Bikes and brews: adult sports league bikes through downtown KC, stopping for beer
A thicket of bikes sprung up Wednesday evening outside Border Brewing Company on East 18th Street.
Brightly colored activewear beamed inside the quaint Crossroads bar and brewery as a group of nearly 70 cyclists gathered for the first stop of a three-brewery tour.
The bike brigade came together through KC Crew, an adult recreational sports program with year-round leagues and events.
“Tonight we’re doing the KC Crewsers brewery tour,” said Luke Wade, the founder of KC Crew. “(The Crewsers) used to just go from bar to bar, but we kind of revamped it this year.”
Wade is planning a series of “themed rides” to follow this week’s brewery tour. His ideas include a food tour to try small appetizers at various restaurants and a Halloween spin through the West Bottoms’ haunted houses.
The same creativity behind those plans went into the first-ever Crewsers event, which Wade hosted back in 2014.
Wednesday night Crewser Matt Lee was a part of that first ride.
“The first one was cool because half of us started in the River Market and the other half in Westport,” Lee said.
The two groups worked their way to a meeting point, stopping at bars on the way.
“It’s a good way to get to see different parts of town,” Lee said, “and to meet people.”
This week’s “beginner-friendly” bike route kindled camaraderie among people that hung around the cyclists as they chatted and sipped on local beers.
Participants biked at their own pace. As soon as they got to the bars, they erupted in chatter, their conversations punctuated by the discovery of mutual friends and local bike trail recommendations.
In the casual spirit of the ride, bikers could break off or, as was the case with two young ladies, join the group.
Dana Sherard and Joey Platt were headed to Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters in the Crossroads when they “saw a bunch of sweaty bikers,” Sherard said.
When the pair found out what the Crewsers were up to, Platt thought, “It’s our people!”
Platt and Sherard started biking about two months ago, meeting between their neighborhoods at various coffee shops and bars.
But until Wednesday night, they were unfamiliar with the KC Crewsers.
“We just kind of stumbled across it,” Platt said, noting that she and Sherard are “definitely going to look into their other events.”
The two women merged with the crew and headed to the second stop of the night: Stockyards Brewing Company in the West Bottoms.
After spending about an hour in a private room, the bikers headed back to where they started. The final destination was Double Shift, where the bikers were given a tour of the mini-brewery behind the bar.
Information about the KC Crewsers and other KC Crew sports events and leagues can be found on their website, kc-crew.com
This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 7:40 PM with the headline "Bikes and brews: adult sports league bikes through downtown KC, stopping for beer."