Pictures from the Katy.

Here are some pics of our trip. We had a great time crossing the state of Missouri via the Katy Trail. Christopher rode 252 miles total for the 5 day journey - not bad for an 11 year old.

Our first stop was Winsor. They had a train with a huge American flag on it.
Christopher in route along the Katy.


We stopped to check out this cave outside of Columbia. Christopher was scared and only ventured in about 10 feet then came running out like a little girl :-)

One good thing about hot days is all the girls zip down their shirts . Photo opts abound.
The second day was a 66 miler. About 10 miles from the end Christopher was getting a little light heading and ended up crashing into us on the tandem. His bike was sucked into the rear wheel while he rolled not so gently along the Katy. Luckily there was little damage to either him or his bike.
One the third day there was a this nice lookout point along the bluff. Only problem was you had to hike up 10,000 steps to get to it....
All along the Katy the Parks Department had this demos. At this one was some cool beaver and coon skins.
Outside of Herman there was this little restaurant that we ate at. The owner had this cool model T Ford. Christopher was lucky enough to get a ride in it.
Every night we had to setup camp. Some places were worse than others. On the final night we stayed outside this church. Once the hour struck and the church bell started ringing we knew we were in trouble. I think I average about 3 hours each night - 20 min at at time.....
This is what we did about 1/2 the time. I've never seen two people go to the bathroom as much as Carolynn and Christopher.

Wild on the Katy

Our summer adventure begins this weekend. My 11 year old son Christopher, my wife Carolynn and I are signed up for the Wild on the Katy.

The ride begins in Clinton, MO and ends in St. Charles, MO - 247 miles away. It is going to be a challenge for Christopher. His longest ride so far this year has only been 30 miles. The longest one day stage on the ride is 66 miles. We have until 5pm every day to complete each section. We figure that as long as we stay hydrated and eat well, we should be o.k. We are bringing our Burley tandem which has been equipped with a seatpost rack and handle. We did some test rides yesterday with me pulling Christopher along via this cool handle I made.

Carolynn has been working hard getting us all ready for our ride. We are limited to two bags each, which have to include everything you will need including camping gear. Of course we can't rough it like most campers. We have to have queen size air beds and mini fans to stay cool. It has been quite the challenge to fit all this this into 2 duffle bags. As I was packing everything up yesterday, I came across a jar of Butt Paste. I hope I don't end up needing this stuff.....

No Magic Legs this year

This past weekend Ben, Neil and I headed over to St. Charles, Missouri for the 2007 Missouri State Mountain Bike Championships. Last year was very good to me as I won the state championship and brought home a coveted Championship Jersey. This year not so good...

I sensed things were not going to be good when Ben nearly cut off his finger before we event left. Apparently wiper blades on Toyota vehicles are not designed well and one has to apply RainX on a daily basis.

The Matson Hill course is located just outside the town of Defiance, MO.
Here is a story on how the town got it's name.

Ben and I were up first with a 9:00am start time. As I was warming up for the event I noticed my seat kept twisting. I tighten the heck out of the binder bolt, but it still twisted. After closer inspection I found out the top part of the seat post was twisting and it could not be fixed. To make matters worse, my chain would fall off when I turned right and cranked hard of the pedals. I was wishing I had not chosen to ride my single speed, but there was nothing I could do about it now.....long story short there were No Magic Legs this year. my chained derailed about 6 times and I my seat was just about useless and just about fell off by events end. I decided to make the most of it and just use the event as training. I even put in about 2 extra hours on the Katy trail while I waited for Ben to finish and Neil to race his event.

Some interesting awards were given out at this years event. Custom O'Fallon beer bottles were won along with USCF State Championship medals and jerseys for the winners.

Neil did great in his event and brought home a Silver medal for his efforts. He also was lucky and got to ride in a down poor which made for a very slick course.