Reply to Great Missouri Weather for July

We rode parts of the Paul Bunyan trail in Minnesota the first weekend of July to escape the heat. As luck would have it, it was just as cool then in Missouri. This past weekend on the Katy was a fantastic time to ride. The cool mornings and moderated day temps are out of character for July but we'll take them! If you didn't ride the Katy this past weekend....what are you waiting for???!!

Having rained on Friday, the trail was in great shape on Saturday morning. The dust had settled and it was a great ride on the tandem with no worries of dust or sludge grinding away on the gears and chains.

We past a senior going west on a loaded Long Haul Trucker that was finishing up a three day trip from Washington to Sedalia. We enjoyed riding with him and talking about his trip. I hope we're still riding like he was when we're his age. You were an inspiration...thanks!

We tried the Mulberry Grill in Rocheport and enjoyed sitting under the huge mulberry tree for lunch. Shortly after lunch we passed the Trucker again just east of New Franklin. We had just popped a spoke on a rough road crossing so we were glad that the car wasn't far away at the trailhead. Unfortunately, the Trailside in Rocheport didn't have the right tool to take the cassette off, so Larry suggested Klunks in Columbia. Good idea.....thanks again Larry. Josh at Klunks replaced the spoke, adjusted the rear deraileur, and had us out the door in record time. Thanks Josh....you're the man!

From there we put on at Hartsburg and did about a 20 out and back towards Jeff City before trying out the Hartsburg Grand restaurant. Last time we were there, Mark and Pam had the bike shop in that building. You can find a lot more to eat than gel and goo packs in there now. It was good food in a rather cool old building this time.

Although we did have a broken spoke to contend with, as the gentleman on the Trucker replied when we asked him how he was doing, "nothing to compl

.....Although we did have a broken spoke to contend with, as the gentleman on the Trucker replied when we asked him how he was doing, "nothing to complain about."

Planning to ride the Paul Bunyan trail the first week of October, after I ride the Mickelson trail in September. Then, I will have to start looking for trails further south to ride during the winter months.