Day 1 (Fri Jun 17, 2016)
Today’s Miles: 53 Total Trip Miles: 53
Machens, MO to Marthasville, MO: Saved by the ball game!
Had a terrible late start today. Took care of some business at home before departing, but some time was saved by being dropped off at this site. There is no available parking, especially if you need to leave your car overnight. I checked out the nearest town of Portage Des Sioux, and also the nearest Katy Trail Parking lot at Black Walnut. Neither site was recommended for overnight parking, leaving St. Charles as the nearest safe place to park. But, St. Charles is over 12 miles away, which is quite a ride just to start at the beginning of the trail.
I consumed a considerable amount of time loading up all my gear on the bike. I had too much stuff. This bike was way too heavy. At first, it was difficult to maintain balance when mounting and dismounting, and even when just walking with the bike. If time would have permitted, I would have removed some items and rearranged how they were loaded on the bicycle. Fortunately, it didn’t take me long to adapt.
The Machens Eastern Terminus is quite hidden from view. When approaching from Machens Road, all you see is a bunch of overgrown trees and bushes. You have to drive along the railroad tracks a short distance and then veer right when there is a break in the trees and bushes.
Most riders decide to start at St. Charles, because of the parking situation. Also, many people find the scenery along the way to not be worth the trouble. But, there was more variety than anticipated.
The weather is predicted to be very hot this week, so I want to make sure I get plenty to eat and drink. I decided to stop for a late lunch at an obviously bicycle friendly place in St. Charles. They were very helpful last week when I was scouting out the parking situation.
It seems to be a bit of a tradition for touring cyclists to take pictures of the local cuisine. I had a turkey and mozzarella sandwich with garden vegetable straws. The garden vegetable straws were like Cheetos, but healthier, right? They were pretty good, though. I would get them again.
I was really running behind schedule and needed to start moving. I saw the new bicycle trail coming from the Daniel Boone bridge.
I passed through Defiance and had to get a picture of the two biker bars. It gets pretty loud and busy over the weekend. I would often ride my road bike in this area, but had to seek parking somewhere else. The lot was just too busy.
Throughout the day, the KATY Trail consistently offered three types of scenery.
It was starting to get dark, and I was really hustling to get to Marthasville as soon as possible. I figured finding food and drink this late was out of the question. But, as I approached in the dark, I could clearly see the lights of the baseball field at the community center. I had hope, because baseball games meant concession stands.
After a day of rookie mistakes, I caught some breaks in Marthasville. Besides the food, it also turned out that Don was working at the concession stand. He is the guy to see for camping and using the showers at the community center. It wasn’t long before I was ready for the night.