Monday;
Our longest day 68 miles;
St Charles to Hermann;
Five in the morning will become a normal wake-up time all during this ride. Breakfast starts at six, and there is camp to pick up and get ready to load onto the luggage trucks. If there is one thing I learned to dislike a bunch during this ride, it's carrying my two heavy bags to and from my campsite. I really need a valet ..... If I wasn't so cheap, I would spend a few bucks more and take the other Katy Trail State Park ride that goes along with us. They are catered to by enjoying supplied tents, and gear, and have the staff load their luggage for them, put up and take down their tents and get their campsite all ready for their convenience. There is something to be said for the adventure of doing it myself however. Everyone is anxious to get started on the trail as the day promised to be a hot one, and today, the first actual riding day on the trail is also the longest at 68 miles. Our destination for the day was Hermann, a delightful little German style town. Breakfast was simple with an omelet wrap, fruit, orange juice and coffee. and then, it's hit the trail!
The trail here went from tree lined to a full tree canopy
I loved the two barns with the vine covered silos.
Downtown Augusta, Missouri.
Downtown Nona, Missouri. Much more open here, leaving us much more vulnerable to the headwinds which would be our constant companion throughout the entire five days of the ride. Some have made the remark that the trail is more difficult east to west because it's all uphill. Technically, this is true, as the river (which flows downhill) goes from west to east. Actually, I don't think that the grade is even noticeable, but the prevailing winds this time of year were always in our face the entire ride, and certainly that fact alone made it seem as though we were always riding uphill. Riding with Becky for a while today, she asked me if that rash bothered me. "What rash?" I asked. "Oh, that one around your ankles". Becky is a nurse and notices things like that. I hadn't even seen it. I looked down then and sure enough, I had a bright red rash around my ankles. No, it hadn't bothered me, and if it doesn't hurt, itch, or burn, I'm not going to worry about it. The first of several wilderness camping skin problems. Still nursing some bites that do itch like crazy. It's all part of the things that make this ride memorable.
The town of Nona. Just an old elevator and an abandoned house.
One of many iron truss bridges along the route.
A pretty area at the Marthasville trailhead.
Kelley and Rob taking full advantage of our rest stop.
Such a couple of characters ..... is there any doubt in your mind why I love to ride with these two.......
Kelley, Rob and Jim riding across yet another iron bridge.
Over the river across the bridge with a dedicated and protected bicycle lane and into Hermann. The whole town is designed like a little town one might find in Germany. We found that the town of Hermann literally just knocked themselves out for us, and seemed genuinely glad to see us all. We camped that night at the Hermann City Park, and it proved to be a very nice campground.
Downtown Hermann. They gave us a check for ten "Hermann Bucks" and bussed us downtown for dinner at our choice of several local establishments instead of a catered dinner at the campsite. It was fun eating here, so many unconventional places to eat.
Kelley will kill me for this picture, but it is the only one I have of us at dinner. She wasn't really asleep, although I think by that time we were all about ready. We ate at the Wurst Haus, enjoyed a German dinner of bratwurst and kraut, plus, I had German potato salad as well as a fruit salad, and of course some local craft bier (German spelling) in good sized frosted German style mugs...... no pansy little glasses here.
After dinner, a walk about downtown helped digest all the food and drink.
This has to be the worlds skinniest business.
Hermann waterfront on the river.
More of the German architecture along the tracks. Hermann is a stop on the Amtrak line that runs from St Louis to Kansas City. The "River Runner" train has roll on bike service on this train, which makes a nice option for do it yourself bicycle riders on the Katy.
And so, another day done, and back to our camp to crawl into bed full of good food, but exhausted from the long hard day. Tomorrow is another day, and another installment, be sure and tune in same time and same place on your dial tomorrow!
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