Katy Trip Day 3: City of Jefferson

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Monday morning started with a nice breakfast that was oddly missing one of the required elements for a fat guy like me…. MEAT! Apparently I chose a vegetarian bed and breakfast.

After breakfast we had a nice short ride west out of Hartsburg. We really enjoyed the trail and the wildlife.
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We decided to head into Jefferson City for the day. From what I had read the capital building was a must tour. We were not disappointed, I was surprised at how well the tour held Maddies attention. She loved it.
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Monday night we checked into the doll house bed and breakfast. This was years better than the globe. Very nice place and we were very comfortable there. The Doll House is the only house left in the old Rhineland all of the other houses were moved by the government after the flood of 93.

We had dinner in Herman at a wing place. I thought it was okay, but Ashley wasn’t thrilled with it. That night we discovered that Maddie is quite good at boogle. Now we have to buy that game.

We want to say thanks to Amanda the innkeeper at the Doll House.

Katy Trip Day 2: Seaweed

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Well we did get a good nights sleep after a long hot Saturday on the trail.  We decided to take it easy on Sunday and see what Columbus had going on.  We found out that Stephens Lake had alot to offer so after breakfast we went to walmart and geared up for a picnic. The lake area was beautiful, and probably one of the nicest examples of good urban planning I have seen.  We enjoyed our picnic in a clean shelter overlooking the lake and the waterfalls. Then we did some fishing, not catching just fishing. There was also a very nice bike trail so we got the trikes out and used them to explore the park.  Finally, we went for a swim in the lake. They had made a very nice beach and splash park on one side of the lake. It was very nice and they test it weekly and pump fresh water in regularly. These are important things for Ashley to know, so I did my research.

Sunday night we stayed at the Globe Hotel in Hartsburg. The bed and breakfast was nice, but I’m not sure I would take the family again.  I was able to catch the game next door at the Big Muddy Tavern, which was surprisingly nice for the area.  They even put the game on the big screen for me. I’m pretty sure there are not many NBA fans in MO.

Oh yeah we had dinner at a nice little bistro in Hartsburg. The sandwiches were ok, but the chips and queso Maddie had was fantastic.

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Heated

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Day One: McBaine to Rocheport to Boonville McBaine

We had an interesting first day on the trail. Our plan was to ride with the peddlers jamboree and camp in boonville. Our first sop was huntsdale where we enjoyed a burger and some good music from blueslinger. Maddie was entertained by the dancing drunk lady.
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We got back on the trail and it was hot and humid. Maddie began to slow so we slogged along at her pace. We made our next stop at a cave along the trail. It was pretty pretty cool. Ashley and Maddie climbed up into it while I took pictures.
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Back on the trail and this is where things start to unravel. Boom flat on the rover. Of course, I am prepared for flats and I am ready to change this sucker and move on until I realize that the one tool I forgot to bring was a wrench to get the rear wheel off of the rover… drats! We have three miles to Rocheport where they have a sag station. So we decide to put Ashley on the villager and let me tow Maddie to Rocheport. We finally made it and we were spent. We got the tool I needed and changed the flat pretty quickly… Ashley makes a good pit crew along with some help from a couple of guys on the trail.
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I tell Ashley that we have about 13 or 14 miles to go and she is not having it, and honestly no problem for me I was overheating quickly. So if this vacation is anything then it is flexible. I rode the 10 miles back to McBaine and came back to get the girls. They explored Rocheport while I was gone. I made good time going back, but the heat got worse. As soon as I got off of the trike I cramped up in both legs.

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What have we done

Picked up the girls fetched our bags in Boonville and went swimming at a hotel in Columbia… yesssss!!!

More adventures today.

Road Trip

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We got everthing packed up and loaded. We were on the road at 3 as soon as Ashley got off work. I decided to tarp the trikes which has been interesting to say the least. The tarp is holding fine, but it is showing some fraying. We are hoping to arrive at our hotel in Columbia, Mo around 11 or 12.

We have to have our stuff to the drop point for the peddlers jamboree before 10am in the morning, so hopefully we will be able to get plenty of rest tonight. We are excited to spend a day on the trails, listening to some good music. We will be camping on Saturday and riding back to Columbia on Sunday. Updates should start on Sunday Night…

Peddlers Jamboree Site

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

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Are there laws against blogging while driving?

