The Katy Trail is a 237 mile trail that traverses most of central Missouri. It’s the longest unbroken rail train corridor in the country with over half of it adjacent to the Missouri River along the same stretch Meriwether Lewis and William Clark took back in 1804. Its beginnings took place in the 1860’s and spanned well over a century to the 1980’s when the Union Pacific Railroad closed it permanently and donated most of the corridor to the state of Missouri where it was later converted to the Katy Trail State Park.
As it’s scenic, historical, sparsely populated and claims flat terrain, the Katy is ideal for cyclists who want to spend time outdoors, see small town America from a bicycle seat and ensure local brewers and wine makers stay on top of their game.
In September, 2011 we decided to do a quick out-and-back trip. We started in St. Charles on a sunny day, stopped at Augusta Brewery and came out to a downpour that didn’t stop for four days. We cut our bike trip a day short and ducked in a Bed and Breakfast to dry out.
We topped off the end of our trip with a 20 mile out and back run to Machens to get our regularly scheduled marathon training run in. At the time we were training for the Detroit Marathon. #dedicated #nuts
Keep Calm and Pedal On 