Day 9 - Monday May 28; Sedalia, MO to Clinton, MO (41 miles)

It was hard leaving Susi this morning. She dropped me off at the Sedalia Katy Trail depot where she picked me up yesterday and I was riding by 9:00 AM. It was pretty windy all day and started off cloudy but cleared up within an hour. The trail between Sedalia to Clinton is not nearly as pretty as the parts I've ridden the past few days. It is more open and with the wind coming from the direction I was riding, the riding was slow at times. I knew I only had about 40 miles to ride so I took my time. This section of the trail has the highest point of the Katy Trail. Not much more to say about the ride really.

I arrived in Clinton, MO about 1:30 PM and rode around a little, drank a soda, picked up some rags at an O'Reilly's and checked into the M-Star motel about 2:30 PM. After putting my bags in the room I used their hose to wash my bike. I also sacrificed my toothbrush to brush the grit/grim out of my derailleurs and chain which I then lubed. After cleaning up myself I went to a nearby Walgreen's to buy a replacement toothbrush then to dinner.

When I got back to the motel I cleaned the outside of all my bags/gear then started working on routes for the next two days. Susi and I looked at my original planned route last night at the motel in Sedalia and she convinced me that there must be a flatter route. After several hours of work, I picked a route going west first into eastern Kansas then south to the TransAmerica route. I'm not sure how well this new route will work, but tomorrow I'm headed west along MO18 then south to Butler, MO then west again to Pleasanton, KS; a total of 67 miles. Pleasanton has a pool so I can shower then hopefully someone will let me camp there; they have several parks and churches. Wednesday I'll head west and south ending up in Chanute, KS (71 miles) which is where I will join the TransAmerica route. I'm a little apprehensive about the next couple of days, some of which will be on US highways. A few photos from today follow.



Leaving Sedalia,MO for the last leg of the Katy Trail



Katy Trailhead in Clinton, MO - The end of the Katy

Retro DX filling station in the historic district of Clinton - similar to the one Susi's uncle Jess used to own in our hometown of Winchester, IL