September 6: Hermann to Washington MO; 37.7 miles

Today was another exciting day on the Katy Trail.  There's lots to see along the way.  It was Sue and Lisa's turn to move the car ahead, so Pete and I set out from the German town of Hermann. The day was overcast but pleasant.  A coolness in the air made for pleasant riding.

View down the "Rhineland" of Missouri

Today's ride took us along tall bluffs, nearly higher than we could see and then close to the river and across soy and corn fields.  Very few riders were out today, although we did see more than over the holiday weekend.  Sadly, many of the shops and restaurants were closed.

Pete finds no need for his noodle along the trail

While Sue and Lisa were moving the car along downstream to the quaint town of Augusta, Pete and I were getting ourselves into all sorts of mishaps.

We came upon a crossroad that was being used by dump trucks to take large boulders down to a barge waiting on the river.  The ruts created by the trucks had filled with rainwater overnight and turned into a cement like substance.  We had to portage our bikes across to keep our gears and other working parts out of the muck. My sandals sunk in and filled with mud and Pete's clips were practically unusable due to the cement like mud.  We used our extra water to clean things up a bit and went on our way.

this is after some cleaning!

Shortly after that incident, I was riding along when suddenly my rear wheel felt unstable.  I quickly dismounted to find a rapidly deflating bike tire.  Embedded in my tire was a pebble with a razor sharp point.  First flat in nearly 2000 miles, I was hoping my super-tires were immune!  15 minutes later we were back on the trail.  What could possibly happen next??

As I approached an 18 inch long stick, I saw it curl and move (oh my)!  I swerved out of the way while the snake "jumped" out of Pete's way.........Just another day on the Katy Trail.

Meanwhile, Sue and Lisa were busy studying turtles (no rescues today), they are so fascinated by animals that Sue put together this full length documentary on the migration of turtles:

Of course that's not all Lisa and Sue do.  They are great at scoping out food venues for us.  They found this cute little caboose cafe in Marthasville called "KT Caboose" where we were served by it's proprietor, Jon. He was a gracious host and was enthusiastic about his cafe that served delicious healthy food.  He ran out of ice cubes, so used frozen strawberries and mangos to chill out drinks.  He allows cyclists to camp on the property, take a shower and have breakfast in the morning all for $10.  He also doesn't believe in selling single use water bottles so sells Katy Trail souvenir bottles which he fill with ice water for $5.  He's my kinda guy!

KT Caboose

such a lovely setting for a needed rest

proprietor Jon

After arriving in Augusta, we looked around at the Mount Pleasant Estate winery which has stunning views over the valley below.  We picnicked at the village park and racked the bikes for our stay in yet another quaint town of Washington MO.  We are loving Missouri and learning much about the terrain and people.  Tomorrow our final day on the Trail.........what could possibly happen?