Cycling the Katy Trail is the definitive guide to a crown jewel in the American rail-trail system. Providing more than simply a list of milestones along the trail, this book shares the trail from the perspective of the touring cyclist. Award winning author Neil Hanson provides a thorough trail guide and description for the cyclist who plans to ride the Katy Trail, then, in quintessential Hanson style, he serves up a journey story that magnifies his ride along the trail into a delightful tale of discovery that everyone will enjoy.

Neil Hanson finds the perfect balance in this book, his narration serving first as a trail guide to help the reader plan a ride the Katy Trail, then as a master story teller who takes the reader along on one of America’s premier rail-trails, exploring the rural beauty of this gem that runs nearly border to border across the state of Missouri, meandering through the deep rural backroads of middle America.

“A rich and nuanced perspective on the Katy Trail experience.”
— Jim Sayer, Executive Director, Adventure Cycling Association

“Neil continues his bike touring adventures, this time with his new wife on a tandem bicycle. An entertaining, thought-provoking, caffeine-fueled trip.”
— David Buser, touring cyclist

“The guide at the beginning seems to provide good information should I decide to attempt the Katy Trail and the story that follows makes me want to attempt it. While this book was not as full of the varied small life lessons as his other writings, the re-creation or recounting of his conversations ring true and are often thought-provoking. It is also a nice story of a couple getting to know each other on a new level.”
— C Bell, touring cyclist

The trail guide section of the book is perfect for planning a Katy Trail ride. It includes milestones along the entire route, a trail overview, detailed descriptions of the five different sections of the trail (as Neil defines them,) then a table describing the ride details and stats as ridden by Neil in 2016.

The journey section of the book is where Neil’s fans will discover his award winning storytelling style. Come along with Neil and Christine as they meander along the trail for a beautiful week in September on their tandem bicycle. This delightfully written treasure is insightful and thought provoking, inviting the reader along the journey as Hanson enjoys the quiet beauty of the Missouri backwoods, explores the remote serenity of a trail that runs along a river the helped to shape American history, and wrestles with some difficult questions about the divide that seems to be growing between rural towns in the middle of America and the rest of the nation.