Tour de Donut Race Report

[tallsteve]

http://utahtourdedonut.org

I did a fun thing yesterday. I raced in what is called the Tour de Donut. It's a road bicycle race on the south side of the freeway, here in American Fork. It's a fundraiserfor the AF Rotary Club, with the funds going to a few good causes. Technically, it's a race but, mostly just for fun. There were about 400 racers there. The way it goes is this: The course is 7 miles on flat road and you ride 3 laps for 21 miles total. Between laps you have to eat at least 1 donut but, for every donut you eat, 3 minutes is deducted from your total race time. So, it's a fine line between eating a bunch of donuts for the time deduction and not making yourself too sick to ride. Pretty funny! Not really knowing what to expect, I wanted to ride as fast as I could but, wasn't sure how many donuts to eat. I mounted slick tires on my mtn. bike which roll much faster than the knobby's. Even with that, the guys riding road bikes can go much faster than I can usually. At the starting line, a guy next to me told me the secret to eating the donuts is to take the amount you want to eat, then smash them up into a ball and pour water on them as you choke them down. That ended up being a good tip. With 400 racers, I knew I wanted to be toward the front at the starting line. Even though each racer is “chipped” (your time doesn't start until you cross the starting line) I didn't want to have to weave in and out of a gazillion other bikers once we got out on the road. I ended up about 4 rows back from the start line- a good position. After about a half mile, I tucked behind a group of roadies that were going at a pace I could sustain for a while. About half-way through that lap, my group got more spread out so, I looked for a rider with a similar body build and pace, pulled up alongside him and asked if he wanted to work together. He did, so we took turns pulling and drafting, riding like that all the way back to the starting/lap line. I ended up eating 4 donuts after that first lap. I was hoping for 5 but, it just wasn't going to happen. My wife, Marcia, had a new water bottle for me after each lap to save weight from having to carry two. During the second lap, I got behind a group of 4 other roadies and, even though I was pedaling hard to stay in the paceline, it was easier than going on my own. We cruised pretty fast the last 2/3rd's of that lap. I even took a turn pulling the group. By this time we starting lapping some of the slower riders (there were all kinds of riders- mom's and dad's with kids, etc). I had a couple of roadies pull up alongside and told me I was making all the other roadies look bad (with me on a mtn. bike)! Of course they were saying it tongue-in-cheek. After that second lap, I could only eat 3 donuts for a total of 7. I knew any more than that and I'd be puking my guts out alongside the road! The 3^rd lap, I couldn't find anyone to draft/pull with. I felt I was still going pretty fast- at least I was passing a lot of other riders. About halfway through the lap, I could tell that another rider had latched onto my wheel. I thought, good, someone wants to work with me but, noooo. This guy just wanted a free ride- to draft. He was a small dude and I was making a big wind-break for him. It kinda made me mad. I kept motioning him to pass and take his turn at pulling but, he wouldn't. What I should have done is slow way down, wait for him to pass, then latch onto his wheel but, I didn't. Plus, he was so small, it wouldn't have done any good for me. With about a half mile to go, he finally zipped on past. Oh, well. It is a race after all and I wasn't on a team that is supposed to work together. Anyway, I finished with a good time (about 47 minutes wheel turning time) if it weren't for the silly donut eating thing! I don't know where I placed as the results haven't been posted online yet. Marcia thinks I came across the finish line in the top 40 but, that doesn't mean much because of the donut time deductions. We'll see. Some dude ate 32! Anyway, I had a lot of fun and was glad I did it. I look forward to riding it again next year.

[gholt]

32 doughnuts. That is crazy. What is that ~ 9,600 calories.

[accadacca]

Ha! Interesting concept for sure. I bet there was plenty of spandex around.