Sometime during the creation of the Earth, the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers came together about twenty miles from St. Charles, Missouri. Millions of years later, mankind decided that there must be casinos in St. Charles. This is where we begin our latest adventure, at the Ameristar casino in St. Charles.

We are about to ride the Katy Trail, the longest state park in the country at 240+ miles. It’s also the narrowest, ranging from 8-16 feet wide, depending on where you are.

We are riding once again with Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers, our excellent tour guide for our 2017 cross-country trip. It’s a mini Coast 2 Coast reunion with many of our fellow “Coasters”.

There are 44 riders on the trip, including tandem friends Mitzi and John Boland from Tucker, GA.

Our ride for the next six days is our trusty red Cannondale MT800.

It’s a tank, weighing at least ten more pounds than our road tandem. The Katy is not paved. It’s a crushed limestone surface that is very hard-packed. Our tires are a bit oversized for this surface, but hey, the bike will roll over anything. It likes to get dirty, which is good because this is one flat and dusty trail.

Day 1: St. Charles to Dutzow

The traditional start to the Katy Trail is at the Lewis and Clark statue in St. Charles.

Lewis and Clark, along with their dog Seaman, started their expedition to the Pacific in St. Charles in 1803. Seaman was a very big dog. 215 years later, we click into our pedals and start riding up the Missouri, just like they did.

Its a short 36-mile ride to Dutzow. As long as the Missouri River is on our left, we are headed in the right direction.

Our friend Connie likes it when we post our numbers for the day:

Start City: St. Charles, MO
End City: Dutzow, MO
Miles: 36
Miles to date: 36
Pedaling time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Average speed: 14.4 MPH
Wind: None
Temperatures: 71 at ride start, 90 at finish

In our next post: The “wurst” ride ever.