Extended vacation tours, 2009

KATY Trail I

September 13 through September 19, 2009

Itinerary

Sunday, September 13th – Train to Sedalia. Meet at the Touring Cyclist warehouse at 7:30 am for departure to the Amtrak station in Kirkwood at 8:00 am. The train leaves at 8:55 am, arriving in Sedalia at 12:00 noon. Upon arrival at the hotel we check out the bicycles. The afternoon is free, with an optional ride on the KATY Trail towards Clinton, 10 miles out and 10 miles back.

Lodging tonight is at the Best Western Motel in Sedalia, phone 660-826-6100. Lunch is on your own, dinner is with the group at the hotel.

Monday, September 14th – Cycle Sedalia to Booneville (38 miles). Depart as a group at 9:00 am for the trail. Photos at the Sedalia KATY Depot, then ride at your own pace. There will be two water stops, outside Sedalia and at Pilot Grove. Tonight’s hotel in Booneville is next to the casino, near the (ex-)train depot, and right in front of the Booneville Touring Office, on the waterfront in the heart of downtown Booneville.

Lodging is at the Isle of Capri Hotel, 100 Isle of Capri Boulevard, Booneville MO 65233, phone 660-882-1200. Lunch is on your own, recommended in Pilot Grove (22 miles along the trail). Dinner is with the group at the Isle of Capri buffet.

Tuesday, September 15th – Cycle Booneville to N Jefferson Trailhead (49 miles). We ride from the morning’s hotel directly onto the trail. Two water stops today, at Rocheport and McBaine, the recommended lunch stop. Meet at the North Jefferson trailhead by 4:00 PM for van transport across the Missouri river to Jefferson City and tonight’s hotel.

Lodging is at the Best Western Capital Inn, Jefferson City, phone 573-634-3869. This hotel has Internet access, an indoor swimming pool, and each room is a suite. Breakfast today is at the Comfort Inn in Booneville (7:00 to 8:30 am). Lunch is on your own (recommended in McBaine). Dinner with the group at Capital City Steak House at 7:00 PM.

Wednesday, September 16th – Free day in Jefferson City. Today we see Missouri’s state capital. The Statehouse is a replica of our nation’s capitol, and we’ll tour it at 10:00 AM. In the afternoon we will shuttle 23 miles to Fulton, Missouri, to visit the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library at Westminster College. The library is housed in a 12th Century church that was transported from the middle of London to Fulton and restored in the 1960s. The museum, built to memorialize Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech, is possibly the best in all of Missouri.

Today we stay at the Best Western Capital Inn. Breakfast is at the hotel, lunch is on your own, dinner is with the group, German cuisine at Das Stein Haus Restaurant.

Thursday, September 17th – Cycle Jefferson trailhead to Hermann (43 miles). We meet after breakfast for van transport across the river back to the trailhead. There will be water stops at Tebbits, Mochane, and Portland (the recommended lunch stop). We end the ride in Hermann, a picturesque German community with more than 150 historic buildings, world class wineries, museums, shops and galleries. At 5:45 pm we will shuttle to the Stone Hill Winery for a tour and dinner.

Lodging tonight is at the Harbor House Inn in Hermann. The hotel is off the trail but reachable by bicycle, using a path next to Highway 19 into town. Breakfast is at the Jefferson City Best Western. Lunch is on your own. Dinner is at Stone Hill Winery in Hermann.

Friday, September 18th – Cycle Hermann to Augusta (34 miles). Water stops at Treloar and Marthasville. The recommended lunch stop is the Dutzow Deli, which has the best food on the trail and particularly superb chili. The main attraction of today’s ride is our destination, Augusta, a quaint little town of 210 residents and dozens of B&Bs. Plan to arrive here early in time to wander around town, visit the several wineries (especially Mt. Pleasant Winery), the excellent microbrewery (Augusta Brewing Company), and the numerous shops that cater to visitors.

