This was my first ever cycling event! It was pretty wild! A 31 mile loop with 2 Donut stops (every donut eaten takes 5 minutes off your overall time). Cycling is my worst sport out of the three and I had never done a cycling only event so I was pretty worried. But at least I had some donuts to look forward to.

When the race started it was an interesting experience trying to clip in while avoiding all the other people trying to do the same thing. Once I got going I was amazed at the amount of people I was passing. Usually I hop on my bike after the swim only to get passed by people continuously until I get onto the run. But this race I was just motoring past people. Sure I don't think the serious cyclist turn out for the Tour de Donut, but hey I'll take what I can get.

So I'm out there around mile 4 or 5, in my aerobars, averaging a good 18 mph when the peloton catches me. Okay it was more like 8 or so riders in a line. Well in triathlons these trains just blow right on by, but I figure since drafting is legal in this race why not. I hitch a ride on the end and tagged along.

Wow. First time I've ever drafted for any extended amount of time. Yowza. No wonder it's illegal. I went from busting my ass and doing 18mph to 22.5 without breathing hard. Craziness! I had no idea what the proper protocol was for anything. They seemed to be doing a lot of yelling at intersections (CLEAR! CAR! GAME ON!) and a lot of rotating. I remembered reading on here not to use aerobars when drafting so I stayed in my drops and tried to look like a cyclist. I even pedaled to the front and did some time up there, which I hope I didn't screw up.

Mile 10! The first donut stop. This is where the triathlon training paid off. While the rest of the cyclists lallygagged around I dropped my bike and hit the donut station as fast as I could. The first donut went down kinda rough, but I found my inner Joey Chestnut and started sucking down water while eating. I managed to get three donuts down fairly quickly and decided to take back off.

I think most people lingered longer at the first donut stop because the next 10 miles were pretty lonely. But it didn't matter because I had a ginormous Sugar High. I was like, "WHOO-HOO! I"M ON A BIKE! WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" I caught two guys somewhere out there and ended up drafting with them. I was in the lead for most of it (which I guess is called pulling) and I think we kept a really good pace (22ish). At the second donut stop around Mile 27 the two guys thanked me for pulling them and told me what a good rider I was (which was awesome to hear!). I apologized for not shouting clear directions (at one intersection they blew by straight when I made a sharp right turn without yelling right. I guess cyclists only look at each others butts and not the arrows on the ground when drafting).

At the 2nd donut stop I was busy pounding my 4th and 5th donuts when one of the young volunteers asked me why I was in such a hurry. Someone must not have told him about the race! I thought about eating a sixth donut, but I was at that point where if I stopped now I wouldn't be sick the rest of the day, but if I ate one more.... watch out!

The last 4 miles went by quick. I saw a few discarded donuts on the way (what does it say about your life when you are cheating at the Tour de Donut?). A few minutes past the stop some young kids were outside their house cheering us on. I thanked them and then yelled "Drink your milk, stay in school, and eat your vitamins". They didn't seem as enthusiastic after that. One guy drafted off me the last 4 miles and I thought he was gonna be a punk and sprint past me at the end, but he let up and I crossed the line first. I totally did a cyclist pose (ya know... hand in hand back and forth over each shoulder).

I'd HTFU and eat more donuts. Only 5?!?!? I am ashamed of myself!

I walked through the parking lot belching really really loudly.


Donut eating training. I was unprepared for how hard it would be to eat donuts quickly while exercising at that level.


What a fun race. Donuts and Cycling. What's not to love?