Katy Trail mm 39.5-29 St. Charles to Machens

It was a lovely day in Missouri, perfect temperatures and a light wind forecast.  I decided to go east to St. Charles and see how the construction on the east end of the Katy Trail was progressing.  I rode the entire trail in the spring of 2007.  At that time the trail ended officially a few miles east of St. Charles.  You could go a few more miles riding the levy, but that was not recommended or encouraged.  I had checked back a couple of times, the last in fall 2011 and little progress had been made.  I kept hearing of that progress had been made, so it was time to check back in.

I wanted to ride to Machens mile marker (mm) 26.9.  While it is mm26.9 it is mile 0 on the trail. I am not sure if they plan to take the trail on further to the river, but I hope they do.

It was an interesting ride.  St. Charles is such a lovely town! Tourist yes, but well designed with ample parking and a culture that accepts bicyclists.  Many of the Bicycle Across Missouri rides that were sponsored by the Division of Natural Resources (DNR) started or ended in St. Charles.  I expect similar tours still do.  

If you ride the entire trail you find that you ride through fields and bluffs and trees and flowers…nature.  It is in only a couple of places that the trail approaches an industrial tableau.  I mean, for much of the trail you are riding along a river, a major artery for commerce and only in a couple of places do you see evidence of that commerce.  You see it in Sedalia….you see it in St. Charles, you ride by numerous MFA  farm supply operations.  You see also see the evidence of the commerce when the tug boats pass.

But the river use to be lined with factories and storage buildings that took advantage of the river. In St. Charles  you get to see a few of those buildings. This is not the grimy industry of the 1800’s this is the ever so clean industry of today. In St. Charles you see the casino next to the old factories, next to the auto recycle yard.

It is interesting because you are riding with other riders as well as walkers and school groups.

So many times I ride the trail virtually by myself.  In St. Charles I know that others will be on the trail.

It was interesting to see how the trail was extended.  In many places it left the old rail bed to forge a new path.  Not sure why it needed to leave the old rail bed.  Some of the comments talked about frequent flats from thorns in this area of the trail, but neither my wife or I had any problems.

The new path allows the rider to continue a few short feet from the river for much of this stretch of the trail.

This is a pretty time of year, with many wild flowers in bloom.

And the chance to see the fields recently planted.

I kept hearing a model plane, and then I saw why they have a flight club located just off the trail in the river bottom.  I don’t know if they are called “model” planes anymore in this era of drones….

I like to pay attention to the benches along the trail.  They are often situated with a very pleasant view, and the plaque notes a person or sentiment that should be remembered.  This stretch had five interesting benches…in fact at this time they are the only benches along this stretch.  At first I thought there were two benches in placed in memory of the same person, then I realized a much sadder fact, all five benches were from the same family. All five plaques had the same date.  There must have been a serious accident, probably involving a car.  I feel for the parents that had to face such a devastating loss.

While the St. Charles stretch of the trail is not as scenic as other stretches, it does rank in the top ten that I enjoy riding….if for no other reason that at the conclusion of the ride there are multiple BBQ restaurants to choose from!  

BIG WOODY'S BBQ

BIG  WOODY'S  BBQ  
1821 ZUMBEHL RD
St.  Charles Missouri

 I was out and about today.  The semester is over, grades are in.  A summer break of at least four weeks stretches in front of me like the summers of my youth.....

Took the opportunity to go toward St.Charles....to try a BBQ restaurant I had never eaten  at before.  I decided to try Big Woody's BBQ in St. Charles.  I had searched the web, and decided this was the choice on a Monday, when many other restaurants are closed.  It was easy to find, and easy to get to and not far off the I70.  I don't like traffic and traffic lights so the fact that it was easy to get to was a real plus.

From the website I had the vision of a large place, that would be crowded at lunch.  I was ever so surprised! It was a very pleasant place, clean, attractive, nice.  It appeared to be run by a man and a woman as a team.  It was obvious that the man, who I assume was big Woody, cooked the meat.  I don't know who had the soft touch with the slaw and the sauce, but they were delightful.  I suspect the woman was responsible, men tend to be a little heavy handed when it comes to spices and sauces....sometimes it is best to let the meat speak for itself.

