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Home Page2004 Katy Trail Ride
Day 1 -
June 21, 2004 -
St. Charles to Marthasville
Day 1 Photos | Featured Rider | History on the Trail | Just off the Trail | Trivia Questions
The first day of the 2004 Katy Trail Ride started off with a beautiful morning at Frontier Park in St. Charles. More than 270 riders met at the St. Charles Depot for a quick breakfast of bagels, pastries, fresh fruit, juice and coffee. This was followed by a rider’s meeting led by Melanie Robinson, special events coordinator for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. After the riders were briefed for the events of the day and the group photo was taken, the bicyclists hit the trail headed for Marthasville.
The 38-mile section of the trail from St. Charles to Marthasville took the riders along the Missouri River through the scenic wine country. As the morning passed, the clouds started to roll in and riders were greeted with a cool morning shower. Some of the riders took shelter under the large trees that line the trail along the river.
Rider Jessie Marshall was surprised, “I didn’t really know what to expect since this is my first year. The rain kind of caught me by surprise but it was still fun.”
The first rider rolled into camp at Marthasville shortly after 10 a.m., followed by the rest that trickled in all through out the day until late afternoon. There were a couple of minor accidents, but nothing that a few Band-Aids couldn’t heal.
The rain was constant until early afternoon but didn’t seem to slow the riders down too much. Luckily the sun came out around 3 p.m. and gave everyone an opportunity to hang their clothes out to dry.
Dinner, which consisted of turkey, vegetarian pasta, potatoes, green beans, rolls and cake, was served at 6 p.m. As everyone finished up their desserts, the crowed started to gather in the pavilion for the nightly rider’s meeting. Melanie Robinson led the meeting, which discussed how the day went and what the riders could expect tomorrow on the ride to Jefferson City. A raffle was held for several prizes that were donated by the cities of St. Charles and Marthasville.
Following the meeting, the Marthasville Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission spoke about Lewis and Clark’s relationship with the area. The program lasted about a half an hour and then the riders called it a night.
