A St. Charles Walkabout 9/30/16

A nice rest day. We slept in, then had a leisurely hotel breakfast (a pretty good one, just not a sumptuous one).  We took a nice long walk, starting along Main Street, a ten-block Nationally Registered Historic District with brick-lined streets, original buildings, and antique gas lights from the 19^th century.  We also checked out the local bike shop and confirmed we can get good air* there in the morning, and then made a quick stop at the visitor center.  After touring the historic district, we went in search of a convenience store for a few items for our trip back towards Clinton.  We ended up at Dollar General, where Rob purchased his obligatory Dr. Pepper and Diane her Monster Moca Loca Java – energy drinks. Both will be used on our next 50 mile day.  Other cyclist provisions included two candy bars, cheese sticks and a can of Beanee Weenee (original style). We are now set to ride!

 We’ve now settled back in the hotel,  Diane and Rob

*For those who are new to our cycling blog, when we say a place with good air this connotes someplace where they have a good air hose with enough pressure to fill our high pressure bike tires (up to 120 psi on our road bikes).  This is not as much an issue with our gravel bikes with their 60 psi wide profile tires – but I have tried to use the stationary bike pumps found at the trail head stations --two of which proved to be in disrepair resulting in me having less air in my tire after trying to use the pumps.  This led to me using my trusty hand-pump.  No tragedy  but still a bummer. Rob

 Historic St. Charles

One of the air-sucking (nonfunctioning) bike pumps.  Notice its short hose as well... another unhelpful feature.

Cycling food ---- or fun fuel.

The weird of the day .... Diane converses with flamingos through a fence.

Diane Sings 9/29/2016

Today we had a leisurely morning at the Red Brick Inn.  Another couple from St. Louis joined us at breakfast.  They had come to St. Charles "to get away from the kids and the dogs" for a couple of days.  Breakfast and the conversation were both satisfying.  Next we packed the bikes and began a quick 28 mile ride into St. Charles, dealing with a slight headwind, but feeling we finally had turned the corner on getting into cycling shape. 

You can always tell when Diane is having a good ride, because she breaks into song.  Today she sang mostly B.W. Stevenson vocalizing a strong version of A Good Love is Like a Good Song. 

Along the way we chatted with other bicyclists and solicited recommendations on good choices for dinner.  In the end we decided upon The Mother-In-Law House.  An excellent decision! 

Based on further review of the 12.5 ride to the end of the trail at Machens, and warning from other cyclists today regarding puncture vines aplenty - which always results in multiple flat tires, we have decided to forgo that 25 mile ride, and instead further explore the enticing town of St. Charles on foot.  Another excellent decision!

Enjoying our Evening. Diane and Rob

Leaving the Red Brick Inn with a big smile.

Diane begins to deal with a new road hazard - sixty 5th graders whizzing back and forth, out for an hour ride.

Fall is upon us, but Summer lingers.

Remnants of the tracks rolling into St. Charles

MOTHER IN LAW Restaurant

It not often an eating establishment becomes the highlight of a bicycling day (it is always suppose to be "about the ride." But tonight we had such great fun at this restaurant. The food was good but it was the owner/hostess that made the evening.  

                                 The owner said "shoot the photo when we say sex."

Ok, I know it sounds weird but the highlight of my meal was the cottage cheese salad. Made locally with a little added green onion tops and chopped bits of cucumber, this cottage cheese was fabulous. It started off tangy in your mouth due the light onion taste, followed by a little crunch from the cucumber bits, then after the silky creamy taste of the cottage cream passes  - you then experience the excellent cheese flavor of the cottage cheese curds finishes the flavor rush. Of course you then feel compelled to take another spoonful.   It is just that good. Rob

                             Diane and Daniel Boone end the evening by trading tales of the Trail!

Diane Sings 9/29/2016

Today we had a leisurely morning at the Red Brick Inn.  Another couple from St. Louis joined us at breakfast.  They had come to St. Charles "to get away from the kids and the dogs" for a couple of days.  Breakfast and the conversation were both satisfying.  Next we packed the bikes and began a quick 28 mile ride into St. Charles, dealing with a slight headwind, but feeling we finally had turned the corner on getting into cycling shape. 

