2009 Tour De Donut

Yea, it's been a while since I posted anything on this blog. Does anyone reads my post anyway?

This Sat. July 11, over one thousand cyclist will travel to Staunton IL to race the 2009 Tour De Donut.

I have participated (or worked) this event since moving to this side of the river in 1993.

Training has been going well. My bother Gary is going to come up from Austin TX to race just like last year. I have the Cannondale R1000 ready for him to ride. Stopped by a LBS to buy some new cleats for the shoes he will use. He had trouble clipping in at the start last year, being the great brother I am, I waited for him to catch up with me and blew any chance to ride with the leaders.

For anyone who doesn't race on a regular basis, the start of this race can be scary. There are many non-racers who try to stay with the lead group on the way out of Staunton. A lot of them don't know how to hold their line. (or a steady pace)
I always breath easier once we hit Renken road.

Something else that bothers me is the amount of riders that act like we are on a closed course. I've been hit by a car before, it ain't a whole lot of fun. Be careful out there.

I use to ride without eating any donuts until I heard a conversation between Roger Kramer and Joe Booth. (Two of the founders of the TDD) Roger made a great point. Eating donuts is the point of the race. I feel that the TDD organizers (the Boeing Bike Club) should get rid of the non-adjusted times. We all know that the true winner is the rider with the lowest adjusted time. If you are at the awards ceremony, you know that the crowd admires this winner much more than the non-adjusted winners.

If you ride the TDD this Sat, be careful out there, give the guy on a 99 Litespeed classic and his brother on the 99 Cannondale R1000 some room, AND EAT SOME DONUTS. That's the whole point.