Rock Island Trail Forum

Cooper's is high & dry. Front "porch" area flooded but main store is intact and dry. That means he'll be back in business within just days from this spring rise. Make sure you stop in and buy a beer! ~Brett, Rocheport

Hi all -- I heard Cooper's Landing in Easley had about 6 inches of water on their floor (and plenty of beer). I got to tour the river and wetlands today. All of the Katy Trail portions between Rocheport to below Huntsdale all appeared to be fine from the river. here's a link to Cooper's Landing newsletter with lots of great links of upcoming activities and "flood that didn't happen" links:

http://www.cooperslanding.net/newsletter.htm

P.S. The kayaking was otherworldly. Very incredible day!

See you on the trail! Brett

Hi all -- Katfish Katy's at Huntsdale is 110% open for business. The trail in both directions is dry. There must have been 25 cyclists at their store this afternoon. I repeat: Katfish Katy's in Huntsdale is OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL. I heard Cooper's Landing in Easley had about 6 inches of water on their floor (and plenty of beer). I got to tour the river and wetlands today. All of the Katy Trail portions between Rocheport to below Huntsdale all appeared to be fine from the river. here's a link to Cooper's Landing newsletter with lots of great links of upcoming activities and "flood that didn't happen" links:

http://www.cooperslanding.net/newsletter.htm

P.S. The kayaking was otherworldly. Very incredible day!

See you on the trail! Brett

Hi all -- Katfish Katy's at Huntsdale is 110% open for business. The trail in both directions is dry. There must have been 25 cyclists at their store this afternoon. I repeat: Katfish Katy's in Huntsdale is OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL. I heard Cooper's Landing in Easley had about 6 inches of water on their floor (and plenty of beer). I got to tour the river and wetlands today. All of the Katy Trail portions between Rocheport to below Huntsdale all appeared to be fine from the river. here's a link to Cooper's Landing newsletter with lots of great links of upcoming activities and "flood that didn't happen" links:

http://www.cooperslanding.net/newsletter.htm

P.S. The kayaking was otherworldly. Very incredible day!

See you on the trail! Brett

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See you on the trail! ~Brett

We have a furnished house available for nightly rent at our Katy Trail B&B called the Tree House. It is right at the Rocheport Katy Trail Trailhead. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house up on stilts (hence the Tree House name!). Climb the stairs to begin a relaxing experience with a view!



Three bedrooms and two full bathrooms allow everyone room to stretch out, a spacious open floor plan combines one wide-open family, living room and kitchen for plenty of elbow space.



We have continued the relaxed style of our Katy Trail Bed & Breakfast here as we remodeled this house over the past two years. Open airy spaces and relaxing natural tones of earthy colors meld with the timelessness of oak hardwood floors and the curtain of trees outside every window. We created comfortable, unpretentious space where you can relax with family and friends.



A large kitchen with a new stove, refrigerator and coffee maker will help start your day. The expansive counter top with four bar stools offers a great place to play cards or prepare lunch for your Katy Trail outing.



The Tree House is perfect for your family's weekend trip to Rocheport, girl's weekend out or college reunion. The Tree House is located just a block down the Katy Trail from the Katy Trail Bed & Breakfast. Trailside Cafe & Bike Rental is located just across the trail, and the Children's Park and all of the shops, restaurants and galleries of Rocheport are within easy walking distance (2-4 blocks). The Tree House is the perfect place for large groups coming to town that want to stretch out.



We provide a hearty continental breakfast, stocked in the kitchen for your convenience. It will include coffee, juice, muffins, cereal, fruit and/or yogurt to give you plenty of pedal power for your Katy adventure!



Check it out at http://www.katytrailbb.com/rocheport_katy_trail_bed_breakfast_missouri_tree_house_rental_house.htm



See you in Rocheport!

We have a furnished house available for nightly rent at our Katy Trail B&B called the Tree House. It is right at the Rocheport Katy Trail Trailhead. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house up on stilts (hence the Tree House name!). Climb the stairs to begin a relaxing experience with a view!



Three bedrooms and two full bathrooms allow everyone room to stretch out, a spacious open floor plan combines one wide-open family, living room and kitchen for plenty of elbow space.



We have continued the relaxed style of our Katy Trail Bed & Breakfast here as we remodeled this house over the past two years. Open airy spaces and relaxing natural tones of earthy colors meld with the timelessness of oak hardwood floors and the curtain of trees outside every window. We created comfortable, unpretentious space where you can relax with family and friends.



A large kitchen with a new stove, refrigerator and coffee maker will help start your day. The expansive counter top with four bar stools offers a great place to play cards or prepare lunch for your Katy Trail outing.



