Rural Missouri - October 2024 - 30

Above: Kenny savors the finish after completing his Missouri Interscholastic Cycling League race in August. He rides for the CoMo Composite
Raptors based in Columbia. Above right: Jurgen is all smiles as he navigates the course during the season's first event. His team, the SEMO Mudcats,
includes mountain bikers from the area around Cape Girardeau.
are primarily being held outside Missouri's
metro areas where welcome
mats are being rolled out. For 2024,
five of the six events bring riders to
outstate areas including Jefferson
City, Warsaw, Rolla, Smithville and
Highlandville. The lone exception is
an event held at Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville.
" I think communities are starting
to realize now that if they build
mountain bike trails they bring
events, " Chris says. " We've been to
Warsaw every year. You can't get a
hotel room, a campground space, an
Airbnb or hardly even eat in a restaurant
there because we sell out that
whole weekend. We've done economic
impact studies, and we're dumping
anywhere from $180,000 to $200,000
into that community on a weekend
that we're there. "
At the first event of the season,
teams from all over Missouri took
over Jefferson City's Binder Park for
the Binder Lake Bash. The pit areas
quickly filled with colorful tents
emblazoned with team names and
mascots: West Plains Mountaineers,
Columbia Raptors, Central Missouri
Lumberjacks and SEMO Mudcats to
name a few.
30 RURAL MISSOURI | OCTOBER 2024
Bikes were everywhere as the
riders tested the course or warmed
up their leg muscles on the road.
Thumping bass from huge speakers
got the riders pumped for the series
of races that got underway every 20
minutes or so for six hours.
The number of racers was dwarfed
by the huge crowd of spectators.
They rang cowbells, shouted encouragement
through loudspeakers and
generally urged riders to do their best
on a hot afternoon. What's amazing
is the support they showed for every
rider, not just those they came to see.
The cheers were just as loud for the
last riders to cross the finish line as
they were for the race winners.
For Cam Newton, a member of the
JeffCo Billygoats, interest in mountain
biking came during the COVID19
lockdown.
" I started going on hikes, just
because I didn't have anything else to
do over the summer, " he says. " It was
kind of like the only thing you could
do, because we were social distanced
and whatnot. Me and my family
started going on hikes in the woods,
and I'd see these guys fly by on these
bikes and I just thought it was cool,
and I wanted to try it out. I got a bike
from Walmart and gave it a shot, and
really liked it. I found out there's a
team in the area, joined, and it just
kind of spiraled from there. "
He says mountain biking complements
his soccer playing by building
his endurance and working the same
muscles he uses on the field.
Andrew Dungan, who rides for the
St. Charles Composite Bears, says
the friendships he's made outweigh
his success on the bike. " Some of
my closest friends are through this
program. I think it's a great program.
It gets kids into the sport, gets kids
active. It's kind of something different,
something fun. "
He adds he went from being one
of the slowest riders on the team to
winning a state title last year. It's that
kind of sport. " You just gotta have a
bike and a helmet and want to come
out here and have fun, " he says.
Sharing the joy of off-road cycling
is what prompted Troy Witte to help
establish the West Plains Composite
team and continue as one of its
coaches. " I mountain biked in the
'90s, and this was a great opportunity
to invest into youth and let them
make forever memories with mountain
biking, " he says. " See all kinds

Rural Missouri - October 2024

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