Whether it was children nibbling on candy-filled pancakes grilled by firefighters or elite bicyclists racing 50 laps through the streets of downtown Redmond, the 71st Derby Days celebration brought smiles to the faces of thousands on Saturday.
Saturday’s festivities began with a pancake breakfast at the Redmond Fire Department, followed by the annual Kids and Grand Parades. Children scrambled to pick up candy, and even rolls of toilet paper, thrown by the 57 groups marching in the parades.
“The kids are always our favorite, watching the smiles and how happy they are, knowing they’re going to get their $2 at the end,” parade announcer Ron Rodgers said, referring to the small monetary prize given to children who wore helmets while riding their bikes in the parades.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, more than 380 bicyclists competed in the Criterium, a multi-lap road race beginning next to the Redmond Regional Library on Northeast 85th Street.
Ballard resident David Richter of team Herriott Sports Performance won the 75-minute men’s Category 1/2 race for the second year in a row.
“I’m really proud to win this race,” he said. “This is a special race because it’s the oldest race in America, so we get pretty geared up for it.”
New Zealander Joanne Kiesanowski, who currently resides in Seattle and races with team Tibco, won the 45-minute women’s Category 1/2/3 race.
“There were a lot of good teams working together so it was hard for me as an individual, but I kept it all together for a field sprint at the end,” she said.
Swedish Redmond Primary Care set up a booth in front of City Hall next to the finish line. Booth workers treated quite a few incidents of “road rash” from bike accidents, medical assistant Travis Strah said.
Swedish was joined by more than 50 local businesses, organizations and food providers who set up booths offering everything from root beer samples to information on electric cars.
Festival-goers grooved to bands performing on the Microsoft Mainstage, as well as to other local musicians scattered throughout the library and City Hall parking lots.
“I just liked the atmosphere, the community and seeing everybody together,” said John Billington, who has attended Derby Days for the last 12 years.
Most of the Derby Days action was held on Saturday, but the festivities got going the night before with Friday Night Live, a live outdoor concert, complete with a beer and wine garden, at City Hall.
The festivities concludes on Sunday with the second annual Derby Days Dash, a 5K walk/race for non-competitive and competitive participants. Derby Days Dash results can be found here. The money from the event raised went to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
“We heard from so many people attending that it was definitely one of our best events ever,” according to Lisa Rhodes, City of Redmond’s event and marketing administrator. “We had great weather. Attendance was up in the Kids and Grand Parades.”
