OK, Rolla residents, sit tight and get ready because there’s a good chance the Tour  of Missouri cyclists are coming right near your home or the home of someone you know.
Unless you’ve been on another planet, you’ve heard the Tour of Missouri sequel involves Rolla and our town is hosting the finish for the Fourth Stage.
Certainly you know the date is Sept. 11, and St. James is the start for Stage Five, the next day.
Well, what you may not have heard, is the route, and it sounds pretty good.
Cyclists will enter Rolla from the west, come through our town, essentially completing a Figure-8 with Olive Street and the 10th Street Bridge forming the intersection.
“We’re pretty excited about this,” said Local Organizing Committee Chairman Scott Caron said of the route Monday.
These world-class cyclists will enter Rolla via Lebanon through Fort Leonard Wood.
They will travel their 100-plus mile trek in just more than three hours.
Here’s the route into town:
• Entering Rolla from Old Route 66 in Rolla (aka Martin Springs Drive), they will proceed to Blues Lake Parkway, where they will head up the hill to Bridge School Road.
• They will proceed on Bridge School Road to Kingshighway, where they will make a right on Kingshighway.
• Once on Kingshighway, the cyclists will make the quick left onto Fairgrounds Road, where  they will proceed toward Phelps County Regional Medical Center and take a right onto 10th Street.
• Cyclists will take 10th Street across U.S. Route 63 to State Street, where they will turn right.
• They will follow State Street to Eighth Street for two blocks, where they will take a left onto Eighth.
• They will follow Eighth Street for four blocks until Pine Street, where they will take a right on Pine.
• Once on Pine, they will follow it for two blocks to Sixth Street where they will travel three blocks to Olive Street.
• At the intersection of Olive and Sixth, cyclists will turn left on Olive, follow it under the 10th Street Bridge, along the railroad tracks to 12th Street.
• At the intersection with 12th Street, they will turn right on 12th Street, heading east directly toward The Centre.
• Where 12th Street intersects with Holloway Street, cyclists will turn right on Holloway for just two blocks back to 10th Street.
Here’s where the cyclists will really be cranking it up.
• As they make the right from Holloway to 10th Street, the cyclists will storm west on 10th Street to the overpass where they will come screaming down the 10th Street Bridge for the final quarter mile to the Finish Line at S&T’s Castleman Hall.
“It’s really terrific they have included the downtown area for the finish,” Caron said. “Certainly, Castleman Hall and the university are a big reason, but it’s great it’ll be downtown and it’ll hit many neighborhoods.
“They’ll be coming at 30 mph, so it’ll pass in the blink of an eye, but (with the Figure-8) some will get to see them three times,” Caron said.
Caron said despite the enormity of the event, motorists will only be inconvenienced for a short time.
“They’ll have what rolling closures,” Caron said. “There will be a Highway Patrol car out front by about a mile, and they may close roads for about 20 minutes to allow all the cyclists to pass. Beyond that, the only area that should be closed for a long period of time will be the finish line at Castleman Hall.”
Caron said the Local Organizing Committee still is accepting sponsorships for the race. To be a sponsor, contact Caron at The Centre, 573 341-2386.