I had my usual brisket, fries, and slaw, my wife had pulled pork.  The fries were good, but nothing spectacular.  I am sure they came frozen in a bag, but they were properly cooked.  The slaw was fresh, with a light dressing. The meat was very moist, and almost a pulled brisket approach.  The sauce was a real delight.  It had a smoky sweet flavor that had a tangy, but not spicy, edge.  There was a good variety on the menu.  It was very inexpensive.  I had the chance to order a variety of size of sandwich, I had the smaller size and it had a good quantity of meat on a typical bun.  If I had been a bit hungrier I would have gone for the big sandwich that came on Texas Toast, white bread is a such a nice way to handle the meat!

Marty's BBQ

Marty's Bar-B-Q 

6427 North Cosby Avenue 

Kansas City, MO 64151

I like most BBQ restaurants that I eat at.  It really takes a lot for me to say something negative.  There is much that I can say that is positive about eating at Marty's Bar-BQ.  It is a nice location in north Kansas City area.  It is easy to get to.  It is clean and nice and friendly. It had an extensive menu.  It is also inexpensive.  I would even say it is very inexpensive....all of those things are positive.  

What was not positive was the food.  I had the brisket sandwich and fries.  I like thinly cut brisket, but this was so thin I could almost read through it.  There was not much on the bun. It did not have much flavor.  The fries were undistinguished.   I could have ordered the larger sandwich with more meat and it would have likely have been better.  I was not that hungry so opted for the smaller sandwich.  

There were a number of plaques on the wall denoting awards and honors from the 90's when it was in a different location.  I can only surmise that the current owners are not the same as the owners back then. I do not know the connection, or whether it is more than just a name.  I know this is a relatively new restaurant.  I hope time will give them a chance to improve.....

First Ride in a Long Time!

 Who would think of snow on April 24th?  Ah Missouri!

I have not ridden very much this spring.  I could attribute it to the cool weather and rain that we have had this spring.  I could attribute it to my wife getting a bike, and the shift to ridding with her rather than taking longer rides alone.  I really do not think that either of those excuses are really the cause, because I am not riding my rollers or spin bike either.  After close to 40 years of actively riding several times a week either on the road or in the house on rollers, I now go weeks between rides.  I think ultimately it probably relates to a change in medication that was indented to reduced my anxiety levels.  After a life in a high stress job, it finally started to take its toll on me.  The medication works, and that is good. Still I think it also reduced my obsessive compulsive tendencies or what ever it was that lead me to get up early to exercise even when staying in bed would have been easier.  Now that I have more time to sleep, and a lot less stressful a job I find I invent excuses or simply do not think of riding.  Whatever the reason in the end it is all my choice.  I hope I can start to make better choices and ride more.

I did have a nice ride today.  From snow yesterday to 60 degrees and beautiful sun today!

or

It is not often that you have dafodills.....

and dandelions are blooming at the same time!

and the requisite picture of cows!

I rode over ten miles during the middle of the afternoon on a variety of roads and met or was passed by only 3 cars!  I did get to meet a couple of new dogs....

They moved in last year and still do not know what to do with me.....I will also assert that our litter is better than other peoples litter..... that is an original painting.....of the quality associated to a school student.....

I suspect its existence in the ditch is related to either a bully that stole it from some poor child on the school bus, or a deceleration by a student in the ultimate lack of interest in his own art project.....It has been there for a while, through rain and snow.  I pick up other trash but feel it would be theft for me to pick this up.....

I am saddened by the many pine trees that have died.  I would have suspected that this tree had been killed by the power line crews if the other tree directly under the lines was still alive.  I have lost several on my property, and as I ride down the rode I see so many others that have succumbed.....It will be interesting to see how many deciduous trees do not leaf out this spring after the hard drought last summer.....

Pig Up & Go BBQ

Pig Up & Go BBQ

1659 S. Elmwood Dr

Mexico, Mo

Last fall I was searching for BBQ restaurants and was surprised to find a listing for a restaurant in Mexico Missouri.  You get these false listings sometimes, often because someone has a BBQ competition team and the internet bots think it is a regular restaurant.

