For those celebrating phase of Rock Island Trail opening, this business hit the spot

For cyclists, it was time to celebrate.

After a few bumps along the way, a new phase of the Rock Island Trail, which connects to Missouri’s cross-state Katy Trail, is complete. A celebration July 10 at the northernmost trailhead at Truman Sports Complex gave many a reason to applaud the opening of the 13-plus mile path through Jackson County. But the festivities didn’t stop at the sports complex.

At Crane Brewing Company in Raytown, those who took a cycling break were in a fine mood. For sure, endorphins could have explained some of the laughter and cheer around the business, located just off the trail. Perhaps a few sips of the brewery’s Trailsmith Ale and Rock Island Blonde also helped.

McKenzie and William Neds, who made the stop at Crane with their 4-year-old daughter Aspen, have another explanation.

“The trail will get more people out in nature,” McKenzie said, adding that getting outside is more important now than ever because of the pandemic. And biking, she said, will keep cars off roadways.

This new trail helps the Raytown family quickly get back and forth to the home of William’s family in Lee’s Summit.

“We love them and want to see them,” McKenzie says. “We live a quarter mile from the Rock Island spur of the Katy Trail, and they right near it, too.”

The Neds family bike together for enjoyment and exercise. But McKenzie said her husband is a bit faster. “He’s thinking more like an Olympian,” she says with a laugh.

The solution? An e-bike for her, properly known as a electric-assist bike. “You’re biking, but if you need help getting up a hill, it kicks in,” she said, adding that she hopes to inspire her in-laws to get the bikes, too. “You’re still getting exercise, doing the work and biking. It just gives a little help.”

Ross Given, co-owner of Bike Stop, which has a location in Lee’s Summit, says that’s exactly the goal. “They give us the opportunity to put families on bikes,” said Given, who was enjoying the fun at Crane. “We brought out electric bikes for people who haven’t been on a bike for years. Three miles or 100 miles, it gives people the chance to have an adventure.”

In the Crane Brewery taproom, the Neds family and Given were in good company on celebration day. It was a Spandex wonderland, and many held a bike helmet in one hand and a beer in the other. The brewery, wisely, had plenty of bike racks.

“We’re a destination spot,” said Michael Crane, who owns the business with Chris Meyers. “We get craft brewing enthusiasts from across the country.”

One of the enthusiasts who stopped by that day was Raytown Mayor Michael McDonough, who praised the altruistic company for giving back to so many organizations in the city. Some of the proceeds from the day’s event, for instance, went to the Raytown Chamber Building Foundation.

“This is one of the places that will help put us on the map,” McDonough said of the brewing company, which opened in 2016.

Trail-based tourism makes sense to millennials, said McKenzie Neds, who is Head Start program coordinator for the Mid-America Regional Council.

“When you’re in a car, all the businesses you pass are a blur,” she said. The rails-to-trails system will help people take a much-needed pause along the way, she said.

“There’s economic value in having people slow down and stop at stores and restaurants along the trail.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.