Day Two: Hartsburg, Missouri to St. Charles, Missouri - Katy Trail in Two Days - CycleBlaze

July 26, 2015

Day Two: Hartsburg, Missouri to St. Charles, Missouri

I was very tired this morning. This flat rail-trail had kicked my ass yesterday. Obviously my fitness level had declined precipitously since my last big tour, two years before, when I rode from Iowa to San Francisco in 34 days.

It was foggy and damp when I rolled away from the Globe Hotel. It had rained in the night. The trail surface had seemed soft yesterday; today it was soggy. My skinny tires seemed to sink an inch into the limestone mush as I rode.

I suppose I haven't written much about the scenery along the trail. It's  pleasant but unexciting.

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The wood surfaces of the bridges on the trail were very, very slick when wet, as I discovered when I unwisely applied my brakes when crossing one, and went down in a hard skid. I appeared to suffer no injuries to anything other than my pride, which, of course, had experienced much worse over my lifetime of doing mildly foolish things such as this.

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I don't remember as much about today's ride as the day before. As I recall, I saw few cyclists on the trail, probably because it was overcast much of the day, and looked as if the clouds could burst any moment.

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I stopped at the Turner Katy Trail Shelter, a hostel along the trail in the small community of Tebbetts, and looked around.

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There was a pop machine outside the hostel, from which I purchased a Fanta, something which I'm 99% certain I have never drank except on bike tours. 

I may or may not have stolen this banana from the hostel.
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I continued east. The slow, soggy surface of the trail was wearing me down. I swore to myself that in the extremely unlikely event that I ever rode on this trail again, I would do it on a bike with much wider tires.

I'm sure I spoke to at least a few people on today's ride, but I can't remember anyone, and I have no photographic evidence of encounters with any other people. I did find other things to take photos of, though.

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Mark BinghamIt's interesting that they put a period after HALL.
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11 months ago
Jeff LeeTo Mark BinghamYeah, although I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it. Funny that someone went to the trouble of painting that period for no obvious reason.
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11 months ago
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At around 200 miles since yesterday morning, and with about 30 miles to go, the already modest charms of the Katy Trail had vanished. I was ready to be done with this thing.

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I made it to one of the "depot" trailheads just in time: The rain finally came down in a serious way, but it only lasted ten minutes.

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Back on the bike, I slowly pushed through the sludgy mess of the trail.

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I arrived in St. Charles a couple of hours later than I had anticipated. I experienced one of my occasional severe "bonks" as I rode the last few miles, and almost fell of the bike. 

I seem to recall that Joy had a milkshake for me when I arrived. There was something else that I vividly recall: I smelled terrible, which I assume was caused by the intense effort required to ride 116 miles on that damnable soft surface today. I was so appalled that I insisted on lowering the car windows for the nearly-hour long drive back home.  

Even after I got home and cleaned up, and ate something, I still felt lousy. It was the Sunday Blues. I had to go to work tomorrow. Ugh. My two long days on the trail had at least allowed me time to contemplate the work situation thoroughly. I decided to leave the soul-crushing contract job as soon as possible. About a month later, just as I was preparing to give my two weeks notice, they gave me THEIR "two weeks notice", and told me my services would not longer be required. I haven't worked in a cubicle since, and hope I never have to again.

Today's ride: 116 miles (187 km)
Total: 231 miles (372 km)

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