”  You’re not really wearing that. Are you?”

I pull my bike off the rack of my black Honda Civic as Josh walks towards me from the front porch of his house.  “Are you serious? | Do you need to change?”

We are about to attempt a 150 mile bike ride from Dogtown, Saint Louis to Columbia, Missouri. I’ve shown up wearing a white dress shirt and tie tucked into a pair of black pants, which, in contrast to Josh’s proper, long-distance biking attire of shorts and a t-shirt, is admittedly, a bit ridiculous. Josh’s interrogation ceases once he realizes this is not a joke: I’m biking to Columbia | Like this. Besides, there’s no time to argue about my questionable wardrobe choice. We have work to do | 150 miles of work..

The Ride

Josh hit his first flat shortly after entering the Katy Trail This would be the first of many..

Katy Trail: First Flat

Bike Switch: I ride his brand new Surly Longhaul Trucker. He takes my old, DIY make-shift single-speed Rock Hopper.

Set back by tire flats and poor sense of direction, our hopes of riding a century (100 miles in one day) were soon crushed. We quickly turned our attention to finding a camp spot before the sun set.

Tire flats. Poor sense of direction. Our hopes of riding a century (100 miles in one day) were have been crushed. New goal: Find a camp spot before the sun sets.

We found a less-than-legal spot to camp for the night.

Next Morning

Day 2: Morning Ride

We decide to skip breakfast and head towards the nearest town.

Josh brought along the beans and I supplied the bread.

Next town: Map reading. Route planning. Breakfast.

We got another flat at the 100 Mile point. We're running out of tubes.

Mile 100: Another flat

At a the 150 mile marker, Josh hits his final flat in the small, sleepy town of Mokane, MO. We are officially out of tubes.

Mile 130: Mokane, MO. Final flat. Out of tubes. Game over.

We spend the next hour at the only grocery store in the area, trying to get ahold of my sister in Columbia.

We were fortunate that my youngest sister was already in Columbia, a few towns away from Mokane.

We managed to get a hold of my other younger sister who was already with my sister a few towns away in Columbia. Hero.

Josh hit his first flat shortly after entering the Katy Trail. This would be the first of many.
The Katy Trail is a mostly flat 382 km trail. The scenery is repetitive.
Set back by tire flats and poor sense of direction, our hopes of riding a century (100 miles in one day) were soon crushed. We quickly turned our attention to finding a camp spot before the sun set.
Next Morning
Day 2: Morning Ride
Morning Stretch
We decide to skip breakfast and head towards the nearest town.
Josh brought along the beans and I supplied the bread.
We got another flat at the 100 Mile point. We’re running out of tubes.
Josh’s bike continues to get flats. We are down to our last tube.
At a the 150 mile marker, Josh hits his final flat in the small, sleepy town of Mokane, MO. We are officially out of tubes.
We spend the next hour at the only grocery store in the area, trying to get ahold of my sister in Columbia.
Stuck in Mokane.
We were fortunate that my youngest sister was already in Columbia, a few towns away from Mokane.
07 Jan This entry was published on January 7, 2013 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Bikes, images, photos. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.

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