Our lodging tonight is in several of the B&B’s in Augusta. Breakfast is at the Harbor House in Hermann, lunch is on your own, dinner is a catered meal at the White House Restaurant in Augusta.

Saturday, September 19th – Cycle Augusta to St. Charles (26 miles). One water stop today at Weldon Springs. Today we ride into St. Charles, the first state capital city of Missouri, to end our tour. St. Charles sits on the Missouri River and was the jumping off point for Lewis and Clark’s expedition to explore the West in 1814. Frontier Park on the riverfront commemorates that event and is the terminus of the KATY Trail. It is where we meet at 3:00 pm to be transported back to our cars or to the airport. Those who are flying out at the end of the tour will be at the St. Louis airport at 4:00 pm, so book your departing flight no earlier than 6:00 pm.

Breakfast today is at several B&Bs in Augusta. Lunch and dinner are on your own.

Provided in the tour

The tour package includes train fair from St. Louis to Sedalia, six nights in hotel rooms (double occupancy), breakfast each morning, six evening meals, museum tickets, support vehicle, luggage and bicycle transport each day, transport to and from the KATY trailhead when needed, mechanical service, water stops with fresh fruit and cookies, maps and KATY Trail guide book. Three support personnel will accompany the tour: the tour leader, tour director, and support vehicle driver. These three are very experienced and will ensure you have a great time on the tour!

Cost of the tour

The tour package costs $795.00. The single supplement is an additional $200.00. We also optionally provide rental bicycles for $100.00 for the week. The bicycle is a Fuji Crosstown 2.0 hybrid bicycle, with front fork and seatpost suspension, a very comfortable seat, water bottle, rear luggage rack, and bell.

How to sign up

Reserve a spot on this tour with a $200.00 deposit, refundable up until 30 days before start of the tour. You can phone (314-739-4648) or fax (314-739-4972) credit card information for payment, or mail a check to this address:

The Touring Cyclist
attn: KATY Trail 2009
11816 St. Charles Rock Road
Bridgeton, MO 63044

Tell us which tour you are signing up for (KATY Trail I), and give us full contact information including an email address.

If you have questions, contact Donald Humphries for the answers: 314-739-4648 or [donaldh AT touringcyclist.com].

The KATY Trail

The KATY Trail is a Missouri state park that extends more than 225 miles across almost the full width of the state, from Clinton in the west to St. Charles in the east. It is a rails-to-trails conversion, built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) railroad. When the railroad ceased operation on this route in 1986, the state acquired the right-of-way through the National Trails System Act, which allows for “rail-banking” railroad corridors for possible future reuse, and meanwhile permits those corridors to be used for parks and bike paths.

The KATY Trail is the longest rails-to-trails project in the country. The trail is flat and scenic; the section from Clinton to Booneville runs through prairie farmland, while the section from Booneville on to St. Charles follows the north bank of the Missouri River. The trail is paved with crushed limestone (chat). Almost any bicycle will work on the trail, but hybrid bikes are the best choice.

Riding the KATY takes you through some of the most scenic areas of the state. While in the Missouri River valley section you’ll often find yourself with the river on one side and towering bluffs on the other. The trail travels through many landscape types including dense forest, wetlands, deep valleys, remnant prairies, open pastureland and gently rolling farm fields of corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops. The fall is colorful with rich red, orange and yellow leaves from Sugar Maple, Sumac and Bittersweet trees. With such varied and rich habitat, wildlife is abundant, especially birds. Red-tailled hawks and turkey vultures are common, and bald eagles can be seen in late fall and winter.

The trail is rural. It passes through numerous small towns that rose and fell with the fortunes of the MKT railroad; many of those towns are rising again with the business brought in by users of the trail itself. The center section of the KATY passes through “Missouri’s Rhineland”, a region heavily settled by German immigrants before the Civil War. The section of trail from St. Charles to Booneville is part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, and the entire trail has been designated a Millenium Legacy Trail.

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