The Blue Ridge Parkway

A short ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway today on the way to Maryland for a ride on the C&O Canal path and Great Allegheny Passage with Mark W., Mark K., Jeff, and Gary.

It was a beautiful day for a ride. No humidity with slightly overcast skies. Also a good time to make sure the hybrid bike was in order. Tightening of a loose spoke and a drop of oil where I had a squeak, and it should be ready to go on Saturday.

Southbound at Mile 4

First overlook south of Rockfish Gap

Today's ride:

KATY Trail - Day 4 - Matson to Machens (terminus)

A foggy early morning, giving way to sunny skies for a short ride to the end of the KATY trail. Today's ride was still rural (as it has been from the start at MP 264.6 in Clinton) until MP 49 when entering the outskirts of St. Charles. The next ten miles contained some nice riding along the Missouri River and a few of the least attractive sections of trail, at one point detouring around a cement plant. After MP 39 the ride became rural again, entering the river bottomland of the Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers. Gone were the limestone bluffs and trees, replaced by rich farmland growing corn and soybeans.

The KATY trail ends in the remote hamlet of Machens at MP 26.9, where the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas (MTK or KATY) Railroad connected with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad which continued on to St. Louis. The MKT Railroad stopped running on October 4, 1986 with the line converted to the KATY trail between 1990 and 1996. After Machens, the railroad is still active, hence the KATY trail terminates there.

The KATY trail was an enjoyable ride for me. It was well maintained, and on average I saw two maintenance crews per day on the trail cutting brush, mowing grass, or cutting downed trees. Trailheads were well signed with water and clean bathrooms. Cell phone service (we texted) was pretty good except for some spotty areas between Rocheport and Jefferson City. If you are looking for a long distance, serene ride in a beautiful country setting, the KATY is for you.

A foggy start

Weldon Spring Conservation Area

St. Charles Depot along the Missouri River

Black Walnut

River bottomland

Trail's end

Today's ride:

KATY Trail - Day 3 - Tebbetts to Matson

Another overcast cool day with temperatures not reaching 70F. A great day for cycling 72 miles.

Today's ride had the Missouri River on the right and limestone bluffs on the left on many occasions. Lewis and Clark signage marked the campsites or other locations mentioned in their journal during late May and early June 1804. Daniel Boone's cemetery was also a mile off the trail near Marthasville.

Start of the day

Bridge over Auxvasse Creek

Near Bluffton

End of the day's ride

Today's ride:

KATY Trail - Day 2 - Boonville to Tebbetts

It rained from the time I finished yesterday until Karen and I loaded up the car for today's ride. It was a gray and overcast day with only mist at the start. But it never rained and then the sun came out towards Jefferson City. I pressed my luck and rode another 12 miles to Tebbetts and just as I finished, packed up, and got in the car, it poured. So that is two days of rain I somehow avoided. We've been blessed so far.

The ride today started with a well marked path through Boonville to a bridge to the other side of the Missouri River. I was able to ride a bit faster, though the average MPH did not show it as I made stops on the Missouri River Bridge, the towns of New Franklin and Rocheport, the KATY roundhouse, Pearson's clay tile grain elevator, Lewis and Clark Cave, the Great Burr Oak Tree, and the Roche Percee Natural Arch. 67 miles covered for the day.

That second tour group on the trail is Wilderness Voyageurs out of Ohiopyle, PA. I saw several of their cyclists at a SAG stop at McBaine. Road Scholars was nowhere to be seen today.

Trailhead at Rocheport

Rocheport to McBaine: Cliffs to the left and the Missouri River to the right

A Lewis and Clark stop

The Great Burr Oak Tree and my bicycle

McBaine Trailhead

One of the many bridges spanning creeks and rivers

Another view

Today's ride:

KATY Trail - Day 1 - Clinton to Boonville

A nice first day on the KATY Trail.  About 76 miles cycled with only 1500 feet of climb. The weather forecast was for a 50% chance of rain, going up to 70% in the afternoon, so I spent the day looking over my shoulder at the approaching rain clouds. I was able to finish just as the rain started. Trail conditions were good but I was not able to go very fast. The trail goes through the streets in Sedalia and is not marked north of the train depot. So I got lost until a mailman was kind enough to point me in the right direction.