The Tree House is perfect for your family's weekend trip to Rocheport, girl's weekend out or college reunion. The Tree House is located just a block down the Katy Trail from the Katy Trail Bed & Breakfast. Trailside Cafe & Bike Rental is located just across the trail, and the Children's Park and all of the shops, restaurants and galleries of Rocheport are within easy walking distance (2-4 blocks). The Tree House is the perfect place for large groups coming to town that want to stretch out.



We provide a hearty continental breakfast, stocked in the kitchen for your convenience. It will include coffee, juice, muffins, cereal, fruit and/or yogurt to give you plenty of pedal power for your Katy adventure!



Check it out at http://www.katytrailbb.com/rocheport_katy_trail_bed_breakfast_missouri_tree_house_rental_house.htm



See you in Rocheport!

Is there shuttle service from Marthasville to Boonville?

Most of the shuttle services will carry you between any two points on the trail, although price may vary depending on how far they need to travel. Here's a list of the shuttle services that I know of for the Katy Trail.

Try Rodney O'Neil's Rocheport Shuttle Service - 573 698 2001.

We have camping reservations at Katfish Katys for Memorial Day Weekend. But I am seeing info that the campground is underwater. Attempted to check their website, which is linked here, and it appears to be down also.



Ray, perhaps you know, or someone else, what the chances are that they will be open for business on Memorial Day weekend.

I don't think anyone can answer that right now, even the folks from Katfish Katy's. If we see more rain over the next week or two, then it might be doubtful. But if we have sunny weather, hopefully the waters will recede quickly. The river should hit its highest crest this weekend (barring more rain), so that should give us an idea of just how bad things will get, and hopefully only improve starting early next week.

If I hear any information about trail businesses closing or reopening, I'll post it on this forum as well as on the home page. If anyone has any additional information, please pass it along. Let's all try to keep each other informed.

Those of you who have trips planned in the next few weeks may also want to check the local news websites often - they're closest to the action, and this will be their top news story for a while:
Columbia Daily Tribune
Columbia Missourian
Boonville Daily News
Jeff City News Tribune
St Louis Post Dispatch (St Charles area)

The river will drop more than 10 feet by Tuesday. In most areas that flood, the main clean up to be done is debris removal. Barring any unforeseen damage, Katfish Katys will be up and open for business in a relatively short amount of time. The response time of Boone County services to protect Rocheport, Huntsdale, Wilton & Hartsburg was truly incredible. I will post more information as it becomes available. But this is an incredibly short-lived event who's longest-lived ill effects are actually the result of the media (OH MY GOD THE RIVER HAS WASHED EVERYONE AWAY!) rather than the flood. Keep in mind the river always has a spring rise. This one was just larger. Most river towns are pretty used to preparing for these type events. ~Brett Dufur, Rocheport

Anyone hear any news of flooding along the Katy? The news reports don't supply very much information.

A group of friends and I plan to stay in Rocheport's Katy Trail Bed & Bikefest, and I know that area experienced huge problems in '93.

Am also concerned about the DNR ride coming up. Memories of how I wiped out on one little washed-out section are haunting me a little! I don't want to cause a multi-bike pileup-- maybe I should practice by off-road biking a little! :)

The link below is for the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service river information at Boonville. We became pretty familiar with this site earlier in the week when we were at risk here in St. Joe.



If you click on Downstream Gauge, the next town that takes floodstage readings is Jefferson City. There are several listings for the Katy and when it floods.



http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=eax&gage=bozm7&type=0&view=1,1,1,1,1,1

Everything I know about the flood situation is on the home page. If anyone knows any more, please pass it along.

Hi all. Rocheport is high & dry. The anticipated flooding did not occur. Our B&B (Katy Trail B&B) is open for biz as is the rest of town -- rememeber 99.9% of our town is up and out of the flood plain. All of our restaurants, B&Bs and other shops and businesses including Trailside Cafe have been unaffected by the recent river rise. Come see us! ~Brett

What would you suggest to train for Katy Trail? The plan is to ride the entire trail from East to West in about 5 days. We have about 4 months to get ready.

The main thing in my opinion is to make sure you try to acclimate your body to the heat and humidity that will still be there in September. You will need lots of fluids. If you're going in late September, you may get lucky and the temperatures may have cooled some, but most likely not. The trail is flat, so you will not need much hill training. However, this will mean you will not be shifting your position on the bike much and your fanny and back will probably protest the first couple of days. When I did the trail, I tried to stop and get off the bike and stretch, even if it meant only 5 minutes or so, every 10 to 15 miles. Enjoy the KATY !!

