Bike Katy Trail Day 6

Woke up feeling a bit better but still groggy. Ate 1/2 a bagel, had decided at that time I would catch a ride w Bill to St. Charles and then bike back to meet everyone. Kinda bummed, but it would be for the better, cuz I was not feeling 100%.
Went back to bed & thought about things. Since the bagel didn't have any negative affects on me, I got back up & decided to give the ride a try, worse thing that could happen was I crapped in my pants & Bill had to come pick me up. So I ate the remainder of the bagel and got dressed to ride.

Today was definitely the most crowded we have seen the trail. Near Matson we came across a bunch of middle schoolers out for a walk and when I say a bunch, I mean at least 2 bus loads.

Then in the next town (Defiance) we came across another bus load but these kids were on bikes.

The leaves continued to change & cover the trail.
This way view for most of the day, notice the 2 specs up ahead, that's Kristen & Victor. Thank you Amanda for letting me draft off you, especially when we hit the windy areas.

When we arrived in St. Charles, the trail took us thru the industrial section. looked like they were getting dirt from the river.

Met up w Kristen, Victor & Bill, decided to go into the old town & eat. It was then we decided we were finished, no need to go the additional 11 miles to Machens, time to order beer & food, then check out St. Charles.

Cheers! Great job Everyone!

St. Charles was cute!

My trusty bike getting a much needed rest.

It was just a little bit dirty and some leaves hitched a ride w me.

Time to head back to Clinton. Amanda & I get to ride in the back of the truck! Fun!

What a great trip! Sad to see it end, will definitely be doing something like this again!

Love this map of the Katy Trail, shows that we really did almost ride all the way across Missouri. BTW, google map says that from Kansas City to St. Louis it is 248 miles, so had we gone to Machens we would have gone all the way across.

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Augusta to St. Charles
Towns we passed by: Matson, Defiance, Weldon Spring
Time in saddle: 4 hours 41 mins
Miles for today's ride: 28.51
Total miles for the Katy Trail: 239.05
Total miles for 2012: 2632.15
Miles to go:  -620.15  miles til 2012!!

Odometer
Cross:1239.05

Bike Katy Trail Day 5

Kristen cooked an amazing breakfast--breakfast tacos w hash browns. Very tasty!

With Bill (Kristen's dad) following us, we could travel light, for me that meant the front camera bag & the 'flat' bag w tubes & CO2.

We rode down the hill to hit the trail & find a coffee shop or something. Unfortunately the breakfast or something else didn't agree w my head & stomach. Took 3 ibuprofen and hopped back on the bike.

Stopped at the statue to take some "cheers" pics.

Over the bridge and through the woods on our bikes to Augusta we must go.

The trees were still changing, definitely more leaves on the trail. Janice & Bob said they saw 19 snakes the other day, we've only seen 2 live snakes.

More farm country today. Always makes me wonder about GMO crops & what the farmer really thinks about them, does he feel duped? Is he making more $?Less? More  or less frustrated? Or how many of these fields are owned by big food giants who are sleeping w/ Monsanto?

This town looked cute, but according to other bikers, they were out of food, also.

Once in Augusta, the couple we met in Hartsburg that wouldn't shut up, were right-- it was uphill to our cabin, but everything in Augusta was up hill in one way or another.

Finally saw some sort of boat, wonder if the river was too low?

Cabin was cute, but cold, Kristen & I searched for several minutes for the heater/thermostat, only to have Amanda walk in and go right up to the thermostat & turn on the heat! Kristen & I definitely were good lookers, poor finders.

We went out to eat at some restaurant, I didn't make it through dinner, ate 1 chicken tender then went back to the cabin & crawled into bed, 3 blankets, a space heater and about 2 hours later I was finally warm.

I heard they had a great fire outside, so bummed I missed out on that. There also was some local wine. Seriously, I can go all year without getting sick, but I go on vacation and I get sick. Not fair.

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Hermann to Augusta
Towns we passed by: Treloar, Marthasville, Dutzow
Time in saddle: 4 hours 41 mins
Miles for today's ride: 37.39
Total miles for the Katy Trail:210.54
Total miles for 2012: 2589.35
Miles to go:  -577.35  miles til 2012!!

Odometer
Cross:1210.8