There were two groups of riders on the trail. One was a group of about 50 riders from an outfit called Road Scholar and I must have passed 40 of them before or after their SAG stop.

Rain is 60% likely for tomorrow, so I am probably going to get wet.

Clinton. The end of the trail was 0.4 miles west from here.

Between Clinton and Calhoun

Before Green Ridge

Green Ridge MM 239

Sedalia Depot

Bridge over the Lamine River

Today's ride (Part 1): Today's ride (Part 2):

A ride on the Chief Ladiga and Silver Comet Trails

I am gearing up for rides on the KATY Trail, C&O Canal Path, and Great Allegheny Passage.  With nothing scheduled today, and the weather cool with no wind or chance of rain, and the humidity low, it was a great day to go long. The plan was to ride from Rockmart to the end of the Chief Ladiga Trail in Anniston, AL and then return.  Still feeling good after 113 miles, I rode back towards Atlanta through the Brushy Mountain Tunnel to Rambo.  A great cycling day.

Cedartown depot

Georgia/Alabama line

Chief Ladiga Trail

Jacksonville Depot

End of the trail at Anniston

Brushy Mountain tunnel

Today's ride:

RTW addendum - Day 25 - Oceanside to Encinitas, CA

46.2 miles, 1083 feet of climb (final totals 1502.77 miles, 78508 feet of climb)

On Monday night, after the official ride had ended, many of the cyclists stayed in Newport Beach, since they were not departing until Tuesday.  It was a final chance to say goodbye to Russ, Howard and Shirley, Don, Leo, the ABB staff of Mike, Barb, Karen and Jim, and several others. Gary, Mark Koltz, Jeff, Susan and Mark Weisbarth, and I had one final dinner together before the night ended. I'll miss all of them. They were great fun to hang out with.

Final dinner at Mimi's Cafe with Susan and Mark Weisbarth, Mark Koltz, Gary and Jeff

On Tuesday morning, I went to the airport to pick up a rental car, then went back to the hotel to pick up my bicycle and luggage, with a final goodbye to Jeff and Mark Koltz. Hopefully, we will soon see each other again for another cycling adventure. They were great roommates on this tour. Then, it was a 50 mile drive south to my friend Scott and Stephanie's house in Oceanside. Scott was a great running and cycling friend of mine for many years, until he moved to California in 2008. (Hard to believe they left Roswell, GA four years ago.)

Oceanside Beach

Tuesday afternoon we had lunch at In and Out Burger, drove to Oceanside Beach, and then I played "fetch" with Chase and Rex in Scott's backyard.

Good dog Chase on the left. Bad dog Rex on the right.

Today, Scott and I cycled down the bike path to the beach, and then went south along the coast to Encinitas where we had lunch before returning home.  There was also an ice cream stop along the way back. (The final ice cream count is only ten, in 25 days. Not too excessive and I seem to have an extra inch of waist room in my jeans today.) It was great to ride with Scott again.

With Scott on the San Luis Rey River Trail to Oceanside Beach

Joe and Scott

Along the Coast Highway near Carlsbad

Lunch at Swami's

The bike shop here would not box up any carbon fiber bikes. But they did give me a bike box for free. That meant I had to figure out how to box up my bike on my own. Scary. So I immediately went to Home Depot and bought about $25 worth of bubble wrap and foam packages, in an effort to mitigate my complete lack of any ability to box up the bike. Then, since we did not have a pedal wrench, Scott came up with the brilliant idea of bringing the bike to another bike shop, first asking them to take the pedals off, attempt to box the bike ourselves outside the store, and then ask the mechanic to review my complete incompetence and ask for help.  It worked!  The mechanic came outside and helped me make some final improvements, and we taped the box up for FedEx to pick up tomorrow at Scott's house.  I am hoping the bike arrives unbroken, since a new bike is not going to be in the cards for me. We'll see what happens when it arrives at home.

I'll attempt one more entry to sum up Ride the West in a few days, after I've had a chance to get home and unwind. Until then, FedEx please be gentle.

Today's ride: