Cyclists will gather at The Hub at The District in Chesterfield early Sunday morning for the final tune-up ride before Pedal the Cause's 17th annual Ride Weekend, with routes ranging from 14.2 to 47 miles winding through Wildwood, Weldon Spring Conservation Area, and along the Missouri River. Set-up begins at 7 a.m., riders leave at 7:30 a.m., and the event wraps with tear-down finishing at 12:30 p.m., according to event signage shared by the Chesterfield Missouri Police Department.
The August 23 training ride is sponsored by Pfizer and hosted by The Hub STL, and it's free to attend, though online registration is mandatory and capped for rider safety, according to Chesterfield Missouri Police Department. Organizers are requesting a suggested $10 to $15 donation for post-ride food and drinks, per Pedal the Cause. The ride serves as the last signature prep event before the main Ride Weekend, scheduled for September 19 and 20 at the Family Arena in St. Charles, which will offer seven road and gravel course options along with a virtual option and a kids challenge.
Riders can choose among four distances Sunday. The 14.2-mile route passes through Weldon, Johnson Island, Chesterfield Airport Road, Edison Avenue, Long Road, Wild Horse Creek Road, and Centaur Road, gaining 134 feet and losing 133 feet of elevation along the way. The 24.5-mile route travels through Johnson Island, Howell Island Conservation Area, Spirit of Saint Louis Airport, The Boulevard, Edison Avenue, Centaur Road, Wild Horse Creek Road, Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park, Riegel Road, Babler Park Drive, Kehr's Mill Road, and Clayton Road. The longest option, the 47-mile route, winds through Chesterfield, Ellisville, Wildwood, Fox Creek, Saint Albans, Matson, and Defiance before returning along the Missouri River.
Safety Support and Open Roads
Because public roads remain open to traffic during the ride, organizer support includes mobile SAG (Support and Gear) vehicles, stationary mechanical assistance at refueling stops, and real-time GPS tracking with one-click emergency dispatch through the RaceJoy app, according to the same Pedal the Cause materials. Riders are expected to follow standard traffic laws throughout the course. An earlier training ride on August 1 originated at 4 Hands in Kirkwood and routed cyclists through major Chesterfield thoroughfares including Clayton Road, Wild Horse Creek Road, and Boone's Crossing, with local police at the time advising drivers to give cyclists ample passing room.
The event site itself includes a sponsor tent, pre-ride tents, bike racks, designated parking, a cone lane separating riders heading out from riders coming in, porta johns, and trash cans, with organizers requiring that all trash be removed from the site afterward. Route maps for all four distances were built using OpenStreetMap, and each course includes a scannable link for the full online route.
The Hub at The District Sets the Stage
The start and finish line sits at The Hub, a $4 million outdoor gathering space with a 70-foot stage and a 20-by-11-foot LED screen inside The District, the 400,000-square-foot entertainment redevelopment of the former Chesterfield Outlet Mall built by The Staenberg Group, according to Explore St. Louis. The post-ride social will be hosted by 4 Hands and Hi-Pointe Drive-In, per event signage. St. Louis-based 4 Hands Brewing Co. opened a 10,000-square-foot tasting room with 25 draft lines at The District in August 2023, anchoring The Hub as part of what founder Kevin Lemp, who grew up in Chesterfield, has described as something of a suburban homecoming for the brewery.
Portions of the training routes also benefit from recent local trail investment. In May, the City of Chesterfield and Great Rivers Greenway completed a 1.48-mile expansion of the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee Trail, creating a continuous 10.43-mile paved loop along the levee that nearly 74,000 visitors used in 2025 before the extension was finished, according to the City of Chesterfield. Training ride routes travel along the levee trail into Wildwood before looping back to The Hub at The District.
Road Work and Trail Plans Along the Western Routes
The 24.5-mile and 47-mile routes pass near Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park along Wild Horse Creek Road, where the City of Wildwood is currently undertaking replacement projects for two deficient road bridges this year, according to City of Wildwood planning documents. Wild Horse Creek Road functions as a primary arterial for cyclists moving between Chesterfield Valley and state park lands, making it a recurring feature across multiple training distances.
Looking further ahead, Wildwood and Great Rivers Greenway are planning an 11-mile multi-use African American Heritage Trail that would connect Babler State Park and Wild Horse Creek Road historic sites to the Katy Trail and the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee Trail network, according to the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. The planned corridor is meant to highlight 19th-century regional history, including United States Colored Troops enlistments tied to the area.
Funds Head Straight to Cancer Research
Since its founding in 2010, Pedal the Cause has raised more than $56 million for cancer research, with 100 percent of participant-raised donations going to Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Corporate sponsorships cover the organization's operational overhead, which allows all participant fundraising to flow directly into local research projects ahead of the September Ride Weekend at the Family Arena.
