Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail
Rhineland to St Charles, MO

Monday, September 6, 2004
Distance Cycled: 69 miles
Average Speed: 14.5 mph

After a great breakfast at the Doll House Bed & Breakfast in Rhineland consisting of eggs, toast, juice, milk, waffles, eggs, etc, we loaded up our bicycles and headed to St Charles. Instead of getting back on the KATY trail we headed east on highway 94. We had a strong tail wind and were traveling at more than 18 miles per hour. After 8 miles highway 94 turned north and crossed the KATY trail and headed into the hills. We turned onto the KATY trail and continued east now traveling at speeds between 13 and 18 miles per hour. The KATY trail was good traveling until we passed Dutzow. We then passed a fishing camp and a short distance later we found a barricade across the KATY trail that consisted of a number of 2 to 4 inch thick branches mixed with grasses. We removed this barricade and continued east on the KATY trail.

The closer we got to St Charles the better the KATY trail became but the more traffic we encountered. Some of the people were not very smart we followed a man pulling a child trailer. He did not want us to pass him and he speeded up so that we just followed him. The child trailer began bouncing around so that we thought it would tip over. After several minutes he finally slowed down enough for us to pass him. As we passed him we asked if he was riding with his son and he said that the boy was riding with his wife. We informed him that the boy was way behind him and riding all alone. He finally stopped and waited for the boy. We also found a number of people riding east where they insisted in riding side by side and did not want to move into line so they could be passed from the rear. We reached St Charles and headed for the historic main street. This street consists of a large number of very old buildings that mostly house gift shops and restaurants. It was Labor Day and the street was full of people going from shop to shop or to restaurants to eat. We stopped and ate an ice cream while we made a number of phone calls to locate a motel for the night.

For supper we all ate on our own. We want to a sports bar, near the motel, George and Jane bought food at the grocery store and ate in their motel room, and Ken & Jan walked downtown to a regular restaurant. We are all ready for a rest day tomorrow.