Having found the listing, it meant I needed to take a road trip and I found the building above.  Not exactly what most restaurants look like.  It could have been a plumbing business, or any small service company. At the time there were a few cars in the parking lot, and a few people standing around but nothing that made me think restaurant. I decided I was on the wrong track, so I did not even stop.  I went on by, and went on to the other BBQ in Mexico.  When I got home and rechecked my source I was pretty sure that I had been in the right place, just not the right amount of gumption. That meant a return trip would be needed!

I got busy and another trip was not to occur until last week.  I had a Thursday open, and I needed to renew a license on a trailer and 4-wheeler. It is so much easier to do this in Mexico rather than Columbia, so off I went.  This time I stopped at the address listed. I found a very nice BBQ restaurant.  It is not open on Sunday or Monday at all. It is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for lunch only 11:00-1:00. It is open on Friday and Saturday for lunch and dinner.  This is a rather interesting schedule, if you try to find the restaurant I would check and even call ahead to make sure it is open.....

It is located in the industrial park of Mexico.  Which sounds a lot seeder that it actually is.  There are a number of mid size manufacturing companies.  If it is any indication it is next to the Mexico School District Administrative office. I do not think there is another resturant around it.  It certainly has not spent any money on signs, or advertising.  They have spent money on a nice decor.  The inside of the building follows the form of the exterior.  It is clean, new, attractive and functional.

It does provide a good meal.  I think they aim for carryout meals to workers from the surrounding businesses.  While I was there several people stopped by and picked up larger orders.  It also had a few other customers that intended to eat in.It sits a decent number of people, and with the quick service I would expect provides a nice dinning experience even for those "on the clock."

It was a rather basic BBQ menu, I suspect designed for fast service.  Plates were available very quickly, by the time I got my drink it was ready.  The meals were on disposable plates.  They did not have fries, but did have a variety of side options.  They provided only one sauce option, a sweet KC BBQ sauce that was OK.  I had the brisket, and was pleased.  My wife had the pulled pork.  I suspect that the pork was smoked there.  The brisket I think was cooked in an oven rather than smoked.  It had a very nice flavor, but was moist, and cut thick the way you do when you are slow cooking a brisket in a pan rather than in a smoker.  The potato salad and coleslaw were good, though the amount was a little less than I desired.  I would say they targeted the working men, but their prices were a little more than other BBQ restaurants that target that group.

It was a very nice experience.  It certainly was a nice meal.  I would recommend it to anyone.  It is certainly worth a trip if you, like me, enjoy finding and trying the different BBQ restaurants that are available.  If you are a Mexico resident it would be a place that I would come to often.

Shotgun Pete's BBQ Shack

Shotgun Pete's BBQ Shack
28th N 9th Columbia Missouri

If I have it correct, and anything that has to do with memory is suspect I think that Shotgun Pete's use to be a shack in the parking lot of  Parkade Center.  It was on the opposite side of town, and had a relatively erratic schedule that kept me from being able to frequent it.  Sometime last year it moved to the "District" in downtown Columbia.  It is a good location, but again not one I find myself near except when I was accompanied by family members who were not so enamored with BBQ.  I decided it had gone long enough.  I invited my wife, and off we went.....

It was a pleasant experience. It has a nice decor, really makes you connect to the traditional BBQ experience.  This is not a chain restaurant! 

I had the brisket and my wife the pork. Both were good.  The pork was traditional pulled pork, had a nice color and flavor.  The brisket was a pulled brisket, with a nice flavor.  It was a little dry for my taste, but agreeable.  Following the lead of many restaurants it does not have fries, but offers a variety of sides.  I tried the slaw and potato salad.  I would have preferred to have fries... I do not understand why they think slaw needs to be spiced up. It is getting hard to find a BBQ restaurant that will not add horseradish or some other hot spice to their slaw.....I prefer the vinegar slaw and of course fries.
It was a nice experience and I would recommend it  to anyone that is in Columbia.

Snow

We have had a warm winter, and are predicted to have a very warm spring.  Still winter comes to Missouri!  We normally get three weeks of very cold weather with highs in the 0-10 degree range.  This year we have rarely gone below 10 degrees for a low.  I had just about given up any hope for a reasonable snow when we have gotten several good snow storms.  The first gave us 11 inches, then we had a little warm weather, then another storm that gave us 10 inches, then a few days of minor snow accumulations in the less than 1 inch range.