How much ground is covered in a day?

Considering putting together an impromtu trip of the Katy trail from St. Louis area (near Hwy. 40)to Sedalia. Tent camping, trail snacks, etc. Not sure what to expect of mileage per day. Also are there hills? Would like to do the trip between a Monday morning to Friday afternoon. What does anyone think. I'm in late 30's, don't bike but jog about 15-20 miles per week consistently.

I'd use the Plan a Ride feature of this website to actually see where camping options are. That may help you determine the milage between those places that you'd like to end the day.

Roughly 190 to Sedalia.....divided by a Monday morning to a Friday afternoon equals roughly 38 miles per day. Camping options may adjust that for you tho.

I'm sure with your jogging schedule that your fit enough for a 190 mile ride but if you don't put in some seat time prior to your trip you will probably have a major case of "bike butt" by the end of your trip.

Guessing how many miles other people can do is tricky, because people have differing riding styles, habits, strength, etc. Here's my best advice, assuming you are on the trail more for touring more than racing.

Unless you are carrying a lot of weight on your bikes, you should easily be able to 50-60 miles per day and still have plenty of time to dawdle around, have a nice lunch, etc. If you like to ride fast and don't spend a lot of time in the towns, most people should be able to do 70-80 miles without difficulty. If you like to ride at a quick pace and push your limits a little, 100 miles is very doable, but in my opinion if you are going to ride that far in a day you are not going to have time for any fun along the way.

We usually estimate 10 miles per hour (not counting long breaks for lunch and dinner) when planning our day on the bike. For example, if we want cover 80 miles in a day and we are going have lunch at noon in a town that is 40 miles away, we need to be pedalling by 8 a.m. to get to the lunch town by noon. If we take two hours for lunch, we will pedal from 2-6pm to reach the overnight town.

That has always worked well for us. We can pedal faster than 10mph, but that planning system allows for us to ride at a comfortable pace and still take a break here and there to stop and see the sights. When we rode the Katy, we aimed for approx 60 mile days and that worked pretty well for us.

As for the hills, the ride is virtually flat from St. Charles to Boonville, then you will encounter long easy grades from Boonville to Sedalia. If you are riding both directions, it is best to ride the way you are from East to West first, because it is more downhill from West to East on the return.

Thanks for the detailed info. It is very helpful and seems to fit in to the plan I had for myself. I plan to do at least 30 to 40 miles per day, but it appears maybe I can even do 50 miles per day. Doing extra miles is a plus time wise. I believe I'm ready endurance/cardio wise but I'm realizing my lack of recent seat/saddle time could be interesting. Thanks.

A decent pair of padded bike shorts or two may be a good investment to keep the "interesting" numbness from settling in your.......bottom end.

I agree with the comment that you best have some mileage down pat on your bottom end. Otherwise after about 50 you're gonna feel it GOOD!
May I suggest quality bike shorts and a good chamois cream to prevent chafing? Available from any reputable bike shop