Belgian Waffle Ride - KANSAS — Steve Tilford Foundation Racing

We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to participate and volunteer at the inaugural Belgian Waffle Ride - Kansas event!

The weekend launched with a special Steve Tilford Foundation fundraising party on Friday night. The night boasted a private concert for the Foundation on the 2nd floor of Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop by none other than, Michael Franti. Michael’s positive message and bright soul truly sparked off the weekend with the best of vibes.

We danced, had a silent auction for donations, ate tacos, and celebrated the life of Steve. Truly a wonderful party!

Saturday boasted a weekend expo, and participants traveled to Lawrence from all over the world. Bikes were prepped and tuned at our local shop - Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop - and everyone who came in town was able to get an up close and personal glimpse of the new Specialized Gravel Experience center at the bike shop!

We even had some very well known names to the sport of cycling travel from over seas to participate in the first year event! UCI World Team Deceunick-Quick-Step brought a few of their athletes including Belgian cyclist, Remco Evenepoel! Tiffany Cromwell of the Women’s world tour team, WmnCycling Canyon Sram, came to race the waffle and ended up clenching the victory!

It was truly special to have such world class athletes on our home gravel!

Sunday came, and Lawrence could not have put on a more perfect show. The high temperature of the day was 55 degrees Fahrenheit, with winds out the North - which meant a returning tailwind! Lawrence had nonstop rainfall on both Wednesday and Thursday that proved to settle the dust, and yield very fast rolling gravel roads and “hero dirt” on the River Trail. The leaves here had begun to boast their autumn colors, and riders were able to get the perfect foliage scape through the valley of the Northern gravel roads.

All participants had access to our very own Snake Farm Ranch where everyone survived the treacherous pit! - grass trails switched to single track, and weaved through our Show N Go cyclocross course! We had hecklers by the cyclocross barriers in true cyclocross fashion. (It is cyclocross season after all, and we didn’t want anyone to forget it!)

Athletes finished on the famous Lawrence River Trail system which was in the best condition they had been all year! An absolute treat for those who traveled to see some of the finest riding gems that Lawrence offers.

We had several ambassadors: Brian Jensen and Shadd Smith who went 1/3 in their age group in the 111 mile Waffle Race, as well as Garrick Valverde! Bill Stolte and Chris Ellis braved the Wafer ride alongside Elite athlete, Raylyn Nuss, who rode for fun alongside some of the Specialized crew.

This weekend would not have been possible without Joe Schmalz, who has spent most of the year boots on the ground making this event happen!