Cyclists replaced - and outpaced - cars in downtown Jefferson City on Sunday for the Missouri State Criterium Championships.
The annual event features some eight different races with categories based on age, gender and experience.
It drew some 200 cyclists, some of whom were using the event as a tune-up for the upcoming Gateway Cup in St. Louis. That race draws 5,000-10,000 spectators each day of the event.
The Missouri State Criterium Championships has never drawn a huge amount of spectators, but the ones who do show up get a front-row seat to some of the top riders in the state.
This year, one of the riders was Scott Moninger. During his 17-year professional road-racing career, he has won nearly every road race in North America with over 275 career victories, the most by any American rider at the time of his retirement.
Moninger, who now works as a NBC commentator for racing coverage, easily won his race on Sunday in the men's 40+ masters category.
Race director Mike Weiss said the weather was perfect for riding Sunday, with overcast skies and temperatures in the 70s. But the same forecast might have kept some spectators away this year, he said. The forecast called for a 90 percent chance of rain the day before the event.
The race is sponsored by Weiss' Big Shark Racing in Forest Park in St. Louis.
One of the spectators Sunday was David Thompson, a Los Angeles native who recently relocated to Jefferson City.
"This is incredible," he said. "It looks like Jefferson City has attracted the best in the state here."
Thompson, who competed in cycling a little as a young man, embarkedg on a cycling journey last year. He rode 7,000 miles across and around the country from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.
"I call it the Forrest Gump syndrome," he said with a laugh. "I wanted to travel and hadn't been on a bike in years. It worked remarkably well."
His feat, he said, was a relaxed ride and can't compare to what the cyclists were doing Sunday.
"This is a lot more remarkable," he said, pointing to the riders. "These folks can process oxygen and exert it at a level most of us cannot. These are the best of the best right here."