Tour Of Saints Still Going Strong After 40 Years

SAINT JOSEPH (WJON News) — It was a great day for a bike ride in St. Joseph on Sunday. The annual Tour of Saints was taking place with three different lengths to choose from to see the city and surrounding area.

More than 800 people have participated in the tour that has been going on for more than 40 years. Bike MN organizes the event every year and Engagement Manager Ted Duepner says they want to showcase the city and what it has to offer:

“One of the indirect benefits of having these attractions in the city is that we want people to spend time in these communities, spend money there. And the Tour of Saints, I think, does that better than any other attraction, because you can stay the night before at St. Ben’s.”

According to Duepner, the delicacies they serve along the way are the most special thing about the tour:

“We have some great partners in the community, like Cold Spring Bakery and Collegeville Orchards. This year we’re finishing at Bad Habit Brewing. We have some great volunteers who help us get everything set up and sponsors who go above and beyond to make it a special experience for the runners who participate.”

Volunteer coordinator Kay Lemke has been helping with the event for over 20 years. She says most years things go smoothly, but this year presented a new challenge:

“And when I got here today, everything was different from what we saw two months ago when we were here. It was at the Haehn Center and we had it down to a science. This year it’s basically the same route, but the setup is different because the start this year is at the Athletic Complex.”

Route lengths were 18, 35, and 50 miles, all ending at Bad Habit Brewery for the post-tour party. The tour has visited several homes over the years, first starting in St. John’s and then Cold Spring before moving to St. Joseph about 20 years ago.

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