Details on Rolla’s leg of Tour of Missouri

The Route 66 town of Rolla, Mo., is hosting the finish of Stage Four of the Tour of Missouri bicycle race on Sept. 11.

Today’s Rolla Daily News has details on the cyclists’ route through town, so folks can watch:

• Entering Rolla from Old Route 66 in Rolla (aka Martin Springs Drive), they will proceed to Blues Lake Parkway, where they will head up the hill to Bridge School Road.
• They will proceed on Bridge School Road to Kingshighway, where they will make a right on Kingshighway.
• Once on Kingshighway, the cyclists will make the quick left onto Fairgrounds Road, where  they will proceed toward Phelps County Regional Medical Center and take a right onto 10th Street.
• Cyclists will take 10th Street across U.S. Route 63 to State Street, where they will turn right.
• They will follow State Street to Eighth Street for two blocks, where they will take a left onto Eighth.
• They will follow Eighth Street for four blocks until Pine Street, where they will take a right on Pine.
• Once on Pine, they will follow it for two blocks to Sixth Street where they will travel three blocks to Olive Street.
• At the intersection of Olive and Sixth, cyclists will turn left on Olive, follow it under the 10th Street Bridge, along the railroad tracks to 12th Street.
• At the intersection with 12th Street, they will turn right on 12th Street, heading east directly toward The Centre.
• Where 12th Street intersects with Holloway Street, cyclists will turn right on Holloway for just two blocks back to 10th Street.
• As they make the right from Holloway to 10th Street, the cyclists will storm west on 10th Street to the overpass where they will come screaming down the 10th Street Bridge for the final quarter mile to the Finish Line at S&T’s Castleman Hall.

Including the aforementioned Route 66 west of town, cyclists also will be on several segments of Route 66 in town as well.

The Rolla route includes a figure-8, and cyclists will cover the 100-mile stage in about three hours, which is 30 mph. That doesn’t sound very fast for those of us in cars. But on bicycles, that’s flying.