Tour of Missouri

First bike road race has stuff for kids

Professional bike road riders of the type seen in the Tour de France are coming to Missouri next month. And the event will include some special attractions for kids.

The first 600-mile Tour of Missouri road race will be held in the state Sept. 11-16. The race will start in Kansas City and then finished near the St. Louis Arch six days later.

Missouri is the third state to sponsor this level of bicycle racing. Only California and Georgia have held such statewide races.

The U.S.-based Discovery bicycle team is entered and state officials expect at least four more Tour de France-type teams to sign up. In addition, elite bike teams from around the world are expected to join them.

Stacey Blomberg is a special assistant for the Missouri Department of Tourism. She's been involved in planning the race for the last 1½ years.

She said race promoters have printed a Tour of Missouri Youth Activity Book for use by kids, both in schools and at home.

"This is a book filled with enrichment activities related to the Tour of Missouri," she said. The book will tie race activities to subjects such as health, safety, history, geography, math and science, she said.

She said budget restrictions limited the print run to just 40,000 copies. That's enough for only schools in the destination cities of Kansas City, St. Louis, Clinton, Springfield, Branson, Lebanon, Columbia, Jefferson City and St. Charles.

However, Stacey said the book's entire content will be displayed on the Internet through www.tourofmissouri.com. "All the content can be downloaded free of charge," she said.

Among the book activities will be a "Follow the Tour" lesson where kids do research on the history of various Missouri stops. There also are several pages of definitions of "cycling lingo" used by cycling enthusiasts.

Another part of the book will show the various biking trails throughout Missouri. For instance, Trailnet is an organization located in St. Louis that is involved in adding to the biking trail mileage in the metro area.

(Each month, Young Saint Louis.com includes the monthly schedule of kids' bike rides in its Places to Go, Things to Do section.)

Ms. Blomberg said, "We want the activity book to encourage kids to learn more about the outdoor fun of cycling."

Here is the Tour of Missouri schedule:

Day 1: Tuesday, Sept. 11, a circle route in the Kansas City area.
Day 2: Wednesday, Sept. 12, from Clinton, Mo., to Springfield.
Day 3: Thursday, Sept. 13, a circle route in the Springfield area.
Day 4: Friday, Sept. 14, from Lebanon to Columbia.
Day 5: Saturday, Sept. 15, from Jefferson City to St. Charles.
Day 6: Sunday, Sept. 16, a circle route in St. Louis area.

Mike Weiss is the operator of the Big Shark Bike Shop in University City. He is the venue manager for the city stops in Missouri.

He said the Tour of Missouri will end "within the shadow of the Arch" in downtown St. Louis. He said there will be a number of special events for kids near the finish line.

"We expect to have some shorter bike races for kids on that final day," he said.

He flew to France last month to work on details with bicycle executives who were there for the Tour de France.

Weiss said, "We want to have the final plan for the Tour of Missouri to announced by the end of the Tour de France."

One concern about Missouri is whether it is suitable for road racing because it lacks mountains. Some of the Tour de France racing comes when the bikers climb the Alps.

However, Ms. Blomberg said Missouri's terrain will be plenty challenging for the riders.

She said one of the people helping set up the Tour of Missouri is Kevin Livingston, a native of St. Louis. Livingston is a retired bike racer. He was on the U.S. Postal team with famed racer Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France.

Ms. Blomberg said, "Kevin said the Missouri terrain will be a challenge for the racers. The Lebanon-to-Columbia leg, for instance, goes uphill for the entire length."

For part of the Tour of Missouri, the riders will be on the Katy Trail. That is one of the most popular bike riding trails in the state. The eastern end of the trail is at St. Charles and it goes all the way to extreme southwest Missouri.