Category Archives: Sponsors

Last day for early registration is March 31!

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Hurry to get the best rates for Tour de Brew KC! Don’t miss out on the best tour ever on Sunday, May 19! Returning this year are Boulevard, Family Bicycles, McCoy’s, SPIN! Pizza, Bike Source and Martin City Brewing. NEW this year is Tallgrass Brewing Company from the Little Apple, Manhattan KS!

Tour de Brew KC ben­e­fits BikeWalkKC and you by keeping the good­ness in the com­mu­nity! We keep it local by sup­port­ing small busi­ness and making our region more vibrant. BikeWalkKC brought us KC B-Cycle, AHEAD of many other cities! They work to get bike lanes, cross­walks and other ways to make it easier and better to bike and walk in the metro area.

See our spon­sors and give them some love.

What’s a tour without a few stops?

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Tour de Brew KC is thrilled to have these won­der­ful rest stops to fill your tummy and start the party! The first stop will be at Boulevard Brewing Company with Women On Wheels as your hosts. Since WOW are cyclists, they know what you like. We’re sure they will WOW you with their rest stop goodies!

The 30 mile group will fly off to McCoy’s Public House in Westport for a small sample of their brews and some more goodies to keep you on your way. Then we stop at SPIN! Pizza for some deli­cious, cold gelato! BikeSource will be there to keep your bike rolling. The next stop will be with our friends at Family Bicycles! Check out the shop and claim some more snacks for the longer span of miles ahead.

Those who are going 60 miles will be taking Gregory to Blue River Road with a detour at the his­toric Trailside Center at 99th and Holmes. Not only does the Center have stories from the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails but it will welcome you with treats from Whole Foods Market! After that, you will be on to Martin City Brewing Company for a few samples of their wares to keep you hopped up for the ride back to Family Bicycles—those gra­cious people who are TWICE hosting us!

After that it’s all downhill—to Knuckleheads and the giant end party! There you can pick your lunch from the likes of Knuckleheads, Wilma’s Real Good Food and the Tamale Wizard and wash it down with Boulevard Beer! Don’t forget to sign up before May 6 to receive ALL the good stuff! Register here.

Food to fuel your way

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Tour de Brew KC is happy to announce part­ner­ships with Wilma’s Real Good Food, The Tamale Wizard and Knucklehead’s get you fed and ready to party this year.

Mary from Knucklenead’s will be firing up the grill with Italian sausage and burgers while Wilma’s Real Good Food will be offer­ing up their sig­na­ture chicken wings, meat­loaf sliders fried mashed potatos and mac ‘n’ cheese. The Tamale Wizard will add some fire to your day with their world-class tamales, black beans and three choices of fresh salsa! Vegetarians – we’ve got you covered.

We have lots of options for you too! Remember your Tour de Brew KC packet comes with tickets for lunch and 2 beers– sign up today! it takes time to make all the tamales.

Knuckleheads SaloonWilma's real good food truckTamale wizard

Johnson County Bicycle Club season opener, the Spring Classic Ride, May 1

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Johnson County Bicycle ClubTime to train for the Tour de Brew KC with the Spring Classic Ride! A scenic, rural route leaving at 8:00 a.m. at the south­west corner of the Loiret and 95th St. parking lot in Lenexa, the Spring Classic cruises through Bonner Springs, DeSoto, Gardner and Edgerton, KS. For members of JCBC and Kansas City Bicycle Club the ride costs an inex­pen­sive $25.00. And, for non-members only $5.00 more! For this great price you get a map, roving SAGs and friendly folks with yummy snacks to keep those muscles stoked. You also get to know that part of your fee will go to support bicy­cling advo­cacy such as BikeWalkKC, KanBikeWalk or Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation.

If you’re not quite ready to ride but still would like to meet some friendly cyclists and help out, Johnson County Bike Club would be happy to have you as a vol­un­teer. To find out oppor­tu­ni­ties, contact Maury Brown here.

Next up for JCBC is the ever-popular Cider Mill Century ride in early August.

Here’s a little more infor­ma­tion about the club.

The Johnson County Bicycle Club began as an off­shoot of the Johnson County Outdoor Society in the late 1960s to promote safe recre­ational and social cycling. The club orig­i­nally was a part of the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department.  Seeking inde­pen­dence, the club became a sep­a­rate entity in 1973.

