Columbia thinking about hosting one day of Tour of Missouri

According to a Columbia Tribune article:

Organizers of the Tour of Missouri bicycle race are considering Columbia as a stop along the 600-mile, six-day race across the state.

"We’d love to be a part of it because it has a national and, in some respects, international focus," said Lorah Steiner, director of the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The value of this event is not so much in the economic impact of the actual day the event takes place, it’s the equivalent advertising value the city would receive." . . .

"Obviously, Columbia, it was a natural, logical approach for us," Aronhalt said. "With a college town and the population density and a lot of the great cultural events Columbia already engages in, it’s obviously a great fit and great city we’d love to partner with."

A major hurdle is the University of Missouri-Columbia football team. Racers would stop in Columbia on Sept. 14, the day before the Tigers are scheduled to play Western Michigan at Faurot Field.

That means hotels and restaurants will be crowded even without the riders. "That’s a big concern to us because a football weekend is a football weekend," Steiner said. "We’ll be making a decision as to whether or not we can do this and we can do it well."

If the cycling event came to town, the chosen route would need to be closed for about 20 minutes as riders sped through, which could create a headache for businesses whose access would be cut off.

The Tour of Georgia had over 500,000 spectators and generated over $26 million in economic benefits to the state.

The spectatorship tripled from the 1st to 2nd years--as people went home and told their friends about it.

Might this be worth 20 minutes of road closure?

Well yeah, it might . . .

I'm helping out with the local organizing committee for the Kansas City area and they are already behind it 100%.

The "Super Bowl on Wheels," as MOBRA President Mike Weiss calls it.

Find out more about the Tour or sign up to be a volunteer (best way to get a front row seat . . . ) on the ToM web site.