The temperatures may have been near triple digits, but the enthusiasm was high at the eighth annual Tour de Lakes held Saturday.
With the heat index hitting almost 110 degrees as the morning turned into the afternoon, the riders were hot but still happy to participate in an event that benefits the Legacy for Parks foundation. The final total was 574 riders making their way around five area lakes in Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs and Greenwood.
The event began as a tribute to local rider Tom Logan who had long thought of a ride around the area lakes. Today his legacy lives on in the event that featured three rides on 10-mile, 30-mile and 65-mile courses.
Logan’s widow, Diane, was a participant, completing the 30-mile course. Diane said this event was a great tribute to her husband and a way for people to get out and enjoy bicycling.
“It is incredible because Tom introduced me to the sport of riding bikes,” Diane Logan said. “It’s been so much fun for me. I love seeing all of these people that are joining in with us. It’s grown every year. It started out with his friends just showing up to ride bikes, and now we have close to 600.
“I think my husband would be thrilled how this has grown. He had planned to start this ride. I also think he would be one of the people who would have also been complaining about the hills out at Lake Jacomo.”
One person who was familiar with the hills and the lakes was Blue Springs’ Bob Burns. Burns has been an avid rider since the mid 1980s and has spent a lot of time riding in the Kansas City area but this was his first time at the Tour de Lakes. Burns did just over 30 miles and enjoyed his morning ride.
“This was great,” Burns said. “This is a nice charity event. I don’t do a lot of charity rides, but I do some. I try to do some of the club rides for the Johnson County and Kansas City Bike club rides.”
At almost 70, Burns is a veteran of the area biking scene. Burns said he has noticed a lot more people out on their bikes on rides like the Tour de Lakes.
“I did the Fountain Tour last Sunday,” Burns said. “There were a lot of people I didn’t know. Like this ride, there are some people you see that you know. But it is good to see the new people.”
One of the riders on the 65-mile run was event organizer Joe Snook of the Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation Department. Snook finished his run in just over 3 1/2 hours. Snook said the event was a big success and a lot of fun.
“It was a long 65 miles, with the wind and the heat,” Snook said. “It was great to complete the ride and we are all looking forward to next year. There were riders from Gladstone, Blue Springs, really all over.
“We will do a review to see what we can improve as we do every year. One thing we may look at with the heat is adding more water stations along the way.”