Today, the JCBC is strictly a recre­ational cycling club whose purpose is to promote bicy­cling safety, advo­cacy, and fel­low­ship.  Although its roots and club name are cen­tered about Johnson County, JCBC’s inter­ests cover the greater Kansas City Metro and beyond.

At the end of each year, the board donates a sig­nif­i­cant potion of the club’s funds to select local and national orga­ni­za­tions in appre­ci­a­tion and support of their efforts to promote cycling in our area.

Martin City may be one of the best kept secrets in the Kansas City area.

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Martin City CIDMartin City is the southern-most des­ti­na­tion for Tour de Brew Kansas City. There is a new local brewery opening there soon after the tour so we couldn’t miss a peek at the new place. In the brewery parking lot you will find Martin City folks ready to welcome you with water and snacks and answer any ques­tions you have about this center of sports, good eats and more.

Located just 5 minutes south of I-435 at Holmes Road and 135th St., Martin City extends to Hwy. 150 at the State Line Station Shopping Center.

Visitors can soak in the history, see trains rumble through town, shop, play, relax and enjoy some of the best meals in the metro. One-of-a-kind expe­ri­ences are tucked through­out Martin City.  Local owners are often on hand to serve customers.

Visitors will find upscale shops, award-winning restau­rants, a sports complex with the metro’s only double-decker golf ranges, gym­nas­tics and base­ball facil­i­ties, vol­ley­ball beach, premier nurs­eries and garden stores,  retail depart­ment and craft stores, the largest liquor store in the Midwest, one of KC’s most suc­cess­ful motor­cy­cle dealers and our own post office!

Named after Edward L. Martin, mayor of Kansas City in 1873, Martin City was platted in 1887, destroyed by the tornado of 1957, annexed by Kansas City in 1963, estab­lished their renowned St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1987, and created a 300-acre Community Improvement District (MC-CID) in 2005 .

Martin City has evolved from suc­cess­ful dis­till­ing and rail­road enter­prises by Martin and his partner Arthur Stillwell before the turn of the century to a key eco­nomic center in the south­west corner of Kansas City, MO

Visit our web site at www.martincity.org

Late breaking news! Knuckleheads Saloon to host Tour de Brew KC!

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Knuckleheads SaloonThe Tour de Brew KC Team is thrilled to have Knuckleheads Saloon as our offi­cial host for the tour. It’s been voted “Best Live Music in KC in 2010″ and “Best Blues Bar in KC” for the past 6 years! Not only this but it has a rep­u­ta­tion as being one of the best places in town to get-down and par-tay.

Located at 2715 Rochester, KCMO 64120, across the tracks from the old Heim Brewery, there could not be a more fitting place to have Tour de Brew KC.

Knuckleheads resides in an old board­ing house built in 1887, built so close to the tracks that it would sound like you’re sharing a room with a train. But, Knuckleheads is car­ry­ing on an East Bottoms tra­di­tion as the place to go for music, fun and drinks.

Despite its vacant appear­ance today, though, the East Bottoms has a history as an urban enter­tain­ment center. In the late 19th century, the neigh­bor­hood bustled as the local home of Hein Brewing Co. In 1899, the Heims built Electric Park, which fea­tured a beer garden and a then-novel Shoot-the-Chutes ride, on the block where Knuckleheads sits now. Rail cars shut­tled cus­tomers back and forth from what is now the City Market. (One Electric Park patron would grow up to rev­o­lu­tion­ize the theme-park indus­try — Walt Disney.) The cars and rails required main­te­nance and workers, so a board­ing­house was erected along­side the train tracks in 1887. —The Pitch, September 22, 2010

There will be two super-fun events at Knuckleheads on May 22, the cel­e­bra­tion of Bike Week with awards for best non-car com­mut­ing and the Tour de Brew KC! The day starts with Roasterie Coffee, fuel of cyclists every­where. And, we’ll have the 816 Collective to help with those last minute bicycle adjustments.

After you return from the tour, Boulevard Beer will be there to quench your thirst and Knuckleheads will have some tasty treats avail­able to quell your appetite. Then, just in case you feel some speed left in those legs,  KC Sprints sta­tion­ary bike racing will offer you a test ride. I double-dog dare you to beat some of the best racers in the city!

At 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. the open mic jam begins with Levee Town, “one of KC’s finest band hosts.” Listen, dance or get up on stage and show us what you’re worth!

