Reply to Century Ride

I'm planning on a 100-miler on my 60th birthday (early April). My route will start at Hermann, take me to Weldon Spring and return to Hermann. Any reports on trail conditions? Recommendations?

Trail conditions are weather dependent and won't be known until your day nears. The Katy in general recovers well from heavy rains etc so I wouldn't be too concerned.

What you do need to prepare for is lack of services, in particular the Marthasville to McKittrick stretch. There was a bar and grill in Treloar (mile 84) last summer but you should doublecheck that it will be open the day you are riding. If it is closed then there will literally be no services between Marthasville and McKittrick, a 23-mile stretch.

Not sure what your expectation is regarding services (food water etc) but if you are reliant on services at all then verify personally with each location before riding, ESPECIALLY if traveling on a weekday.

Thanks, Hank. I'm not real concerned about services in that stretch. I was actually more concerned about stretches of mud or downed trees or such.

We rode a Century on the Katy a few years back. Although I didn't do it, if you are concerned about downed trees, etc. you might check the trail conditions link on this site just prior to your ride. There is a link there to the DNR site which also has trail information. Check this forum too. It happens from time to time that trail conditions are posted here before they are reported to the DNR.

Our Century was on the stretch between Boonville and Jefferson City and it took two attempts to get it right. The first try was a start in Rocheport with a 30% chance of rain. We didn't worry much about that until we were sitting at the trailhead in Hartsburg trying to figure out if we should head on to Jeff City beings it was raining well over 100%. It was a terrible 70 mile trip, soaking wet with limestone slurry grinding in the chain and a flat tire within the last mile to remind us how great a day it was. Standing joke for us today about what it really means when the forcast is for only 30% chance of rain.

Services or not, don't pass up a chance to refill the water bottles when you have an opportunity. On our first try, I couldn't find enough water to keep the grit washed off the chain.

Trek, great point about washing the grit off the chain. Fortunately, my wife will be out shopping or napping or whatever she wants, so if I need assistance she'll be just a phone call away.

Steve, greetings from the far North (15 miles or so). I commend you on your attempt to do a Century ride. The best advice I can give is to be flexible -- be willing to postpone or move up your date by a couple of days depending on the weather. If you go in with the attitude that you will probably have to change your dates, then you will be mentally prepared when it happens. You know how the weather is here. I remember in 1982 that we got 6" of snow in early April. I also remember some Aprils where I got sunburned and almost overheated at Easter touch football games. Good luck. I hope I am as healthy as you are when I am 60, and that's not too far away!

Thanks, Bikerboy. I've been a long-time resident of IL so I do know how tempermental the weather can be. I do plan to adjust based on the weather. Fortunately, planning on riding during the week will make getting a place to stay on short notice fairly easy.

By the way, I envy you the access to the MCT Trails out your back door.

Any idea on your time frame? A couple years ago a friend and myself rode the Jeff City to Booneville section, we left at 6 in the morning and returned at 8 that evening. As always some snacks and water go a long way, other than that just plan on a sore rear and tired legs. We lucked out had nice weather and no bike problems. Good Luck, Ron We did waste a bit of time at the boat also!

Thanks, Ron. We've kind of settled on April 1st. That's my birthday (believe it or not) so there's a silly notion of spending my 60th birthday doing something that not a lot of 60 year old folks have done. I guess trying to show I'm not as old as the age belies. But, I do expect a sore tush and tired legs.

There was a recent post on crazyguyonabike.com by a woman who was planning on riding in all 50 states in 50 days for her 50th birthday.

A Century on your 60th should be much more enjoyable.

One thing you may want to consider is wind direction. Since you're doing an out and back I would start at whichever location would let me have the wind at my back for the second half of the ride.

I've never done a century on the Katy but have gotten close (86 miles). The key is getting an early start. Depending on speed you can probably easily get from Hermann to Weldon Spring before noon. Then turn around and get back to Augusta or so before having lunch. Fuel up at lunch and then save the last third of the ride for after lunch.

I agree that wind can be a bear. If you have any flexibility in your planning it would be nice to have a tailwind on your return trip. That can be hard to plan for however. In my opinion sections between Hermann and St. Chas are some of the worst for fighting a west wind (traveling west).

The RAIL group from IL has a one day, StL to Vincennes, IN ride on Jun 28 this year. Little over a century on the road, so its easier. Pretty flat and they lend you a GPS to use for all the turns. bicycleillinois,com

Jim, I hear you about the wind. I did a 50-miler on the Madison Co. IL Trails this Saturday and bucked a 15-20 mph wind on the last half. It was brutal. My hope for the 1st is that we won't have an approaching weather front. Aside from the wind, my biggest fear is soft ground. On the same 50-miler, I hit some soft ground that was like riding on beach sand. I struggled to maintain 10 mph. Long stretches of that would be a ride killer.

Hank, I like your idea on managing the time on the saddle. I was actually considering stopping every 25 miles or so for 10-minutes off the saddle. But I think going non-stop to Weldon Springs is doable.

Steve, I doubt you will encounter long sections of soft track, unless we are in a very wet weather period. In my experience the Katy generally handles rain very well.

I definitely would take a break every now and then, maybe every 20 miles. The key for me would be getting the first 60 or so miles, preferably 65, out of the way before a late lunch. Have a long relaxing lunch and then knock out the last segment before evening.

So, for the record, I did the ride on the 1st (Tues) and completed it. 7 hours 12 minutes at just shy of 14 mph average. The last 1/3 was tough and it lightly rained on me the last 12 hours. But the condition of the trail is good (except for some downed branches). I rode from Hermann to just past Weldon Springs and back. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't stop for a lunch (I stopped at Augusta on the way back). My legs stiffened just enough to make the rest of the ride pretty tough.

Steve - Congrats on an impressive accomplishment!

Congratulations Steve!

Agree with Trek,
Nice ride Steve.

Well done! Congratulations.

Thanks, All. You're next!

Some friends and I did Clinton to St Charles in 2 days. Clinton to JC the first day and JC to St Charles the second day I have to say that while I'm glad I did it I have no desire to do it again.

Jim, I'm impressed. While I have no doubt I could do the century again, I'm not sure I'd want to try riding a century (or longer) on back to back days.

If you can do one hundred mile day you can do two. The hardest part of the second day is making yourself get back on the bike. :-)

How bout RAGBRAI the end of July? The challenges are quite different than a calm, less riders, rail trail. Crazy people weaving, hung over, trikes on one side and pace lines on the other. But its fun and the food is good, 3 P's, pancakes, pork and pie, Can't beat it.

I rode RAGBRAI in 2011. Pretty amazing to see that many bikes in one place. I also find it amazing that more people aren't hurt with 20+ mph pace lines mixed in with newbies weaving all over the place. Not being a road bike guy I was a little surprised at how much less resistance there is riding on blacktop. Except for one killer hill somewhere around the 4th day I found the ride pretty easy. Its the first time I rode 400+ miles and gained weight. I blame Mr Pork Chop and the church lady pies.