Hopefully, this link works as there are lots of good advice here:



http://www.bikekatytrail.com/talk.aspx?thid=1099&full=&ascdesc=&pg=



Also, you have to keep in mind if you want to really say you did the whole trail, you have to go to Machens, which lenthens your trip to approximately 238 miles. It was also pointed out to me previously that because I did not go past the trailhead in Clinton(as it does technically continue past this point for a little ways), I really did not do the whole trail.

anybody ever ride the whole thing in the rain? I was thinking about riding the trail next week but right now the forecast is for "isolated t-storms" or "scattered t-storms" all week. I have one of those capes that clip on your handlebars----might be a good time to try it out.

Anytime you spend more than a day on the trail, you run the risk of getting wet. There are several things you have to think about. You need to keep yourself and your gear dry, or you will be miserable. The best way to keep yourself dry is with a good, high quality breathable rain jacket. You may also elect to get rain pants as I did. For the gear, I had all my stuff in waterproof bags (OR makes great ones) and my panniers had waterproof covers also. If you are camping, that makes things even more difficult as you will need a waterproof tent. Riding in the rain is miserable, expecially on the KATY trail surface. It can be done though, you just have to plan ahead and honestly, spend some money on good gear. Have fun!

I basically agree with the previous comment and have ridden many miles in the rain over the years on the Katy. The one thing not mentioned above is a need for a second pair of riding shoes for a rainy day. Once your shoes are drenched and covered with the trail the next day is pretty miserable with wet gritty shoes. I always take an old pair of shoes just in case it does rain. So just come prepared and enjoy the ride.



My next scheduled ride on the Katy will be the Katy Trail State Ride in June hope to see some of you then.

I would just add--expect decreased mileage if it is raining or has just rained a lot, as the surface gets soft, and harder going.

I rode the whole thing from Clinton to Machens in October and it rained every day but the last, and that day was very windy. Although I wouldn't say it was the best trip in the world it was enjoyable. Expect decreased mileage and that you will get filthy. A second pair of shoes to wear it night is a must and I found Goretex trail running shoes to have been a good selection to ride in.

Egad. I was afraid of this.



These capes: Do they cover both rider and bike? Am invisioning something out of a jousting scene, where a cape covers the horse's flanks.



I'm only slightly kidding. Is that what this cape does?

Ixnay the apecay. If you're concerned about riding in the rain, ride a bike with fenders and pack a rain suit. The poncho/cape limits your flexibility, the ability to see the ground under your feet, and can get caught in the wheels. If it were me, I'd even skip the rain pants.

Nails is right on. You are going to get wet. Even with the cape, you will get wet. My

guess is that you have been wet before. Just be wet... the temps should be warm enough

these days that you won't get cold so long as you keep riding. Capes and ponchos and the

like are usually made of plastic or nylon which means you will just get hot and sweaty and

wet. Riding the trail in the rain means you will be wet and dirty (but you will wash and

hopefully will have packed a fresh set of clothes and protected your stuff from the water)

and it will be slow going...when the trail gets saturated it is like riding through plaster of

paris that is not quite set up. It is different than riding in just plain mud. And, your bike

will be filthy . . . be sure to clean it up paying attention to those moving parts--the chain,

the pedals and the like. Carry some lube so your chain doesn't rust and you can ride the

next day moving smoothly! And, rain or shine, have fun!

Ixnay the cape and get a light weight hiking jacket like the Marmot Precip. The sleeves open for ventilation and it is hooded. Also performs quite well as a windbreaker. Everyone makes them. The ultra-lightweight biking jackets just don't cut it in my experience. They look nice, they are light, but they don't shed water.

thanks for comments. yeah I guess I'll just wait till we get some nice weather.

My husband and I will be on the trail Friday through Sunday riding from Jeff City to Sedalia. I am hoping that the forecast changes (call me Polyanna!) We will definitely be ready for the winery in Rocheport where we are spending our first night. I don't seem to be very good at planning these trips. Last year we rode during the hottest weekend of the year (in August) and it looks like I've chosen one of the wettest weekends for this years trip. Someone else is picking the time for the next one!

Way to go Polyanna! : )

I always carry a rain jacket with me on extended rides. Adding fenders to my recumbent was the very best improvment for those wet days on the trail. You still get wet, but not near as dirty/sandy. Riding a bent puts your head closer to the rear tire, and ALL that sand slings on the back of your neck and head. I actually enjoy some of those lighter showers now!

This gives you almost no info on the structure of the ride. Where do you stay, where do you eat, how much does it cost, where do you register (if you ride). Eg, here is the Brag website (http://www.brag.org/brag.html). We would like to do the ride but need more info than just the date. Is there a sag wagon? Do we have to tote our tents and stuff. What do we eat?

