Annual Johnson County event will show city in new light. Here’s what’s changed

Tour de Shawnee is looking a little different for its 35th year. The annual bike ride has changed its route to feature the western portion on the city to work around the Midland Drive construction project.

There are two ways to participate. A supported 11-mile ride includes volunteers all along the route with police at each intersection to oversee traffic. For more experienced riders, there is a 34-mile option that has signs along the way but no other help.

Both routes start and finish at Stump Park. In past years, the supported ride in particular has focused on routes in eastern Shawnee.

“It actually utilizes a lot of our existing park trail infrastructure. We’ve got a pretty extensive trail system out on that side of town. It features a lot of Shawnee. The goal of this event to feature Shawnee and show our bike-friendly community,” said Sean Keenan, recreation superintendent for the city of Shawnee.

The shorter route will go through or along Stump Park, Garrett Park, Wilder Bluff Park, Clear Creek Recreational Trail, Donald B. Gamblin, Jr. Park and the proposed Rail Creek Park site.

In the past few years, they’ve held the ride in May, but this year marks a return to August.

Keenan hopes to get as many as 250 participants, but it can fluctuate from year to year.

For the longer route, riders will get into a little bit of eastern Shawnee, going along Holliday Drive, Renner Road and Johnson Drive. Keenan said the road closures made it a challenge to design the longer route in particular.

“This will be the first time that event would start and end on western portion of the town, but it also gives us an opportunity to utilize a lot of the parks and park trail resources that we actually have in our inventory,” Keenan said.

He hopes people will get a taste of how all these trails and roads connect to make good experiences for bike riders in Shawnee.

“The biggest satisfaction I receive out of this event is at the conclusion of it, seeing all the young riders coming in with their families, on their bicycles that have training wheels or they just accomplished a big hill, and they’re just super excited,” Keenan said.

At the end of the ride, they’ll have food for all the riders alongside family-friendly activities such as bounce houses and a variety of games. Keenan said registered riders will receive a ticket to collect their food at the end.

Cycling organizations and businesses such Donderdag! Youth Cyclocross and Trek Bicycle will also be there at Stump Park.

“Our main goal here is to encourage people to get outside, to participate in the community and then also to just get physical. We want to be able to show we have those types of amenities available for those that want to do that,” Keenan said.

According to Tonya Lecuru, Shawnee’s parks and recreation director, the event has been a longtime fundraiser for Breakthrough T1D, with a portion of the registration fee going to support them.

“It’s always been near and dear to my heart. It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase Shawnee. … I am very proud of all of the work I think we’ve done with our bicycling community and to see the growth of it,” Lecuru said.

To register, go to cityofshawnee.org and click on the Parks and Recreation department’s special events page. Online registration closes at 12 p.m. Aug. 16. Same-day registration is available at Stump Park starting at 6:15 a.m. Aug. 17. The ride starts at 7 a.m.

In advance, it costs $35 for adults and $20 for kids 12 and under. Both are $5 more for same-day registration.