“I am not good at anything, but I can eat and I can ride a bike, so you put those two things together and I’ve got a chance.”
What is this? an autobiography? No, it’s a quote from a trailer for a documentary about the Tour de Donut, which has rolled through Staunton, IL, for 20 years now right around Tour De France time.
As Sidel Evans fights to keep the yellow jersey for Silence-Lotto with a one-second lead over Rabobank’s Oscar Freire in France, here in the United states, athletes in a different league altogether fought to keep their lunch down Saturday as they ate up glazed doughnuts along with miles of asphalt.
Fortunately for all involved, the Tour de Donuts is a one-day race and not a multi-stage tour like the Tour de France. Still, to a rider stuffed with fried dough and struggling through the hilly terrain, it probably feels like it lasts forever. The 30-mile ride is set up like a regular one-day classic, with the minor difference that riders are given the chance to scarf doughnuts at two checkpoints along the way. Each doughnut consumed knocks five minutes off a rider’s time, so it behooves riders to gorge, but they must not throw up.
“I don’t think I’ll make my goal. It’s tough to hold it back now,” Steve Striker told The Telegraph, of Alton, IL. It seemed incredible that people would do this race at all, but then it turned out the serious competitors pack in 20 to 30 doughnuts during the race. That would, honestly, kill us. Check out this trailer for the documentary, and, if you think you’re tough enough, think about signing up for next year’s race. It could be your chance for greatness.
Cyclists test their legs — and stomachs — at annual Tour de Donut [The Telegraph]
Tour De France [Official Site]
