The Blog Page

News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

Tour de Donut 2005

The results of the 2005 Tour de Donut have been posted. Here's the link to the adjusted time after the 5-minute doughnut bonuses have been assessed:
http://www.bebikeclub.com/tourdedonut/2005/results.html#Donut_Bonus_Order

Congratulations to Dave Atchison, who won the men's under-50 title by eating 18 doughnuts for an adjusted time of 12 minutes, 30.53 seconds. Cara McCauley of Asheville, N.C., came all the way to Staunton, Ill., to eat just one doughnut, but she still won the women's under-50 time in 1:13.40.

A special round of applause goes to Kathleen Michael of the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society. She ate 10 doughnuts and had an adjusted time of 1:24.16, good for third place in the women's under-50 division. I knew Kathleen had a shot at the title: She has all the skills needed to contend in an event like the Tour de Donut.

As for me, I came real close to blowing off the Tour de Donut this year, even though I had already paid for the ride. Friday was a crazy night on the Belleville News-Democrat copy desk, and I knew I was going to in for an interesting evening Saturday with only three or four hours of sleep if I traveled to Staunton.

But then I remembered I pretty much had to be there. I already told Jim Klenn, who is making a documentary on the Tour de Donut, that I would be there so he could get some race footage of me and some additional comments about this year's event.

I ate 10 doughnuts, but my riding time was horrible. I started out reasonably well because of the adrenaline that comes with riding in a big pack of cyclists, but the lack of sleep and the stress from work got to me on the final 10-mile leg after the second doughnut stop. I really enjoy the Tour de Donut, but I don't know if I will be there next year if I have to work back-to-back nights.

Still, the Boeing Employees' Bicycle Club and the city of Staunton deserve a lot of credit for putting on a great event. I'm still amazed how the event has grown since I helped create the ride in 1989 for the Mid-America Bicycle Club.

Roger 0 comments 2:32 PM