You guys are scaring me.... I don't plan to ever be climbing anything on a bike, nor ever ride in traffic! I am a newbie of the first degree on bicycling, I am just doing it to get into better shape, and enjoy the view. I am fortunate to live a couple of miles from this rail-trail in Missouri, check out some of the info on it.
It has recently been expanded to cover about 250 miles, most of it along the Missouri River.
It winds around bluffs right on the edge of the river. In the area that I live and ride, there is never more than a 3 or 4 degree grade, so it is an easy-peasy ride overall. It's all finely crushed limestone. There's prehistoric carvings above you that Lewis and Clark first discovered. The deer are pretty used to riders, and don't run until you are 6 or 8 feet away from them. There are a few copperheads and rattlers, but they're just sunning themselves when it's cool, leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. There is one spot where eagles nest always, don't know why they picked that spot.
This was a railroad in 1870, it became a rail-trail in 1990. In 1896, as a publicity stunt set, the Katy crashed two locomotives, pulling loaded trains. The collision occurred before over 40 thousand spectators, three of whom died (and there were several injuries) when the exploding boilers sent debris flying. This wasn't around here, it was on the southern leg of this, in Texas.
This is the longest rail-trail in the USA, and apparently people come from all over the country to ride it. I lived near it for 9 years, knew it was there and walked a bit of it looking at the old train bridges and stuff left over. A few months ago, I decided to learn how to ride a bike, and see more of it.
There's a cool annual thing, that just happened a bit ago on the Katy Trail. They have a huge ride, hundreds of people that ride a 30 mile stretch, camp, and ride back. There is lots of music in all the tiny towns along the trail. I didn't ride it this year, it was too hot and I am too much of a newbie, but attended several of the bang gigs.
Soooo, 40 mph in traffic? That's not for me! I'm riding a triple-crank with knobbies, only because that's what it came with. Some of the more serious KT riders recommend doing away with knobs, and get some easier-rolling tires. A road bike works fine on this, but it's occasionally bumpy enough that MTB are the preferred mode. Plus, I got it (Trek 4300 hardtail MTB) for only $90.
It has recently been expanded to cover about 250 miles, most of it along the Missouri River.
It winds around bluffs right on the edge of the river. In the area that I live and ride, there is never more than a 3 or 4 degree grade, so it is an easy-peasy ride overall. It's all finely crushed limestone. There's prehistoric carvings above you that Lewis and Clark first discovered. The deer are pretty used to riders, and don't run until you are 6 or 8 feet away from them. There are a few copperheads and rattlers, but they're just sunning themselves when it's cool, leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. There is one spot where eagles nest always, don't know why they picked that spot.
This was a railroad in 1870, it became a rail-trail in 1990. In 1896, as a publicity stunt set, the Katy crashed two locomotives, pulling loaded trains. The collision occurred before over 40 thousand spectators, three of whom died (and there were several injuries) when the exploding boilers sent debris flying. This wasn't around here, it was on the southern leg of this, in Texas.
This is the longest rail-trail in the USA, and apparently people come from all over the country to ride it. I lived near it for 9 years, knew it was there and walked a bit of it looking at the old train bridges and stuff left over. A few months ago, I decided to learn how to ride a bike, and see more of it.
There's a cool annual thing, that just happened a bit ago on the Katy Trail. They have a huge ride, hundreds of people that ride a 30 mile stretch, camp, and ride back. There is lots of music in all the tiny towns along the trail. I didn't ride it this year, it was too hot and I am too much of a newbie, but attended several of the bang gigs.
Soooo, 40 mph in traffic? That's not for me! I'm riding a triple-crank with knobbies, only because that's what it came with. Some of the more serious KT riders recommend doing away with knobs, and get some easier-rolling tires. A road bike works fine on this, but it's occasionally bumpy enough that MTB are the preferred mode. Plus, I got it (Trek 4300 hardtail MTB) for only $90.
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