Drivers beware: 3 bike tours rolling through Kansas; 3 cyclists killed in past 5 years

While Biking Across Kansas will send about 600 cyclists streaming through the area this week, the annual non-competitive ride isn’t the only bicycle-related event that passes through central Kansas this month.

With three riders killed while traveling through the state over the past five years, cyclists and event organizers are asking motorists to be aware and share the road.

State law requires at least 3 feet of space between a cyclist and a vehicle when passing, so drivers should pass like any other vehicle, only when it is safe to do so with sufficient space.

Two races — the Trans Am and the RAAM — should reach the western Kansas border around the third week of June, if not sooner. Those races follow different routes.

The Trans American has started

The Trans Am Bike Race is an annual ultra-distance cycling race that travels about 4,200 across 10 states.

The route uses the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, which passes through northern Reno County and into Harvey County.

It primarily follows 95th and 82nd avenues, although this year, the map also shows an alternate route in Reno County, called the Nickerson Alternate, that takes it south on Nickerson Road to Fourth Avenue, across on Fourth to Hendricks, and then back north of 82nd.

The site doesn't explain the reason behind the 19-mile alternate, the only one on the map in Kansas.

Cyclists in the event enter Kansas from Colorado on K-96 and travel through Leoti, Scott City, Rush Center, Larned, Reno County, Newton, Eureka, Chanute, Girard, and then Pittsburg.

The eighth edition of the race began in Astoria, Oregon, on June 5 and will end in Yorktown, Virginia.

There were 56 riders registered for the race, including people from 27 states and 29 international riders, though nine had scratched by Friday, according to the race website.

Thomas Camero of Hood River, Oregon, is riding for a fifth time at age 80. The participants also include four women and one rider on a single-speed bike.

It is not a stage race, so once the race starts, the clock doesn’t stop until the racers reach the finish line.

Riders go solo and are self-supported, meaning they don’t have chase vehicles, so they will most likely be seen one at a time on the roads, spread over a wide distance throughout the event.

In 2017, Trans Am race participant Eric Fishbein, 61, of San Luis, California, was killed when hit from behind by a car about eight miles from Leoti, while a second man from California was left paralyzed after being struck by a car near Newton.

In 2018, a cyclist from Minnesota, John Egbers, was killed at practically the same spot as Fishbein. A monument was installed on the highway last year to memorialize Egbers.

The riders can be tracked live at http://trackleaders.com/transam22

Race Across America coming soon

The other major race passing through the area is the annual Race Across America (RAAM), which starts in Oceanside, California, and ends 3,000 miles later in Annapolis, Maryland.

 In Kansas, the RAAM route follows U.S. 160 and U.S. 400, from Ulysses to Kingman. The race's halfway point is near Haviland.

At Kingman, the route diverts onto county roads, passing through the south side of Cheney State Park and then over to Colwich and Maize, according to details on its website.

From there, it takes local roads north to El Dorado, then gets on U.S. 54, which it follows into Missouri.

Like the Trans Am, the RAAM is not a stage race but a continual race in which the clock doesn’t stop until the finish line.

Unlike the Trans Am, RAAM riders will have chase vehicles with them, which could include RVs and buses.

The RAAM is also unique in that it includes both solo riders, who must qualify to compete, and teams who race in 2-, 4- and 8-person relays.

The race roster shows 220 riders from 25 countries.

That includes 164 people who make up 34 teams and 56 solo riders.

Solo racers start on June 14 and team racers four days later.

Team racers have a maximum of nine days to cross 12 states, but most finish in about 7 ½, according to the race website, with the fastest in slightly more than five days.

Solo racers have a maximum of 12 days to complete the race, with most finishing in 11 days.

RAAM allows participants to raise awareness and money for charities of their choice, with racers raising more than $2 million per year over the past 5 years.

RAAM live track can be found at https://www.raamrace.org/live-tracking

The third rider killed in the state, incidentally, was not part of either of these races but was in Kansas to participate in the 200-mile Unbound Gravel 2022 race near Emporia.

Gregory Bachman, a 61-year-old Colorado high school math and science teacher, was struck at a rural Lyons County intersection the evening of June 3 while on a warmup ride the day before the race.