The Tour de Donut

by Kimbre Chapman

Standing on a chair above a crowd of 500 bicyclists at Staunton High School, Dave Sweeney blows a bullhorn signaling the start of the 13th annual Tour de Donut, a zany race in which riders pedal 30 miles, consuming thousands of doughnuts along the way.

“The object is to be on the bike,” says Sweeney, calling to a few stragglers, obviously unconcerned about when they cross the finish line.

The Tour de Donut, whose hilly course winds past cornfields and cow pastures before returning to Staunton, is south-central Illinois’ answer to the Tour de France, the world’s premier bicycle road race. Only in Staunton’s race, riders’ times are reduced by five minutes for each doughnut they consume during pit stops in the nearby towns of Worden and Prairietown.

Last year, the winner—if you can call him that—was Ed Reeves of St. Louis, who put away 30 doughnuts and completed the race in 2 hours, 6 minutes—41 minutes behind the leader who avoided the sugary snacks. Reeves’ advice: “Eat as many doughnuts as you can in the first stop. I ate 20.” His other secret: “Don’t drink too much water because you’ll bloat.”

In keeping with the outlandish nature of the event, Tour de Donut came to Staunton (pop. 5,030) by accident. The race was born in the late 1980s when members of the now defunct Mid-America Bicycle Club were discussing ideas for a unique ride. One of its members, Mark Pace, happened to live in Staunton.

“One of our ideas was a breakfast ride,” recalls Roger Kramer of nearby Bethalto, Ill., one of the tour’s founding fathers. “Then we imagined how people would feel after eating a dozen doughnuts and thought what a great spoof.”

When the bicycle club folded in 1998, former members sought a new sponsor. St. Louis’ Boeing Employees’ Bicycle Club has sponsored the event ever since. This year’s race is scheduled July 13.

The 2001 race had a record number of participants and transformed usually quiet Staunton into a place of noisy pageantry. Crowds gathered to cheer and wave pennants, balloons sailed into the air, and the city band played.

“It’s so exciting! All these bicycles running through our town is like the beginning of a parade,” says Beverly Sweatman, director of Staunton’s Main Street program.

In addition to the not-so-serious race, the event also features a bike rodeo for children, a 10-mile “family fun ride,” and a tour of Jubelt’s Bakery, the doughnut supplier.

“We donated all the doughnuts the first year,” says Lance Jubelt, owner of the bakery in the nearby town of Mount Olive. “Later it got too big, and we switched to donating half this year—160 dozen doughnuts.”

To cool off overheated riders, Bill Miller, owner of Bill’s IGA in Staunton, provided free bottled water and ice for the cyclists. Miller has watched a number of Tour de Donuts and each year looks forward to the zaniness. “So many people come from all over just to ride and eat doughnuts. In a town the size of Staunton, that’s something,” he says.

As the riders puff to the end of their grueling journey, cries saturate the air. “No more! No more doughnuts!” Others ignore the pain of the heat and of their overfilled bellies, yelling, “Where’s the food? Where’s the beer?”

“You hear things like embracing the ‘spirit of the doughnut,’ but I think they practice so they can eat that much,” says Rhinannon Sweatman, a Staunton High School student who volunteered to hand out doughnuts. “I’ve told people they are crazy, and they agree. Then they say they’ll be back in Staunton next year to ride and eat more doughnuts.”

Kimbre Chapman is a freelance writer in Iowa City, Iowa.

first appeared: 6/30/2002