Tour of Missouri 2009

So, we didn't bike as much this summer as we wanted to. And we didn't watch the Tour de France (didn't want to watch Lance). But we certainly weren't going to miss the Tour of Missouri.

We left church early and headed downtown. This year the Tour finished in KC instead of St. Louis, so we would get to see the end of the Tour. That also means that it ended on a Sunday, so there were more people and more kids. They even had a kids' race.

I dropped Enid, Aspen, Ora 5 and the kids bikes at the event and then drove 15 minutes before I found a parking space 4-5 blocks away. Then Ewan and I raced down the Start line so we could see Ora and Aspen race.

For the kids' race, each age ran in a different heat and they started them 50-100 yards from the finish line on the race course and let each heat go. Every kid got a medal. Here's Aspen and Ora 5:



After the kids' race, we went to see the vendor booths. We always bring a wagon because they give you so much free stuff: bottles, noise makers, helmets, etc. The Jelly Belly booth is always a must because they give free Sport Beans. The kids spun a game wheel and the prize was a free jelly belly, but you couldn't tell if it was going to be Blue Berry or Toothpaste flavored; Popcorn or vomit; vanilla or rotten egg. They even had a bucket to spit the bad-tasting ones out.

Soon the race was beginning. The other difference in this year's race is that it started and ended in Crown Center instead of the Plaza and the circuit was longer. This meant we could see the first lap finish in front of the fountains at Crown Center. Then we moved into the link and watched the riders go under us as they finished the second lap. Then we took the link over to Union Station and watched them go by while we stood at the fountain in front of Union Station. Then we crossed the street and watched several laps from the hill in front of Liberty Memorial:



Last we went back to Washington Park and walked up Grand street until we found a good spot to watch the race finish. Zabriskie of the Garmin Slipstream team won the entire Tour!

Labels: biking

posted on Sunday, September 13, 2009