RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. – It can take your breath away and almost blow you over. The sudden burst of air, from the pack of up to 150 riders, made the turn in Lafayette Square on Friday night.
“Our pace car does every turn of every race and I think he did about 1,200 miles over the weekend,” Mike Weiss, Gateway Cup event director, said. “A lot of left turns. Got to unwind a little on Monday with some right turns.”
Over the Labor Day weekend, the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup returned for its 39th year.
It was a successful, four-day festival of front yard, garden, and porch parties scattered across the region, cheering on the riders from around the world here in the Gateway City.
Favorable weather and a bridge collapse on the East Coast also worked to the Gateway Cup’s advantage.
“We, unfortunately and fortunately, shared a weekend with the biggest international race in the United States that was paused and cancelled due to the Baltimore bridge collapse,” Weiss said. “All the top American teams wanted to be on that level or stage, and we attracted the very best.”
On Tuesday at Big Shark Bicycle off Big Bend, they were back hard at work after a successful four-day event in Lafayette Square, Frances Park, on The Hill and in Old Towne Florissant on Labor Day, giving away a combined $150,000 in prizes.
The pack reached speeds of 45 miles per hour on neighborhood streets.
“We seem to only get positive reactions from people,” Matt Grothoff, Gateway Cup service manager, said. “There are people from Columbia or other parts of South America or Mexico or even Australia and New Zealand. So, there was a draw not just from our race but the larger series we’re in. It’s really cool when they give us good feedback about it, and it was all positive.”
“It was great,” Kayce Peters, Gateway Cup assistant judge, said. “My sense of being there, every race was bigger than I remember, and the crowds were bigger than I can remember. It’s fun. All the neighborhoods really seemed to embrace it and the new race in Florissant and seemed to have a good time.”
They are already planning for next year’s return, the 40th year for the Gateway Cup.