You can always tell when Diane is having a good ride, because she breaks into song.  Today she sang mostly B.W. Stevenson vocalizing a strong version of A Good Love is Like a Good Song. 

Along the way we chatted with other bicyclists and solicited recommendations on good choices for dinner.  In the end we decided upon The Mother-In-Law House.  An excellent decision! 

Based on further review of the 12.5 ride to the end of the trail at Machens, and warning from other cyclists today regarding puncture vines aplenty - which always results in multiple flat tires, we have decided to forgo that 25 mile ride, and instead further explore the enticing town of St. Charles on foot.  Another excellent decision!

Enjoying our Evening. Diane and Rob

Leaving the Red Brick Inn with a big smile.

Diane begins to deal with a new road hazard - sixty 5th graders whizzing back and forth, out for an hour ride.

Fall is upon us, but Summer lingers.

Remnants of the tracks rolling into St. Charles

MOTHER IN LAW Restaurant

It not often an eating establishment becomes the highlight of a bicycling day (it is always suppose to be "about the ride." But tonight we had such great fun at this restaurant. The food was good but it was the owner/hostess that made the evening.  

                                 The owner said "shoot the photo when we say sex."

Ok, I know it sounds weird but the highlight of my meal was the cottage cheese salad. Made locally with a little added green onion tops and chopped bits of cucumber, this cottage cheese was fabulous. It started off tangy in your mouth due the light onion taste, followed by a little crunch from the cucumber bits, then after the silky creamy taste of the cottage cream passes  - you then experience the excellent cheese flavor of the cottage cheese curds finishes the flavor rush. Of course you then feel compelled to take another spoonful.   It is just that good. Rob

                             Diane and Daniel Boone end the evening by trading tales of the Trail!

Recovery Day (sorta) 9/28/2016

We started our day with breakfast at The Doll House B&B - another fine meal.  The B&B, named after its original owner, Dr. Doll, defiantly stands alone on the Missouri River flood plain.  Unlike the rest of the town that moved to higher ground after one of the more severe floods, Dr. Doll refused to move.  It has since survived subsequent floods, albeit after considerable repairs.

We treated ourselves gently today, averaging only 8.6 mph over the 40 mile ride, and taking a few more breaks than usual.  Trail conditions were basically a repeat of yesterday but were several wash-outs along the way with one very large fallen tree partially blocking the trail and on occasion we played peek-a-boo with slightly adverse wind.  An interesting historical highlight of today’s our intersecting of the Daniel Boone Trail at Marthasville.

We are now ensconced in the beautiful Red Brick Inn B&B in Augusta. And we are writing this blog entry after consuming a flavorful meal at the Silly Goose.

The next two days, about 25 miles each, promise even more relaxed bicycling.  Diane and Rob 

The Doll House BB

Most of the time we try to tell a story or maintain a theme with our pics, today it's more of  a collage of things that caught our eye.

 Murals along the Katy Trail.

The stone tells it all. 

Wildflowers along the way

Looking to have frog legs for dinner.

Diane's art shot of the day- old vines caressing a  young tree.

Our bikes rest along the Big Muddy.

Glad to not have been biking through when this one came down.

Closing with a little long distance bicycling craft: Always stop in the darkest shade. I know this seems obvious but you would be surprised how many people we pass by who are standing in the sun.

50 = 80 9/27/2016

Last night’s dinner at the Globe Motel B&B was scrumptious—a lovely  mixed greens salad with blackberries, pecans and feta cheese, followed by braised chicken breasts, red potatoes, carrots, and green beans (all the things we like!), and finished with a local vanilla ice cream and delicious home-made chocolate sauce.  Our hosts had only recently begun their B&B business, in a home/hotel/boarding house, with wonderful history, including surviving Missouri River floods over the years, the last one in 1993.  Conversation was lively and we had a good time.

This morning, again we enjoyed a delicious breakfast—coffee, Greek yogurt parfait: with gluten free granola (Note from Rob:  Diane has been carrying two pounds of the granola in her panniers), omelets,  sausage links and toast.  Eager to tackle the ride, we left our new friends by 8:30 and arrived at The Doll House B&B in Rhineland by 4:00. 

