serve snack shed listed but I'd not count on it.
Lodging in Hermann will be an adventure. Hermann really leans into its German heritage, including all
the hotels. Reviews of the suggested hotel state it is bike friendly.
The Casino in Booneville is now accepting reservations. It is very convenient and the posted room rate is great. Reviews note it is a smoking facility and they tack on resort and other fees at the end so I crossed it off my list.
Please look this over for screw ups. Having doubts about my ability to do this ride has tamped my enthusiasm. No change in my health status.
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