Jeff’s Missouri Bicycle Trip Report - 05/22/09
Day 5 - Morning
Friday, May 22nd, 2009 - Destination: Tebbetts.
I was up at
6:00 a.m., after sleeping well. Perhaps due partly to the white-noise hum from a
power plant directly south across the river. Checked the BlackBerry and
found an email from my father-in-law. News from home! I took a shower in, what is said, the best shower house on the
Katy Trail. It was roomy and clean. Soon thereafter I had to reapply bug
spray. The morning light showed the hit my front basket took yesterday when I
crashed. It also showed the dust that was collecting from the trail. 
Here’s a picture of my “basic” campsite, which came with a
covered picnic table. 
As I was getting
ready to eat breakfast, the park ranger (on a bicycle) stopped by. He asked if
I’d be around awhile, because he wanted to talk, but 1st wanted to ride a ways
on the trail with 2 girls who had camped last night here and were bicycling
across the country, east to west. 
I was a little more
packed up when the ranger returned. He knew where Peoria was, having previously
worked for Peoria County. He stayed for quite a while, considering he didn’t
have bug spray on. Thinking ahead a little (finally), I realized that I
might need reservations for camping Saturday evening, since it was during the
holiday weekend. I called the Katy Roundhouse Campground in New Franklin and got
a tent campsite reserved. Now I just needed to be there then! A camper at
site B2 offered me his leftover brats and chips, since he was heading to work,
but I didn’t have a fire going so we figured that wouldn’t work. I was the
last one in the park, and packing the bike, when a grade school aged boy and 2
women, who had reserved campsite B8 for the weekend, arrived for an early start
on their weekend of camping and fishing. They gave me a bottle of ice cold water
they said was extra. It was so good! At 9:54 a.m. I finally left for the trail.
There were cliffs along the north side of the trail. 
A Katy Trail
ranger pickup truck was coming down the trail, so I helped this fellow to the
shoulder. 
Farmed bottomland was to the left of the trail. 
I’d lost my case of bandages yesterday, apparently at the
crash site after using them. My homemade bandage was holding up pretty
well. 
There was a lot of information at the trailheads. I just
didn’t have time to read it all. 
At 11:28 a.m., I
stopped at Dutzow Deli and Restaurant for lunch. I had Joe’s Special Sandwich,
which was sort of like a Reuben with bacon (my description), a Pepsi, and ice
cream for dessert.
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