Day 1: Clinton to Sedalia

I almost cried....twice! But we'll get to that later. Let's start at the beginning where there are a lot of happy memories. First of all, I am not lying when I say that we had THE MOST comfortable bed at The Hampton Inn Clinton. Seriously, better even than our own newer bed at home. So, we woke up feeling fabulous! 

It had POURED down rain the evening before, and overnight, but it was just misting a little that morning. We were up early and raring to go right away because the weather forecast called for thunderstorms in the afternoon.

We did however need to fuel up for the ride, so we took advantage of the FREE breakfast at The Hampton Inn before we left. It was pretty amazing for free! Yes, the other guests were looking at me strange for taking pictures of all the food. I informed them that the pictures were for our blog and they then agreed it made perfect sense.

Bread, Muffins, Bagels.

Omelets, Sausage, Biscuits.

Cereal, Yogurt, Apples & Bananas. 

NOTE: PAY ATTENTION HERE! We should have grabbed a couple of bananas for the trail! Post workout cramps and soreness often come from a lack of potassium. What better way to get your potassium fix than the classic banana? It’s an easy , on the go snack, for those who don’t want muscle soreness! NEXT TIME...we will grab bananas at every opportunity! 

For the record, here are 9 more foods that are great for muscle recovery: pineapple, chocolate milk, mixed nuts, ginger, salmon, blueberries, manuka honey, turmeric and cherries! 

Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Grapes, Blueberries, Grapefruit, 

Oatmeal w/ toppings and make your own Belgium Waffles...we couldn't resist :) !

 Coffee Station. I only drink hot tea, which they also had, and I brought my own.

I'm looking down at my plate, scooping up my next bite, when I hear "Jennifer" in a creepy voice. I look up and see this. What!? LMAO! Yes, he's weird...but I still love him! It was hilarious at the time, but I don't know...maybe it was one of those "you had to there" things. 

Anyway....We were set and ready to go. We started off biking 2.33 miles through Clinton, which was a very flat and easy ride. We made it to our starting point, the Clinton Trail Head, very quickly. Clinton to Sedalia is pretty much up hill, all the way. We started off at 780 feet, in Clinton, and climbed up to 955 feet (the highest point on the Katy Trail) and then down to 905 when we entered Sedalia. 

Of course we needed to document the official start with pictures.

We did not even care that it was drizzling. We were pumped and ready to finally start our adventure!

The weather was actually great for most of our day...we even had sunshine for a lot of our 41.2 miles. 

(Click to enlarge elevation pic)

The VERY challenging part was riding the almost constant incline on the WET crushed limestone trail! This part of the trail surface was very different than the rest of the trail. It was THICK with crushed limestone, and then add a ton of water to that (remember it poured down rain the evening before and all night long) and it was like riding on wet sand...our tires sunk! Mile marker 242.6, the highest point on the Katy Trail...that's about where I almost cried, the first time. We had been riding/sinking in the limestone for so long and I just wanted to cry. My Husband was feeling it too, but we persevered! 

Later on in our trip, after talking to several people along the trail, we came to the conclusion that this section of the trail is always thick and somewhat soft. We also found out that a lot of people start in Sedalia and skip the Clinton to Sedalia section...so we wonder if this section isn't "packed down" because it doesn't get as much traffic. We saw only ONE other rider during our entire ride on this section of the trail.

We saw several fluffy bunnies, red-tailed squirrels, opossum, cats, fox, turtle, lots of beautiful birds AND yes even a CRAWDAD crawled on the trail and stood up to say Hi!

It was Sunday. In these small towns along the Katy Trail, everything is closed on Sunday. We were trying to beat the afternoon thunderstorms anyway, so we had a quick protein bar for lunch.

I had really hoped to stop at the Amish Village and Store in Windsor, but I knew they were closed on Sunday so I had marked that off my list. I also wanted to stop at Farrington Park and rent a Paddle Boat, but remember...we were trying to beat the afternoon Thunderstorms! 

So, we rode as quickly as we could and we were almost to Sedalia when it starting pouring down rain. The sky was dark and the clouds were scary. We saw the Sedalia sign along the trail and THEN the tornado sirens went off! Oh my gosh! We looked behind us and I panicked because the sky was even worse than before. I asked my Husband what we should do. I was thinking we should knock on the door of the nearest house and ask to hide out in their basement, but he said "GO FASTER!". So, I did. What happened about 5 minutes later? The tornado sirens went off for a SECOND time and we were literally in the middle of a thunderstorm with funnel clouds! This is when I almost cried for the second time, but instead, let me tell you, I had a sudden burst of adrenaline and rode so fast, without stopping, all the way to Hotel Bothwell. I was never happier to arrive at my destination.

Needless to say, we were completely starving, and of course everything nearby was closed on Sunday. We needed food, like now and we did not want to walk or ride anywhere. I found a restaurant that sounded delicious, The Brick Front Grill and called a taxi to take us there! We used Xtreme Taxi and they were amazing! They charge $8 to go anywhere in Sedalia. They drove us back to our hotel after we immensely enjoyed the fabulous dinner we had at The Brick Front Grill.

Overall, it was a great day and I wouldn't change a thing! 

We wanted adventure, and we definitely got it!

It's kind of like having a baby. You pretty much forget all the pain, suffering and scary parts, and just remember the happy joyful times ;)!

The Hotel Bothwell has been around since 1927 and is rumored to be haunted. We loved the hotel's look and atmosphere, but the bed in our room was horrible. We both agreed it was the worst night of sleep...very uncomfortable mattress. The water pressure in the shower was very low and I actually had to rinse the shampoo/conditioner out of my hair in the bathtub faucet. Our room was small, but we were able to fit our bikes in our room. Still, it is a very cool hotel and I'm pretty sure there's at least one spirit roaming around in there, but that story is for another blog!