This is the fifth time that the KATY Trail has been ridden for Bike for the Cure. Those rides were the original Bike for the Cure 99 (1999), Kick HD on Route 66 and the KATY Trail (2004), Cycle the Heartland (2008), and Bike for the Cure XIX (2017).
The KATY Trail State Park Trail is built on the corridor of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad, better known as the KATY. When the railroad ceased operation on its route in Missouri from Machens in St. Charles County to Sedalia in Pettis County in 1986, Missouri State Parks was able to acquire the railroad right-of-way through an amendment to the National Trails System Act. The amendment allows railroad corridors no longer needed for active rail service to be banked for future transportation needs and used in the interim as recreational trails. The right-of-way was secured through a generous donation by the late Edward D. “Ted” Jones, Jr. and his wife, Pat.
Construction of the KATY Trail began in 1987. The first section of trail at Rocheport was opened in 1990. The Trail’s 25th anniversary was celebrated in 2015. In 1991, the Union Pacific Railroad donated 33 miles of rail corridor from Sedalia to east of Clinton. Additional purchases and donations were added throughout the years, completing the final 240 mile trail with Machens as the eastern terminus and Clinton as the western terminus.
The Rock Island Spur is a 47.5 mile trail that connects Pleasant Hill and Windsor, on the main 240 mile stretch KATY Trail.