Get your gelato at SPIN! Pizza! Delizioso!

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spin pizzaGet your ice cream here! For the Tour de Brew KC, SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza is serving each rider on the 30 and 62 mile routes, a yummy gelato at their rest stop on 50th and Main!

Later, don’t forget to come back to enjoy one of their deli­cious Neapolitan pizzas, salads, soups, sand­wiches and paninis with wine spe­cially picked by local wine mer­chant Cellar Rat, for the perfect taste to com­ple­ment your pizza. You can also get carry-out and cater­ing from SPIN! at any of their 4 loca­tions. For fre­quent cus­tomers and who wouldn’t want to be, join the SPIN! Club and get special dis­counts all year plus 20% off for your birthday!

SPIN! Pizza with its bicy­cling theme, has become not only a player as one of Kansas City’s best-loved pizza restau­rants but one of the best sup­port­ers of cycling in the region. During the warm months they will offer group rides at a leisurely pace for those who want to learn more bicy­cling skills, meet friends or who just like the slower lane. Afterwards you and your cycling friends can enjoy a 10% dis­count for any of SPIN!‘s savory or sweet treats.

When you see him, say “beer” and smile!

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Aaron Dougherty photographyAs you’re riding around the his­toric Kansas City brewery route and see a guy point­ing a camera at you, say hi to Aaron Dougherty, our offi­cial pho­tog­ra­pher. Aaron has the dis­tinc­tion of being a home-brewer and a bicycle frame builder.  And he rides with KCOI Boulevard Cycling team, so he’s the perfect guy for the job! When he’s off the bike he’s an archi­tec­tural pho­tog­ra­pher so be patient with him, he’s not used to sub­jects that move.

Aaron Dougherty, AIA, LEED, grad­u­ated from the University of Kansas with degrees in Environmental Design and Architecture, and has been a reg­is­tered archi­tect since 1990. He’s been a pro­fes­sional archi­tec­tural and inte­ri­ors pho­tog­ra­pher since 2003 includ­ing a three year stint doing in-house pho­tog­ra­phy at Populous, for­merly HOK Sport.

Brew to brew, coffee and beer are cycling favorites

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We here at Tour de Brew KC World Headquarters just this week got a message from Bull E. Vard the keeper of the KC Beer Blog. He’s got an enter­tain­ing writing style and we def­i­nitely approve of his inter­est in bicy­cling since after doing much research we have deter­mined that bicy­cling and beer do go together. Our think­ing is that all bicy­cles should be equipped to carry a six-pack.

However, Tour de Brew KC is not going to dis­crim­i­nate. Not only do we love the after-ride brew but the before-ride brew—coffee, a neces­sity for kicking the early morning butt into gear. And, we are thrilled to have our home­town coffee brewers, the Roasterie, to offer coffee to warm you up at the pre-ride gath­er­ing. Here’s some back­ground about their com­mit­ment to a fine cup o’ joe and to keeping their coffee farmers happy too.

Roasterie coffee

On Nov. 22, 1978, Danny O’Neill picked his first batch of coffee beans in the moun­tain­ous, coffee-growing region around the Poás volcano while study­ing abroad in Costa Rica. Right then and there, he fell in love with the country, the people and the coffee—especially the coffee.

Fifteen years later, Danny founded The Roasterie in his base­ment in one of Kansas City’s great neigh­bor­hoods, Brookside. Since then, The Roasterie has become one of the most renowned spe­cialty coffee roast­ers in the nation. In 2005, The Roasterie Café was opened in Brookside. The Café has been voted the “Best Coffee Shop” in Kansas City by “KC Magazine” four out of five years in oper­a­tion. After great success in Brookside, in 2010 The Roasterie opened a second Café at One Nineteen in Leawood, KS.

To this day, nobody else does it like we do. Committed to finding the best coffees from around the world, The Roasterie buys its beans from small, spe­cialty farmers for a fair price. Those beans are then roasted using a con­vec­tion air-roasting method, instead of the more tra­di­tional drum-roasting method, to ensure supe­rior con­sis­tency and a tastier, smoother cup of coffee.

Quality, fresh­ness, edu­ca­tion. That’s what The Roasterie is about. Try any of our coffees and you’ll be able to taste and smell the dif­fer­ence our com­mit­ment makes.