The first annual Tour de Brew was a great success, registering over 700 cyclists to participate in either 15, 30, or 62 mile routes past breweries in Kansas City. Joined by our friend Tom, we thought it appropriate to ride to the start of the Tour at Knuckleheads Saloon, a little over 7 miles away. The day started out extremely hot and cloudy, and we feared there may be a stray thunderstorm or two; luckily the clouds cleared off and the day turned out to be a gorgeous one, sunny and warm! We picked up our registration packets, said hello to some of our friends both participating and organizing the event, and we took off promptly at 9:00. The 30 mile course wound all through Kansas City: the West Bottoms (where we got stopped by a train for over 20 minutes), the River Market, downtown Kansas City (with a stop at Volker Bicycles for snacks and water), Westport, the Plaza (stopping at Spin Pizza for water and gelato ice cream), Brookside (stopping at Family Bicycles for more snacks and water), and back through KC to Knuckleheads for the celebration of the end of Bike Week. We immediately headed for the beer line to grab our two free beers and then got in the food line for hamburgers and hot dogs. Awards were given to those who had racked up bicycle and commuting miles during the course of the week, and two of our friends, Tom and Larissa were winners! Tom biked a total of 382 miles as part of The Wheel Cyclery team, and Larissa biked solo with 120 miles. Great job you two! During the course of Bike Week, cyclists logged 1,569 trips for a total of 15,811 miles! Needless to say, everyone was ready to relax and party a little at the end of the Tour de Brew! After hanging out for a while, we decided to hop back on our bikes and pedal our tired selves the 7+ miles back home, putting us at almost 45 miles for the day.

Bike Walk KC did a great job organizing the event! If you want to know what is going on in the KC area, go visit their site! Chances are, you will see us at most of them!

M&C