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Reply to Sedalia - bike unfriendly
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Aggie from Orange County, CA on 5/2/2018 6:27:32 PM:
Not impressed with riding in Sedalia. Lots of traffic with no shoulders. Surveys have shown touring cyclists spend significant dollars in the towns where they stop. Sedalia has no signs to help cyclists find lodging, food or other services from the trail. Nothing is clearly visible from the trail and exploring by riding on the roads is taking your life in your hands. Seems like they don’t want cyclists to stop and spend money. Better off stopping in the smaller towns. At least they are appreciative having cyclists stop and contribute to their economy.

 
Gary from Near Tebbetts on 5/3/2018 9:59:08 AM:
I always carry my smart phone with me to find places around me while traveling. Sorry you feel unsafe riding on roads, that would definitely limit your options in larger towns along the trail. Good thing the Katy runs through both small and large towns to give riders several options based on their comfort levels.

 
Rex McCall from Springfield,MO on 5/3/2018 5:42:28 PM:
Did you stay downtown? We stayed at the Hotel Bothwell and the people there were very accommodating--they even took care of our bikes. We were there on a Sunday, so a lot was closed, but we ate at Fitter's. Lots of beer choices and good food. It was within walking distance of the hotel. I was actually surprised how neat the downtown area was. I had only seen Sedalia passing through on 65, which is quite busy, as you described.

 
Anonymous on 5/4/2018 6:47:16 AM:
Sedalia is one of the jewels of the trail but some planning and map time helps. A slight detour off the trail takes you through the fairgrounds, over 100 years old. Good camping with showers also at the fairgrounds. Several restaurant choices just north of the trail on US 65. Downtown Sedalia is worth a ride-thru. Several good stops. Plan this carefully though with a map. You will leave the trail and take side streets to the main street, ride through downtown, then across the Amtrak tracks to rejoin the trail. This route north of the tracks is about the same as the current detour. The most facilities are on US 50 west of the intersection with US 65, and on US 65. Both of these are very busy and high risk for cyclists.

 
BikerBoy from Maryville, IL on 5/4/2018 10:06:01 AM:
Sedalia really is a great town to visit. I agree that the new detour lessens the pleasure of the trail because it is so different from the serene setting that we enjoy. But it is over fairly quickly.

Besides the detour, the one improvement I would really like to see in Sedalia is a way to get down to Kehde BBQ easily from the trail. Such good food and unique atmosphere, but you have to ride a few blocks along US-65 with no shoulder, broken glass and fast traffic. It's quite intimidating if you are riding with kids. Yes, you can go the back streets, but that adds 1.5 miles each way.

 
Kim from Austin on 5/5/2018 9:07:44 PM:
Sedalia also has such a lovely old timey downtown. Some great old buildings on the main street, very Mayberry USA to me. Also the renovated train station with the Katy Trail gift shop is a must-see!