Franklin to Columbia, 29 miles
What a fantastic, beautiful morning! We started out with a quick jaunt on a highway to circumvent part of the trail that was flooded, and soon arrived in Rocheport. The tantalizing smells of a bed and breakfast made us wish we had reconsidered our camp in the Davisdale Conservation Area, especially after waking up with everything covered in a heavy dew. Rocheport seemed a quaint little town in the early morning light. The streets were quiet and a few people were about walking their dogs as the birds greeted each other and scolded the humans from the treetops. We backtracked down the Katy Trail so that we could see the one tunnel on the entire MKT rail line, constructed in the 1890s. The tunnel was a necessity to get through the steep bluff that rose up in front of us. We slowly bicycled forward, happy to avoid yet another treacherous climb.
It was enchanting. The silence felt heavy and was only interrrupted by the occasional drip of water from the upper canopy, and the wind gently swaying the trees. Even the light seemed muted, filtering through the leaves with only thin beams reaching the path. The tunnel itself whispered its age as you passed through, with the bricks and mortar showing the wear of the elements on their facades. The effect made you want to sit and contemplate your surroundings, or just attempt to take in the small sounds and the depth of the experience.
We left our bicycles to take a closer look at the Diana Bend Conservation Area bordering the South side of the tunnel. The flooding was very apparent here: many tree trunks were submerged, and high water marks were visible by the driftwood washed upon the shore. The town had sandbags and concrete barriers covered in plastic on the lowest edge of town bordering the river. This area showed the most severe flooding on the trail. Later we would encounter some more, the river and connecting creeks and streams would always appear very high, and in many places the water level would be only a few inches or feet from the trail. Floods and flooding are a way of life in this part of the country. Every town on the Katy line has a history of being flooded countless times over the last 100 years.
Much of the conserveration area's boardwalk was under water.
The Bluff we rode along was full of holes, crevaces, and small caves. We stared into them hoping to see if any animals had made them into homes. Along the way we spotted this guy:
There have been a number of deer on the trail, most of them have been very young:
We came up to the Lewis and Clark Cave along the side of the trail, at the base of a large Bluff. The cave had a stream running through it and you could feel cold air rushing out of it. Above were nesting sites for literally hundreds of birds that were filling the morning sky.
On the other side of the path (opposite the tall, rocky bluffs), was the giant, flowing, and overfilled Missouri River. The towns along the river became populated long before the railroad was ever conceived. Many of them stored ice from the Missouri River when it froze over during the winter in insulated ice houses and shiped it downstream in the summer.
Eventually we reached a fork in the Katy trail. There is a nine mile spur that goes from the Katy line to nearby Columbia, MO, a college town. We stopped at the sign post to read about what we would be able to do in the town if we decided to go. While deciding, two cyclists out for a morning ride, and returning to Columbia, stopped for a rest and helped us decide on going to Columbia. In addition to their recommendation to visit the Flat Branch Brewery, we had heard that there were several good bike shops in the city. The bikes have been serving us well, but the small, light, pumps that we brought along with us for the trip have proven to be a lot of work for pumping up, and topping off our large touring bike tires at high psi. The pumps are great if you are traveling light and there is a chance of getting a flat, but don't provide enough air-per-pump for our situation. We wanted to get a larger pump and thought that we would be able to get one in Columbia. The trail to Columbia was very nice, wooded, and we experienced increased traffic as we got closer to the city. As we closed in, just over a mile away from one of the bike shops, we got another flat tire! The fifth of the trip. Not a big deal as we have gotten the change down to a science at this point. Chris changes the flat while Emily patches the tire for next time. However, this convinced us that we really did need a better pump.
Two bike shops later and we had a new pump! This one is much larger and can be used like a small floor pump. It has a pressure gauge and only takes a couple of pumps to top off a tire, very easy :)
The second shop that we vistited was Walt's Bicycle and Wilderness in Columbia, MO. They had an excellent shop with an amazing selection of gear. Everything from racing bikes to Surly Long Haul Truckers, to camping gear! Just the place for people to stop by when bicycle touring! They also had a front rack and front Ortlieb panniers in stock! We have literally stopped in on every bike shop from San Diego, California to Missouri without finding these! We have been thinking about moving some of the gear off of the back of our bikes because they are so back-heavy. This was our opportunity. With this setup we have been able to move our tent and some other things to the front of the Surly, taking some weight off of the back of Emily's bike and making Chris' more stable.
After visiting the bike shops we headed over to the Brewery for a delicious meal. After eating and watching the day get later, we decided it would be nice to stay in Columbia so we found a hotel room. The hotel was a mile from the mall where there was a Barnes and Noble. We decided to dress up like normal people and walk over there. It was nice to spend time walking through the rows of books and to restock our reading supply. After getting dessert and picking out some books we headed back to the hotel.
