Eastern Express Connectors - two new national bicycle routes that pass through Missouri | Adventure Cycling Association

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The Eastern Express Connector links the TransAmerica Trail in Walden, Colorado to the Chicago to New York City Bicycle Route in Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally created by veteran Adventure Cycling tour leader Frank Moritz, this variation of the classic TransAmerica Trail was designed to be a quicker (and easier) coast-to-coast experience for the time-constrained cyclist. Combined with the Chicago to New York City Route in the east, this route bypasses the most strenuous climbing in the Southern Rockies, Ozarks, and Appalachians, with the added benefit of avoiding the troublesome dog regions on the existing TransAmerica Trail. ...

A highlight of the Connector is the historic Katy Trail, the country’s longest recreational rail trail. Now a state park, the crushed-limestone trail is built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and winds alongside the mighty Missouri River. The trail skirts the northern edge of the Ozark Mountains, avoiding the notorious climbing further south on the TransAmerica Trail...

In Boonville, Missouri, the “TransAmerica Crossover”, an alternate included with the Eastern Express Connector Route, provides a mid-way connection to the traditional TransAmerica Trail. Using a combination of the Katy and Prairie Spirit Trails, it links up with Section 8 of the TransAm just north of Toronto, Kansas. For cyclists who also plan to ride the Western Express, this Crossover creates a more streamlined route across Middle America.

After crossing the Mississippi River on the bike-friendly Clark Bridge, the Eastern Express Connector beelines across Illinois to the college town of Terre Haute, Indiana . . .

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Eastern Express Connectors - two new national bicycle routes that pass through Missouri | Adventure Cycling Association

MoBikeFed comment: Both of these options are excellent cross-state routes within Missouri, and give some options for connecting from the western side of the Katy Trail to Kansas.

You can see the full national Adventure Cycling Association route system mapped here:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/interactive-network-map/

You can also see the U.S. national Bicycle Route network mapped here:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/us-bicycle-route-system...

The newest addition to the USBR system in Missouri is USBR 51, which goes north/south through the western part of the state, from the southwest corner where it connects to the Razorback Trail in northwest Arkansas through Springfield, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Lexington, Excelsior Springs, Bethany, and connecting to Lamoni, Iowa.

See the full map here:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48379319