Baldwin ? A wedding, registration for next week’s big religious seminar and a tornado watch created a buzz of activity late Saturday afternoon near the campus of Baker University.

But the most-popular event probably was a bike race at the corner of Sixth and Fremont streets.

“There sure is a lot going on right now,” Baldwin police officer Chuck Hensley said. “It will take a lot more, though, to match the Maple Leaf Festival.”

Hensley — who not only kept a watchful eye over the second-annual Baldwin City Stage Race, but also used a radar gun to clock cyclists’ speeds — was referring to the town’s biggest annual tourist attraction.

Race promoter Chad Marshall said while the event won’t top the yearly October extravaganza devoted to arts, crafts and music, some 200 competitors Saturday showed the race was growing.

“It’s a good event all the way around, and I absolutely love Baldwin,” said Marshall, who graduated from Baker in 1993 before earning a business administration degree from Kansas University in 1996.

“When I used to ride my bike around campus, I thought it would be awesome to have a race at the university,” Marshall said.

Mission accomplished.

For the second straight year the two-day, three-event competition has brought a boom of people to the town of 3,500 located in southern Douglas County.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I think it’s a good event for the town,” Hensley said. “It brings in a lot of people from the Lawrence and Kansas City areas that buy things from the various town merchants. And it allows them to see how pretty the place is.”

Most of the riders that took part in Saturday’s time trial and criterium course competition would vouch for the picturesque scenery, but things got ugly on the beautiful campus for a handful of Category 4 cyclists.

Kansas City Bicycle club team members, from front, Lynn Neir, Frank Jakofcich and Bruce Tanner round the first turn of the criterium course. The team led the Men's Masters race Saturday at Baker University in Baldwin.

“It was all pretty good up to that point,” said Kansas City, Mo., rider Jim Coggins, who was among a handful of participants that were involved in a crash during one of the day’s big-entry races.

“There were quite a few of us that got banged up,” added Coggins, who had road rash on his right knee, left elbow and abdomen, and a tire track on his right calf. “But I think my bike took the brunt of it.”

The collision didn’t slow University of Nebraska rider Jeremiah Grell, who was out in front of the spillage and ended up winning the criterium portion of the CAT 4.

“I heard it was kind of bad, but I didn’t see any of it,” said Grell, a native Nebraskan, who said he races a handful of events in Kansas every year.

“I really like Baldwin because it’s so serene,” Grell said. “Before my race, I had my legs propped up taking a nap.”

While Grell said he will need to “probably win” today’s road race to have a shot at the CAT 4 title, former Kansas University cross country runner Brian Jensen was sitting in good shape in the CAT 1/2/3 standings.

Today’s road race will start at 9 a.m. at Baldwin High and consist of multiple 12-mile loops of flat and rolling terrain concluding near the high school.