And ironically one of the most popular ways to “do” the Katy trail is to take the Amtrak to Kansas City since that train has bike stowage, and riding the trail from west to east is (generally) all downhill.
Is it relatively easy to get back to Chicago from the eastern terminus of the bike trail?
Rode the entire trail in 3 days in 2016! Quite the challenge for myself at the time and living out of your bike was a blast. Got to talk and meet many locals and go into many small towns to resupply food and enjoy the ride. My total milage ended up being 270 miles.