Mike was pretty beat up from the day before. Granted it was a very long day. Unfortunately, he’s suffering from one of the big mistakes with long distance runners. The rule is never where new clothing or shoes on the day of a race. In this case, I’m afraid Mike came with a new bike on the day of the ride. It tweaked him in ways that are still plaguing him. I decided to ride ahead so we could get the rental in St Louis and get back to Kansas City. He would follow later.
After leaving his Motel I found a path along the Missouri River back to the bridge. It was gorgeous and paved. It was the perfect morning with a cool temperature and blue sky. Everything was Green except the muddy Missouri River. It was a nice way to start the day. BTW I realized that my trips across the Missouri for motels were actually taking me to the South and not the north. Good thing the Katy Trail is well marked or who knows where I would end up.
As I rode closer and closer to St Charles and St Louis traffic on the trail increased significantly. Of course, it is saturday. Additionally I ran into a running race and there were at least a hundred people involved. It made for some distraction as I cautiously weaved through the mob.
With the trail quite straight and flat you can often see far in the distance. After the race, I could see someone running far ahead. It looked like he was moving quite rapidly. Even pedaling I was having trouble catching up to him. Trying to keep my first goal, as I approached him I complimented him on his pace and the fact that I could barely catch him on a bike. I could tell it made his day. It’s oten difficult to say those kinds of things, but it is definitely worthwhile.
After about 30 Mi along the Missouri following the Katy Trail, I had to turn off and in to St Louis to get to the airport car rental. I was a little anxious not knowing how much shoulder there might be on the side of the road and how busy they might be today. Thankfully Google Maps took me down some beautiful trails, sorry I didn’t take any pictures, and when I did have to ride roads it mostly took me through residential areas.
However, the route was far from straight and by the time I got to the rental, I couldn’t have told you if I’d been traveling north south east or west. As I’ve said before the first people across these areas must have been amazing. Of course Lewis and Clark paralleled our route as they traveled on the Missouri but they were smart enough to stay on the water instead of weave through the woods. I’m certain if I had been an Explorer in those days I might have marked my starting point and a year later found myself back at the starting point unsure of where I’ve been or how I returned.
Thankfully, I picked up the truck without any problems and headed back for Mike. We then drove back across Missouri to my car near Kansas City. It was still in the parking lot where we left it and none of the windows broken. We were definitely not in Pueblo Toto. The Katy Trail is a gem. Obviously, for future trips I’ll need to do some work on the logistics of where to stay.
Grumpy Grandpa's Great Bicycling Adventures 
Glad you both got back safely. Sounds like you enjoyed it, sorry that Mike had issues with his new bike.
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