Katy Trail Ride is scheduled.

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I have officially scheduled our Katy Trail Ride. We chose to go with an average of 25 miles a day and take it very easy. This is Madelyn’s first tour and I want her to really love it and enjoy it.

Madelyn is 8 and I haven’t decided if I am going to let her ride her villager or make her stoke the trets. She wants to take the villager, but I’m not sure.

If anyone wants to join… the more the merrier.

Date
Overnight
Miles Rode
Cumulative Miles
Hotel

Friday, May 25, 2012
Rocheport
Start
0
Katy Trail Bed and Bikefest

Saturday, May 26, 2012
Hartsburg
24.7
24.7
Globe Hotel

Sunday, May 27, 2012
Tebetts
22.4
47.1
Turner Hostel

Monday, May 28, 2012
Rhineland
26.2
73.3
Doll House B&B

Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Marthasville
27.3
100.6
Little House

Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Defiance
18.6
137.8
Parsons B&B

Thursday, May 31, 2012
St. Charles
19.6
138.8
Country Inn and Suites

Working on our packing list and how we are going to carry everything we will need.

Fat Dudes Dream Trike (ICE Adventure RS HD)

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Been spending some time getting the new ICE all set up with some accessories… or as everyone at BROL likes to say… BLING!

First a little review of the trike:
I absolutely love the feel of this trike.  The oversized HD seat and wider track is awesome for those of us who are on the bigger side.  Then the big apple 2inch tyres and the ICE suspension provides a smooth ride that I have simply never experienced on any bike. This is my first trike with indirect steering, my previous ride being a catrike expedition.  The indirect steering supplies very nice handling and really smooths things out over direct steering. The Adventure HD comes with drum brakes which are touted to be less maintenance than disks.  So far I am happy with them, they do not lock up like disk brakes can, but that’s good with me. One of the features I thought would be nice about the trike was the rear drag/parking brake. Come to find out… it is way more than nice.  I cant explain how much nicer it is to flip on that brake than deal with that stupid piece of velcro!

The other thing that strikes me about the Adventure is the amazing adjustability. The suspension can be modified by moving the elastomer to any five holes, and there are three different elastomers to choose from, soft, medium, and hard. The handlebars adjust so that you can get them in just the right spot, with easy qr’s. The seat has a combo of adjustments that will put you right where you want to be.

Now to the upgrades (Bling!!!):

Ice rack for suspension with sides
ICE Front Fenders
Additional water bottle cages mounted to the seat
Purple Sky Flag BROL
Shimano touring pedals
ICE Front light mount
Turboflash tail light
Mirracycle mirrors
MTB Bar Ends
Akron phone mount

Future Bling:
Rear Fender (ordered)
Trike Shop Grab Bars
ICE side bag

Pictures:

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ICE ICE Baby and The Pink Villager

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I am loving my new ICE Adventure HD RS… the rear suspension gives a totally different feel than any trike or bent I have ridden.  I’m still slow, but learning to relax and just enjoy the ride.  I’m not sure why, but I love speed!  Working on upgrades now. Rack and Fenders are sure to come as well as some bar ends to mount the phone and mirrors.  Also Maddie and I both got Purple Sky flags!

I am still working on the Hase Trets… I won’t bore you with the long story about how I sent it back… da da da… but it is on its way back to me, and it is going to need to be rebuilt before it is ready to ride, but I plan on doing the rebuild from the ground up.  Great project.

In the meantime, I went ahead and bought Madelyn a PINK Catrike Villager from Utah Trikes.  I am very impressed with their packaging and shipping job… top notch.  Madelyn loves it… it is just a tad to big for her, but we have made several adjustments to get her just in the right spot.

We took our first long ride on Good Friday.  Madelyn was out of school and I switched my friday’s so I could watch her. We went down to the Oklahoma River and rode the trails.  I had planned to ride about 5-10 miles depending on how Madelyn felt.  After a couple of wrong turns on the crossovers we ended up riding a total of 15 miles in about 3 hours.  A bit too far for Maddie, but she had a blast. She was right back on the bike today and we did another 5 miles tonight.  I am hoping that we can bump our big rides up to around 25 or 30 miles over the next couple of months.  We are going to hit lots of T-Shirt rides this year, really looking forward to it.