The trail was still pretty good, but there were several rough patches (again, properly warned).  The area has had quite a bit of rain, and some portions of the trail had been flooded.  Although all dry now, the flooding left soft patches in some places and ruts and small sinkholes in others  Again, a consistent following breeze, mild temperature, and a slight downhill most of the time (elevation loss was 30 feet). 

We met two different couples who were cycling our direction, but not going as far.  As we came into the Portland station, there was a busload of middle-schoolers and their chaperones, who were beginning a multi-day supported ride to St. Charles (about 12 miles west of the eastern terminus of the Katy Trail).  They were very enthusiastic, and apparently skilled at this kind of riding.   We were ahead of them most of the afternoon, but as we approached Rhineland, they all overtook us, going about 15 mph.  Such exhilaration!! (And youth must be served.)   

No wildlife sightings today – darn!  But an interesting geological feature piqued our interest.  It’s called Standing Rock—a fine grain sandstone portion from the bluff that has resisted erosion.  Over the years, unknown persons have recorded the floods of 1903, 1923, 1935, 1943,  1944, 1947, and 1993, all of which inundated the Katy tracks at this location even though it is more than a mile and a half from the river.

 We rode fifty miles today . . . no great feat on pavement. But we are riding gravel and 50 miles seems to take the same  amount of energy as riding 80 miles on the highway.  Unfortunately we are not in shape to enjoy a fifty mile gravel ride so tonight we will go to bed early and rise to ride another day.  Will check in again tomorrow evening.  Diane and Rob

Leaving the Globe Hotel B&B at 8:30am our start of the day, yet.

 

 

Today ride was flat, flat, flat and fairly featureless.  We either rode through a tunnel of trees or scooted along side the highway with rich bottomland on our right.  Services consisted of well placed Trailheads with bathrooms and water. The green tunnels of trees (with shade from the sun and protection from evil directed winds) first seem like paradise; but we are left to muse - if paradise never changes is that really paradise?  Luckily there was one interesting geologic feature a huge sandstone monolith name Standing Rock.

Rob standing by rock to provide perspective (and to fill the demands of in-laws - "we want to see Rob.)

And lastly, Diane's art photo of the day - dead tree branch reaching to heaven from paradise.

 

Good Third Day 9/26/2016

The day began with a sumptuous breakfast at the High Street Victorian B & B.  That put us in good stead for the today’s ride – a relatively quick miles 38 miles (9 mph average), mostly shaded with a cool following breeze.  Started at 9:10 and were off our bikes 6 hours later.  The trail surface was good, with only a few bumpy spots properly marked.  For part of the day we rode the bank of the Missouri River, sometimes so close you could drop a rock into the water.

There were several historical markers along the trail, most having to do with the Lewis & Clark expedition.  This evoked pleasant memories of our 2003 Pacific to Atlantic bike ride, when the centennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition was in full swing across the western states, and we road through several towns where the expedition was being celebrated.

Wild life sightings were still scant today.  But we did see a beautiful white heron in a bayou and later five turtles sunning on a log, plus an occasional squirrel scampered across the trail.  We also heard several birds but did not spot them (except for the vulture circling over us, which seems to be a recurring theme of our longer bike trips).

Tonight we are at the Globe Hotel, another lovely B & B, in Hartsburg.  We arrived early but our hosts welcomed us warmly.  We are showered and laundered and ready to join our hosts for dinner.  Life is good!

Tomorrow we ride to Rhineland where we will stay at the Doll House B & B, about 49 miles east.  It will be a test of how close we are to being back in good riding shape.  Wish us luck, everyone!  Diane & Rob

 Diane fueling up for the day at the High Street Victorian B&B

Crossing the Missouri River

 Early in the morning we road through soybeans and corn

Then we cruised along the banks of the "Big Muddy"

Zipped through the shortest train tunnel on record

And at last we started coming across historical markers. Since we are biking the Katy Trail both ways, Diane is only reading the ones on her right going east.

And to make sure our readers see something new on our return trip, I am only showing this one pic of the towering cliffs we road by today. (BTW, I am shooting this photo straight-up at the overhang.)

To close this entry, below is a Homage to Judy's love for turtles and Rob's obligatory wildflower photo.