Tour of Missouri

stlblues

The Tour of Missouri, the third largest pro bike race in the US came through today. Many of the top riders in the world including this years Tour de France winner was among the bunch. It was pretty cool. They passed through Jefferson City on the way to Columbia, then the 5th stage starts in Jeff City Sat and ends in St Louis. Stage 6 is 76 miles around St Louis with will be insane since the Rams are playing at home, the Cards are playing the Cubs at home, and the Blues have their first game of the year, then throw in the Tour and downtown will be a madhouse. Tonight they held races for amatuer racers from the midwest. We were at the Capital till 9:15 tonight and they were still racing.

Cycler6n

awesome, did you get to see them?

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“(Training) doesn't get easier; you just get faster”
-Greg Lemond

ilmooz

Sounds like a great event, but as you mentioned someone is sure going to have their hands full organizing traffic in St. Louis.

stlblues

Hell ya. Between my 30D and 20D, I ripped over 200 frames as they passed through the downtown area. Support vehicles, between cops, motorcycles, marshalls and team vans/suvs, outnumbered the riders.

nns1400

I went to stage 5 in Washington yesterday, where crowds were smaller, but enthusiastic, and stood inches away from one of the sprint lines -- it was AWESOME. There were like 30,000 people at the finish in St. Charles.

Today we watched from a bridge in Forest Park, so it was a longer, higher view and very cool. I am watching the jersey presentation online. They are in front of Union Station -- it is kind of surreal watching this in my own town. And Hincapie won, so it was sweet for us Disco fans.

Yesterday when the peleton came through where I was watching, Disco was leading the pack, Contador, Leipheimer and Popo protecting George. I can't believe I got to see that. Bye bye, Disco. Thanks for coming to Missouri of all places!

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This stuff is just crap...Hitchy

stlblues

We ran the course about an hour ahead of the pack, in my truck though. We did stop in Washington and picked up our T shirts from there. It was an awsome site to see them come through Jeff, then we went to the staging Sat morning but left right before they closed the roads. I wanted to sag me a couple of sets of wheels, but my wife stopped me. There was a large crowd both Fri and Sat morning at the Capitol for the race. Apprently the response was so good, it will be an annual event. They wanted it to become one but were unsure of the response of Missourians....all went well so apparently its on for next year. Start training.

nns1400

Oh, so it was you! Thanks a lot! We got there a couple of hours ahead of time and they had like 6 t-shirts left. My 7 year old was the only one who could get a shirt in his size. OMG, I might have been talking to you in the train station -- were you going to the Blues game?!

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This stuff is just crap...Hitchy

stlblues

Yup. We only managed to get the kids T shirts. I got mine in Jeff, but all they had left was XL, as you could tell, my wife needs a small and they were out of kids so we were on a mission. We went to the Blues Fanfest. We love our biking, but live hockey. We talked to the guy that was selling the Ts and he said he only orded 60....60! I don't think anyone realized the response the public would have to the race. From news reports, MO had a better response than Cali and Georgia. Can't wait for next year. Just for fun, I may race in the Jeff City Criterium.

nns1400

I cannot believe I ran into you! Jeff City and the Blues should have rung a bell. We were both only in there for about 5 minutes. It is a small world, or at least a small state . My girlfriend's family owns the Washington newspaper, and she said she'd try to get me some shirts or stuff. One of the ladies in the shops there said the guy was going to order more for all the local people who still wanted one. I just ordered a couple of hats online.

How was the fanfest? I just can't get into hockey until after Christmas. I know it's dumb, but it just needs to be cold outside. They play too many games. We used to walk to the Arena back in the day, but now it's pretty expensive to go to Kiel/Savvis/Scottrade Center. Try to take the kids once a year. We haven't even been to the new Busch Stadium yet! We're too busy watching our kids play. Where else can you watch a 23-22 baseball game!

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This stuff is just crap...Hitchy

lwedge

Serendipity baby!


He raises pint'o ale high in the air.... "Here's to Tour of Missouri!"

lw

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If your traveling to the LakeTahoe, Apple Hill, Folsom area ? Then check out Charles Lee's site for some great information on rides, maps and events in this Northern California area. .
http://www.beautifulvista.com
Great wine !
http://www.chevalierwinery.com/

stlblues

Where did you order hats? Fanfest was cool. Eric Johnson ripped a slapshot that hit the goalies water, split it in two and sent ice through the safety net into the crowd. They had a number of the players there for autographs, but we see them often and already have them, we do like to catch up. They like to see how the kids are progressing since they play hockey.......its hard to find a family with dual goalies, especially when one is a girl. We've been skating the kids since Aug. They should be ready to go when games start in Nov, then we live on the road going to StL for games. I can tell you where every rink is in the greater StL area. They played on separate teams last year due to age and that came to 33 games. Our scores werent that high, my daughter was facing 42 shots at the begining of last year though. We'll have to get together and ride some time. My guys are usually up for 20 to 30 mile rides, they start complaining after 32. Last weekend we did 22 miles, then I skated them for 3 hrs. They slept good that night.

nns1400

You can order all that stuff from tourofmissouri.com.

Don't you hate that stupid safety net?

My husband played high school hockey and played amateur games in Fenton at all those crazy late night ice times until we had kids. My boys just didn't get into skating, which is a shame, because the oldest loves contact sports. He plays football, so he has to actually run instead.

We are totally lame bike riders...we just tool around Forest Park most of the time, though we keep saying we are going to the Katy Trail, just never have time. And my kids would prefer riding 20 miles on their Yamahas. We have 160 acres of dirt bike (as in motorcycle) trails south of Steelville.

Forest Park has done some incredible renovation, the bike trails are really beautiful. Park down by the ice rink and start there.

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This stuff is just crap...Hitchy