Team 12 riding along the Katy Trail
After beating the blistering heat, there has been a significant change in moral since we left Kansas. Not only has weather and riding conditions significantly changed, but we have all started realizing what all we have done so far to get here. Missouri is the start of our trek through the eastern side of the country, and our start of finally getting close to home. More than any other state on the ride so far, Missouri has reminded us of home, with its green forests and rolling hills. We left Sweet Springs on June 29 to ride on the Katy Trail for the first time. Mixing our bikes with gravel had been nothing but misery so far. Although, the trail served to be a smooth ride with beautiful scenery. The trees also provided amazing shade from the sun. We finished the day in Columbia.
Team 12 at Lake St. Louis Golf Course for a golf scramble
The next day, we continued along the trail for the whole day. The Katy Trail runs all across Missouri, so our primary goal was to stay on it the whole way. We were blessed with amazing weather during our rides along the trail. for the 3 days we were on it the heat didn’t get above 85 and the rain was very minimal. We had a very fun and relaxing time during our stay on the trail. While in Union we stayed at Lifestream Church. From here we would ride to St. Louis, where friends of Bike4Alz let us stay at their house on Lake St. Louis. That Afternoon we got to host a benefit night with 2 different Texas Roadhouse locations and tabled selling merch. Our next rest day was on the lake allowing us to relax to our fullest. We started the day with a fun team golf scramble and spent the rest of it on the lake swimming, fishing, and relaxing.
Team 12 at Paducah fireworks show
From St. Louis we entered the state of Illinois riding to Murphysboro. The ride went very smooth disregarding the couple pop up showers that flew by. In Murphysboro we stayed at the United Methodist Church there. They graciously fed us both dinner and breakfast and saw us on our way. On July 3, We finally crossed into Kentucky, where the entire trip began. Even the rude cars and yelling couldn’t deter our spirits. We rode into Paducah where Starfish Ministries kindly housed us for the night. We got to enjoy the 4th of July going to the riverfront and watching the fireworks show. The following morning, we woke up and began our last long ride of 96 miles for a long time to Clarksville Tennessee, beginning the team 12 Home Tour.
team 12 finally saying hello to Tennessee!