Conference noted::bicycle

3128.0. "Tour de Donut" by MPOS02::HARRISA (Living in alternative reality) Thu Jul 25 1996 12:59

    i got this from a friend, who found it on the 'net ...
    
    
       I found this on the internet.  Its probably copyrighted and
    everything else.
    
       Subject: Tour de Donut combines cycling, eating
       Posted: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 17:20:13 PDT
    
       STAUNTON, Ill., July 13 (UPI) -- The 314 riders pedaling Saturday
    through
       southwestern Illinois looked like those in any other bicycle race,
    with
       their brightly colored clothing and high-tech bikes. But those who
    wanted
       to win had something special deep inside of them -- donuts.
    
       The eighth annual Tour de Donut attracted a record number of riders
       for the 30-mile road race through parts of Madison and Macoupin
    counties.
       The race, held as a spoof of the Tour de France, began and ended in
       Staunton, about 35 miles east of St. Louis.
       The Tour de Donut isn't just about completing the course in the
    fastest
       time. It's about eating donuts while you do it. Contestants are
    allowed
       to shave five minutes off their time for each sugary ring they
    swallow.
    
       Last year's overall champion, Roger Kramer of Belleville, Ill.,
    pounded
       down 15 glazed donuts while completing the 1995 course in just over
    two
       hours. His adjusted time -- minus a total of 75 minutes for the
    donuts
       consumed -- was 47 minutes. But as he surveyed this year's field
    before
       the race, Kramer knew he would be hard-pressed to defend his title.
    
       "There's a lot of good riders out here today," he said as the
    hundreds
       of cyclists lined up for the start in front of Staunton High School.
    "You
       have to be a good rider to win. And you have to eat a lot of donuts.
       Thank God they're glazed. Jelly would be really disgusting."
    
       Kramer co-founded the race in 1989 with other members of the Mid-
    America
       Bicycle Club, including Joe Booth, the official starter, who shouted
       encouragement through his megaphone as the cyclists streamed past
    him.
    
       "One hundred and twenty dozen donuts await you," Booth told the
    riders
       as a police escort led them out of town.
    
       The first 10 miles of the race took the cyclists out of Staunton via
       Illinois Route 4, formerly part of the original Route 66.
    
       The first donut stop was at Worden. Those cyclists riding just for
    time
       halted only for water and the five-minute break allotted to all. But
       riders competing in the true spirit of the race crammed as many
    donuts down
       their throats as they could. A favored technique was to mash two or
    three
       donuts into a compact lump.
    
       "It took all the air out of them," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt.
       Ann Shepard, 34, of Belleville, about her four-at-a-time
    donut-smashing
       tactic, which was to pay off handsomely. "I kind of ate a rock."
    
       The next stop was Prairietown, another 10 miles down the road, where
       last year's women's champion, Martha Ferdinand, 27, of the St. Louis
    suburb
       of Chesterfield, Mo., finished off her fourth donut.
       "I don't have it this year," complained Ferdinand, who had an
    adjusted
       time of one hour and 28 minutes in the 1995 race. "I even brought
    coffee
       to dunk them in. I thought they'd slide right down. But it's tough."
    
       Riders with full and empty bellies pushed the final 10 miles back to
       Staunton, cruising past the electronic timer at the finish line. The
       cyclists, some from as far away as Chicago and Indianapolis, cheered
    their
       friends as they finished.
    
       Race officials used a computer in the high school's library to
    compile
       the actual and adjusted riding times of all the contestants.
    
       George Lochhead, a 33-year-old from St. Louis, rode the fastest race
       at 1:20:07. Lynn deLearie, 33, also of St. Louis, was the fastest
    female
       rider at 1:25:00. Neither ate any donuts, which prompted some of the
       traditionalists to call out for them to be forced to eat at least
    one to mak
       official.
       As if riding the fastest time wasn't enough, deLearie also won when
       her race number was selected in the random drawing for a new GT
    Cross
       Series Passage bicycle.
    
       "This was a really good day," she said as she walked her new bike
       back to her car.
    
       Winning honors for most donuts eaten were Bill Dow, 43, of Waterloo,
       Ill., with 19 glazed gobbled, and Maria Dans, 29, of St. Louis, who
    led
       the women with 10 donuts downed.
    
       The overall winner -- with an actual time of 2:01 and 18 donuts
    eaten,
       for an adjusted time of 31 minutes -- was Roy Wehling, 29, a
    computer
       programmer from Edwardsville.
    
       "Last year, I finished third when I had nine donuts," Wehling said.
       "So this year I tried to double my donuts and have a good road
    time."
    
       Wehling and Shepard were awarded yellow shirts similar to the yellow
       jersey awarded to the Tour de France winner. The two hardy cyclists
    posed
       for photographers with donuts in their mouths, but declined to eat
    one
      more for the road.

    I was about to say 'Hey, I could do that!', but...  18 doughnuts in 10
    minutes? wow....
    
    Karl

I hereby announce the "Tour des Pizzas"

    On your marks Robin.  I'm in fearsome training...

Well as it happens - when I was out the other Saturday I met Francesco, who 
half-wheeled me through Cagnes and La Gaude.  However he blew rather badly 
just after the rond-point and I had to wait 5 mins for him in St Jeannet.  He 
was much quieter on the way back through Vence and Tourettes.

Anyway, the crux of the story is that I offered him a poster for the Coppi 
sportif and he said "You come to my restaurant - I make you something special" 
- so I'm also in serious training ....

    Just back in from an extended training run in the Alps...
    
    1900km and 20,000m climbing in 16 days.  Of the 16 evening meals 8 were
    pizzas.  So training went well.
    
    A fuller report of ther trip may well get into MOVIES::EURO_RANDONEUR
    in the next few weeks...