Belgian Waffle Ride Kansas brought a wide mix of people to Lawrence, Kansas, from Deceuninck-Quick-Step star Remco Evenepoel to rock star Michael Franti to Star Wars characters. Okay, so the last one was costumes, but it was Halloween — and a few racers dressed for the occasion.
Take a look below at the work of the talented group of photographers who collaborated to shoot the various races and festivities.
You can read the Belgian Waffle Ride Kansas race report here.
Rain drenched the area around Lawrence in the days before race weekend, which was dry and clear.
Michael Franti and Spearhead played a concert Friday night for BWR riders and locals.
BWR holds rides at each event to support Pablove, a childhood cancer charity. This was the group on Saturday morning, riding along a levee before dropping into the forest singletrack that featured in the closing miles of the race on Sunday.
Helmets are required for all BWR events.
Downtown Lawrence hosted the early morning start.
Floyd Landis, Paul Thomas, and Adam Roberge rode on the front leading out of Lawrence. Buckle your helmet, Floyd!
The women had a separate start at BWR events.
The men’s Waffle peloton in the early morning light. The course got much, much narrower at points later in the day.
Sarah Flamm lead the women’s Waffle up a rise. Flamm listed her team as ‘Planet Earth’ for giggles. She went on to finish fourth.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step lead the Wafer out of Lawrence.
The early morning light and fall foliage teamed up for a lovely course backdrop.
John Borstelmann (Abus) floated around a corner.
Danielle Larson (Abus) lead the women’s Waffle, where attrition whittled down the front group over the rollers.
Oh, you know — just a couple dudes in devil’s horns on a gravel tandem, and a couple of dudes in Deceuninck kit.
Michael Reynolds and Corey Smith were good to go on most of the course, although the cyclocross section with its tight, off-camber S-bends and barriers proved difficult.
Remco Evenepoel and Mattia Cattaneo were the Deceuninck riders.
Racers from various course distances ebbed and flowed throughout the day. Here, Hannah Shell (Cervélo-Kask-Shimano), Flavia Oliveira (Excel Sports), and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) passed a group of men.
Cromwell, Shell, and Oliveira formed the early break.
Shell was unhitched on a climb, and then it was just Oliveira and Cromwell.
Oliveira attacked Cromwell at about 20 miles into the 111-mile race. “It was way too soon! I’m an idiot!” Oliveira laughed at the finish.
Evenepoel, Cattaneo and Specialized Racing’s Gian Paolo Mondini had mechanicals early on in the Wafer. Although they weren’t racing, they easily made their way back to the front, and then shredded the group down to what would become the podium for that race — Molly Cameron, me, and Scott Moninger.
Roberge came into the race as the favorite for the win, but he and three others followed the race-provided routes on their computers instead of the course arrows, diverting them away from the others and into thick mud. He ended up seventh. He wasn’t happy about it.
Cromwell chased Oliveira for many miles, and then passed her after the cyclocross section.
Media cars were all over the course, shooting the men’s Waffle, women’s Waffle, and the Deceuninck riders in the Wafer.
Evenepoel attacks for the win! Er, actually, he’s just playing around for the camera.
Cromwell powered on in pursuit of the win, sometimes with passengers.
Evenepoel in the 6.5-mile cyclocross portion of the course.
Race promoter Michael Marckx feeding Alex Hoehn (Wildlife Generation) as Hoehn’s group of four worked together. Hoehn ended up fourth, behind Tanner Ward (First Internet Bank), Christopher Prendergast (Jamison-Cannondale), and Ethan Overson (Cinch).
Cromwell said she had not ridden much since Paris-Roubaix Femmes. It didn’t seem to hold her back.
No one was allowed to pre-ride the cyclocross course, so it was new to everyone, including Ward, who said he’s not a ’cross racer.
Overson pursued Ward and Prendergast.
Out of the cyclocross course, the wide-open gravel roads took Cromwell into a final singletrack section before the finish.
Flamm was in third for a while, but missed a turn and ended up fourth.
Prendergast very nearly got Ward, but Ward still had enough of a gap to post up at the finish.
Overson recovers from the nearly six-hour effort that put him in third.
Dakota Olsen (Olathe Subar) goes for broke.
Cromwell posts up in Lawrence.
‘Wait, I thought you were third!’ Larsen (right) came across the line thinking she was fourth. Flamm explained that she missed a turn, and ended up chasing Larsen.
BWR recovery food: Waffles with ice cream and syrup.
‘In retrospect, maybe these costumes weren’t very aero.’
‘Still worth it, though.’
‘Yeah, for sure.’
Cyclocross racer and local Raylyn Nuss (Steve Tilford Foundation Racing) started the Wafer without intending to finish it, as she is focused on World Cups this season. But she was having fun, and kept going, and then she went ahead and just won.
Women’s Waffle podium: Cromwell (center), Oliveira, Larson, Flamm, and Shell.
Men’s Waffle podium: Ward, Pendergast, Overson, Hoehn (not shown), Sam Morris.
Finishers received a trophy they could drink, brewed by the local Free State Brewery.