"Anybody" can bike the Katy Trail

Cyclists find an easy camaraderie on the trail. On my first day, I met Bob and Diane from Golden, Colo., who planned to bike to Baltimore. Diane Vliem said she loved being able to read the historical markers and immerse herself in the setting while she biked the Katy. "You can think about the battles of the Civil War and making salt from boiling water and Daniel Boone's family."

Cyclists benefit from the work of railroad planners who engineered the route to be as flat as possible. Their effort becomes obvious whenever you leave the trail and face the roly-poly hills of state and county roads. Of course, a flat trail means there's little coasting. Cyclists need to pedal almost constantly. Our longest leg of travel was 49 miles, tiring but doable.