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Today I rode the Tour de Corn for the first time. The TdC is a charity bike ride hosted in East Prairie Missouri every year. Like most charity tours the TdC provides options for a 15, 30 and 60 mile route, there is a T-shirt, ample rest stops, and pretty much everything you could expect from a charity tour, in fact I would go as far as to say that the TdC was the best charity ride I’ve ever done, but at the same time I probably won't make it back next year.

Sounds confusing, let me explain. The TdC had over 600 people attend today, for a ride in a small town located in the farm country of Missouri to attract those kind of numbers they must be doing something right, and folks let me tell you, they did everything right. There was a perfectly coordinated mass start, the roads were clearly marked, their was law enforcement along the route to block dangerous intersections, sag vehicles were everywhere, the volunteers were friendly, and the rest stops were both plentiful and well stocked.

I have to go into the rest stops a bit, first off they had corn, delicious corn on the cob, they had homemade cookies, lots of them in all kinds of varieties. There was plenty of shade, several coolers stocked with water and poweraid. What was crazy is that there are five rest stops on a 60 mile ride, and every one was this good.

It doesn’t stop there; the T-shirt is the best looking ride T-shirt I’ve ever seen, even though it cost 16 dollars it was worth every penny. Most ride shirts suck, they have the same boring one color design each year that looks like a piece of clip art from a ten year old version of Microsoft word. The TdC shirt is a new design each year, made by an actual artist, there are no sponsors graphics and other junk on the shirt, just an awesome full color piece of bicycle art on the back. Well worth 16 bucks. Oh the Jersey was cool too, but I couldn’t afford one.

So what have I left out, yes the route, to put it bluntly the route is boring. The ride planners have done the best they could with the material they have, but honestly that was the most boring route I’ve ever taken. The organizers like to tout how flat the ride is, and let me tell you they ain’t kiddin. I climbed two hills and both were man made thirty footers that crossed I-57. There is really nothing to see on this ride, other then corn, corn and more corn. Oh yeah and besides being flat the route also is mostly straight lines, because when you are building roads on pancake flat land, why not build them straight. Don’t get me wrong, the roads were mostly smooth and in good shape, they didn’t route us through gravel or melted oil and chip roads. There was also a nice section that went through Charleston and had a rest stop at the historical society.

OK, I admit my only problem with this ride is my subject view that a flat straight route is boring, some people may like flat and straight, and the TdC has had no problem attracting riders since it grows every year. Nonetheless I highly recommend taking or finding a talkative group to ride with when you go, because their will be plenty of time to chat as you cruise along the flattest ride in the Midwest.