12/04/2025
We’re back? We never left!
In November 2022, after 20 years in business, my wife Robin and I sold our Defiance building to The Kickstand, which operated three stores in 2023 (Defiance, Augusta, Dutzow).
We shifted our focus to the entire trail from St. Charles to Clinton through our bicycle touring operation, expanding our services and deepening our connections with the people, towns, and businesses that make the trail special.
In November 2023, we took over Big BAM, adding a June KATY Trail tour to the traditional October ride. With help from our friends and partners along the trail, we’ve grown the event and sold out the October trip two years in a row.
In 2024, The Kickstand closed, leaving a major gap in cycling support on the KATY between St. Charles and Hermann. Throughout 2024 and 2025, we stepped in with SAG support - dropping tubes, tires, and bikes at local B&Bs - to help keep the trail viable for cyclists on extended trips.
In 2025, we expanded our KATY Trail merchandise and began selling it through partners along the trail. We also opened a rental repair, and prep facility at Beyond the Trail Campground in Defiance, offering daily rentals with advance reservations.
As 2026 approaches, one of our main priorities is again serving the communities we supported from 2002 - 2022. Our friends at Dutzow Landing share this goal, and we’re excited to be part of the rebirth of that location at the future crossroads of the KATY and Rock Island trails.
Since we started renting bikes in 2002, a lot has changed: growing trail towns, the rise of e-bikes, an aging population with more free time, and a boom in adventure tourism. At the same time, we face new challenges from online retailers like Amazon, post-COVID declines in bike sales, and ongoing labor shortages.
What to expect Dutzow Landing
- Bike rentals and a retail shop with parts, accessories, apparel, and nutrition
- “Delivery-Based Bike Rentals” in partnership with local B&Bs, building on our successful 2025 model
- One-way KATY “Day Trips”
- A fulfillment center for online orders
= A distribution hub for partners selling our KATY - branded merchandise in other trail towns.
Week-long trips will continue to be provided by our partners - Crossroads Bike Tours, Noble Invention Bike Tours, Road Scholar, and others.
