More for kids at bicycle road race

This month, St. Louis-area kids and their families will have a chance to ride the same route Tour of Missouri professional bike racers will use on the last day of the 2008 statewide race.

Also, local sponsors of the last leg of the 625-mile Tour of Missouri have set up a Family Fun Festival to let everyone learn more about bicycling. The 7-day 2008 Tour of Missouri road race will be held Monday-Sunday, Sept. 8-14.

The 7-stage race opens on Monday, Sept. 8, with a 90-mile leg from St. Joseph to Kansas City.

It will end with five laps around 15-mile circuit in St. Louis Sunday, Sept. 14.

Christian Valverde of Team Garmin-Chipotle will compete. He was the top American in this year's Tour de France

The last day involves riding five times around the route from downtown St. Louis through Forest Park and back. That's the route that kids and their families will be able to ride the day before on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Actually, there are two different loops the kids can ride. Both start at the Soldier's Memorial in downtown St. Louis. But, one is a short loop of just 3½ miles while the other is the complete circuit of 15 miles.

Marc Clemens is the sponsorship and events manager for Trailnet. That's the group that is developing a lot of new bike trails and riding opportunities in the St. Louis area. Trailnet is one of the sponsors for the Tour of Missouri race.

Mr. Clemens said, "After the success of last year's inaugural Tour of Missouri, we wanted to add more things for amateur riders and families to do during the race weekend in St. Louis.

"Our St. Louis sponsor group said, 'Let's turn this into a Family Fun Festival for the whole weekend.'"

Of course, the main attraction is still the professional racers competing for the Tour of Missouri championship.

Two of the recent top-finishing Tour de France teams-Garmin-Chipotle and Team Liquigas-are entered in this year's Tour of Missouri. Garmin-Chipotle won the team title of the 2007 Tour of Missouri.

Jonathan Vaughters, director of Garmin-Chipolte, said, "We will be back to win. This is not an end-of-the-season fun race for us. This is a serious objective for our team."

Kansas City also is adding a new component to the Tour of Missouri. In this case, it's going to be a sprint for top women racers. The women racers will run a course through the world-famous Country Club Plaza entertainment and shopping area.

(For full details on the 2008 Tour of Missouri, visit www.tourofmissouri.com.)

Volunteers needed. Think about volunteering to help at Tour of Missouri

In St. Louis, the full-circuit route the kids and families will ride starts at the Soldier's Memorial and runs west on Market St. and Forest Park Parkway. Then, after meandering through Forest Park, it turns north to Delmar in University City.

Then, it's back south to Forest Park Parkway and a return to the Soldier's Memorial.

To participate in this circuit ride on Saturday, riders must register at 8 a.m. The riders start off in a group at 8:30 a.m. There is a fee to ride, ranging from $12 for non-members and $8 for Trailnet members. Kids under 13 pay $3.

There will be SAG support for riders and mechanical support provided by Big Shark Bicycle Co. The routes will be marked clearly and there will be a map. Rest stops also will be provided.

The Family Fun Festival will be held Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Soldier's Memorial. Several streets will be closed to allow for plenty of space for activities.

The festival will have bike safety programs at 10, 11 and noon.

One of the unique bike accessories on display will be a bicycle blender. This is a food blender attached on the back of a bike so you can make a "smoothie" while you are riding your bike.

Kids watching the demonstration will be able to taste the "smoothie" results.

Officials of the Metro bus company will be on hand to demonstrate how to use the bike racks on the front of city buses. These racks let residents ride to the bus stop and then take their bikes along to use at the end of the ride.

The St. Louis Bike Federation will provide valet bike parking.

There will be other organizations making demonstrations of unique bicycling products and services available in St. Louis.

Of course, there will be food and beverage vendors on hand.

If last year's experience was any example, the Soldier's Memorial area and the final circuit course will be packed for the Sunday finale. Thousands of spectators were on hand when the 2007 riders made their sprints to the finish line.

Here is a rundown of the seven stages:

Stage One, Monday, Sept. 8: St. Joseph to Kansas City, a road race and circuits, 90 miles; 144.81 kilometers.

Stage Two, Tuesday, Sept 9: Clinton to Springfield, a road race with circuits, 125 miles; 201.13 kilometers.

Stage Three, Wednesday, Sept. 10: in Branson, individual time trials, 18 miles, 28.6 kilometers.

Stage Four, Thursday, Sept. 11: Lebanon to Rolla, road race with circuits, 105 miles, 168.95 kilometers.

Stage Five, Friday, Sept. l2: St. James to Jefferson City, road race and circuits, 100 miles, 160.9 kilometers.

Stage Six, Saturday, Sept. 13: Hermann to St. Charles, road race, 110 miles, 177 kilometers.

Stage Seven, St. Louis, circuits, 75 miles, 120.68 kilometers.