16 July 2011
Columbia to Tebbetts, 50 miles
In the morning we enjoyed a hot breakfast of waffles in the hotel lobby and headed back to the Katy trail! The trail is a supreme place for biking. It is incredible that you can nearly cross Missouri on this fantastic trail. There are evenplans to extend it even farther! Our cycling pace picked up today. Often we would cruise at 12-14 mph on the well-packed gravel trail over mostly flat terrain. Chris was getting used to the new setup on the bike and we were both enjoying the scenery. It is such a change to be able to spend most of the day biking in the shade. The frequent stops on the trail (10 to 15 miles apart from one another) for water and bathrooms are convenient and provide nice places to stretch and learn about the history of the towns that we passed through. The trail is really a 200+ mile long museum, and history of the railroad and shipping industry in the area. In addition to this history, there is information along the way on the path of the Lewis and Clark expedition when they came through this same area. Like any good attraction, there is always food along the way. When we arrived in Hartsburg, we were ready for lunch when we found the Big Muddy Tavern. It was a nice, updated sports bar and grill where we had the most delicious sandwiches of our trip. A rueben and a grilled ham and cheese with chips and salsa really hit the spot while we enjoyed the cool ac of the building.
While the trail is flat, much of it passes through mountains (where sections of mountain were excavated to make way for the train), and alongside Bluffs and rock formations.
We stopped during the heat of the afternoon for some water and shade at one of the Katy trail stops. While recovering from the heat another long-distance cyclist riding a Surly Long-Haul trucker with red ortlieb panniers and a brooks saddle also pulled in. We met Steve, riding from his home in Brooklyn, NY to San Diego, CA. He was very nice to talk with and we shared some stories. He planned on making the trip with his wife, who died two years ago. He has been riding on his own but says that being on the bike has been the best thing for him.
When we reached Tebbetts, MO we still had over an hour left of daylight and still felt like biking. However, we found the Turner Katy Trail Shelter, an empty, air-conditioned hostle that we could not pass up. The building was donated by Mrs. Turner to be used as a shelter for cyclists along the Katy trail. It is a really neat place and idea. For $10 we were able to enjoy the AC, shower, and sleep in beds. There was room for our bikes, a shop to work on bikes, a table, refridgerator, microwave, showers, and a bathroom. The place is mainly kept up by the cyclists traveling through who stay there. We had a dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese outside of the shelter (we had to use our gas stove).
17 July 2011
Tebbetts to Marthasville, 59 miles
Riding along the Katy trail has been a relaxing and incredible experience. It was like taking a vacation. Our only wish was that they would extend the rail to trail network to get us back to Florida! Unfortunately, that isn't the case and we have to think about heading in the right direction. We discovered that the Adventure Cycling Great Rivers route intersects with the Katy trail in Marthasville, where it starts heading south. We would spend most of the day thinking about whether or not we would want to leave the Katy trail a few miles early to the advantage of having a route. With this in mind, we had a leasurily ride on the trail while enjoying the scenery as much as we could.
The trail is full of dragonflies. This one landed on Emily:
One of the sights along the trail was the flood rock. Lines on the rock mark where water from the Missouri River rose to during major floods in the last 150 years.
We continued to ride with the steep bluffs on our left and the river coming in and out of view on our right. During part of the ride the river water was within a foot of the trail. Having flooded the road immediately to the right of the trail (between the trail and the river), traffic was being diverted from the road onto the trail. Luckily this was through a very small town and we did not see a single car on the trail.
We stopped for lunch at the Riverside Bar and Grill just off of the trail. It was the only place open. There was only one lady working there, managing the bar, waitressing, and doing all of the grilling. We had two cheeseburgers for $7. They were probably the best yet on our trip. Just plain delicious, greesy burgers to aid with the biking for the rest of the day.
View as the terrain was broken up by agriculture fields on our way into Marthasville.
At the edge of town we saw a railcar from the Katy line parked in a field off to the side of the trail. It was lit with a neon sign and we realized it was an ice cream stand! After biking through the town we returned to the Caboose, as it is called, and ordered two delicious waffle cones with twist soft serve ice cream. As we enjoyed this delicious treat (and dinner), we met two locals. One of them, 95 year old Orrie shared stores of some of the floods that have come through the town.
We found out that we could camp in the park across from where we had our dessert. The sun was starting to set when we left the Caboose and we set up camp. The increasingly high humidity has made camping more difficult. It is amazing how like Florida the weather can be here. Oftentimes it is so hot that we are not able to go to bed as early as we would like to, and we always wake up covered with sweat and moisture from the air. The humidity also does a great job of keeping all of our stuff nice and wet.
We decided to head out on the Great Rivers route in the morning.
Location:Franklin, MO to Columbia, MO to Tebbetts, MO to Marthasville, MO
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