The "DNR Ride" as many call it is a function of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The link below will get you to their website where you can request more information. To my knowledge info about the 2007 ride is yet to be released.



http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/2007ride.htm

This is not the website for the DNR sponsored bike ride. Here is a link to that website:

http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/2007ride.htm. No details are posted yet, but you

can see details/photos from previous year's rides and sign up to receive notification when

details are available for the 2007 ride. This is a site for people to post comments about the

Katy Trail, in general. I encourage you to check out the DNR website and to sign up for the

ride as it is great fun! Sharon

http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/2007ride.htm



In reference to the 2007 Ride by DNR, keep your eye on this link for update, and you can also submit your email to get their registration packet. It will have all the info you are looking for. For this ride, all you have to do yourself is ride your bicycle, get luunch somewhere, and pitch your tent. On the last day, I believe that lunch is usually provided also.

Are there camping areas along the route that would not normally be there? Is the camper population usually higher at existing campgrounds?

DNR sets up camping sites at various locations for the riders and provides the evening meals

and the ever popular shower truck. I would not think the ride would affect the "normal"

camping spots, so long as those are not the spots DNR has chosen for its ride. When the

brochure is out, you will be able to see where the overnights will be and could plan

accordingly if you plan to be on the Trail at the same time the ride is going on. DNR also

provides SAG stops along the route as well as transporting all gear from one overnight locale

to the next. It is a well supported ride.

I have done this ride 2004,2005, and 2006 and it is a great time. Yes there are multiple sag wagons. No you do not have to haul anything you don't want to -- they will truck up to two 50 lb. bags per person. I take way more than I probably need and have never come near the limit.



They feed you breakfast 5 mornings, dinner 4 evenings and a bag lunch the last day (which is always a short ride). You are on your own for dinner Sunday (if you arrive Sunday) and for lunch mon-thur. Vegetarian meals available.



Particulars aren't usually posted on the official DNR page until March, but if you examine the volunteer application you can see the overnights are in Sedaila, Columbia, Mokane and Augusta this year -- though it does not say exact camping location.



Cost was $230 for whole ride last year, up from $220. It's a bargain.

"Are there camping areas along the route that would not normally be there? Is the camper population usually higher at existing campgrounds?" -- so far in my experience, the DNR ride hasn't used any existing campgrounds. When starting in St. Charles you camp in the park. When starting in Clinton, you camp at the fairgrounds there. We have stayed at Liberty Park in Sedalia which is a WONDERFUL facility. We have camped at Les Bougouis vinyard in Rocheport. An abandoned military school in Boonville. A couple of years ago we spent the night in the tiny town of Hartsburg, more than quadrupling the popuation of the town for that night. The fine citizens of Hartsburg allowed us to camp in their yards. The only 'bad' campsites were only bad because there isn't much shade - a ballfield in Marthasville, a schoolyard in Augusta - and I am fortunate enough to like riding early and fast, so I get there in time to get a shady spot for my tent even in those situations. You have to try really hard to have a bad time on this ride. Register early, ridership is limited to around 300 and by June they are turning people away.

Jon,

Would I be correct in assuming that the two 50lb bag per person includes your camping gear?

thanks

Never been on the annual ride but here's a hint to a great ride. Park at Kirkwood, MO and take the AMTRAK to Sedalia. Then pedal back to any AMTRAK stop or pedal back to St. Charles. No need to buy books on the Katy just google "Katy Trail" and you'll find B&B's, motel's etc. on the way. Park at the Casino in St. Charles if going all the way. My family does it every summer with great anticipation! Take plenty water/gatorade on hot days, sunglasses and bug spray. Cell phones work most places. Have fun!

What a wonderful place. We stayed in the Ranch House Cabin and it is wonderful. The setting is amazing near a hill which has a path leading to a small stream. It is so peaceful. The porch swing is a great touch. The cabin itself has a wonderfully huge jacuzzi tub and soft bed. Breakfast was incredible. The hosts came to pick us up in Marthasville and then dropped us off again the next morning. It is a great place to stay.

What a wonderful place. We stayed in the Ranch House Cabin and it is wonderful. The setting is amazing near a hill which has a path leading to a small stream. It is so peaceful. The porch swing is a great touch. The cabin itself has a wonderfully huge jacuzzi tub and soft bed. Breakfast was incredible. The hosts came to pick us up in Marthasville and then dropped us off again the next morning. It is a great place to stay.

In November, 2005, the store on Main St. had a big "Closed" sign in the window, and the space was empty. Today the web site is "not found" (404 error). Anyone know the current situation for Momentum Cycles?

In November, 2005, the store on Main St. had a big "Closed" sign in the window, and the space was empty. Today the web site is "not found" (404 error). Anyone know the current situation for Momentum Cycles?

Looks like they changed their website, but I still had their old web address listed. I have updated Momentum's listing on the St Charles page to have their new web address. Thanks for pointing this out!

Looks like they changed their website, but I still had their old web address listed. I have updated Momentum's listing on the St Charles page to have their new web address. Thanks for pointing this out!