Tour De Donut

The Tour de Donut concept was not started by us. The original is in Illinois and has been going on for 20+years. After some of our club riders attended The Donut Derby in Pennsylvania the idea was hatched to have a Tour de Donut Ohio in 2007. 2007- 106 riders met at the Darke County Fairgrounds for our first edition. We used a very hilly course in Southwestern Darke county that had many riders wondering where the hills came from. A good time was had by all and the ride was an immediate success. Donuts were from local independent grocery store Eikenberry's Super Value. The weather was cool and wet. We used a stopwatch and paper to calculate the winners. At the time of the final results a tie was discovered and a challenge was issued to eat the 18th donut for both riders- they both did and were properly rewarded.

2008- 279 riders met at the new home of the ride Brumbaugh Fruit Farm and had donuts by The Farmers Daughter bakery. This is the first year we visited the popular Bears Mill and was the first year for electronic chip timing. Professional eater Steven Meike from Chicago Illinois came down, and despite a crash his method of dunking donuts in water allowed him to set a new donut eating record of 25. Bicycling magazine had an article about the ride in their June issue.

2009- over 500 riders registered for the ride and experienced another great fall day. We used our full finish line set up and bike mounted electronic timing for the first time. This was the first year for the championship belts, and riders enjoyed live music after the ride.

2010-over 600 riders registered for the ride on yet another picture perfect fall day. New custom road markings of donuts with colored icing (and sprinkles) led the riders around the course. Packet pick up available prior to the ride was very popular and will be continued. A large group of new male Dozen Club members and a new female donut record of 11 donuts. 250 dozen donuts were prepared for the ride and loaded into the box truck with a forklift! Custom recycled bicycle chain medals created by Christina Bowersock were very popular. Pre-ride prayer was given by Rev. Bob Bitner and our National Anthem was sang by Brooklyn Netzley. Riders at the back of starting lineup were held up by a new addition at the farm a couple of turkeys.

2011- 920 riders from 17 states and Canada signed up for the 5th annual tour and were welcomed with a foggy yet sunny morning. 350 dozen donuts awaited as dense fog and a car crash that was diverting traffic onto the course pushed back the start 30 minutes.Registration pick up was slowed by a lengthy form from our insurance company. The Arcanum High School band played our national anthem prior to the start. Despite a contingent of Canadians no one could remember the words past “Oh Canada” to the Canadian National Anthem.A film crew from Southern Illinois University had an in ride reporter and created a hilarious documentary. The Bears Mill stop moved across the street to the open field for safety and they delivered the restrooms! We temporarily ran out of donuts at stop #1 as a supply truck stopped to pick up a rider who had crashed.The new location of the Pitsburg stop was well received (and not missed).The first year mini donut ride had over 100 riders who visited the Pitsburg stop for their one donut stop. New 15’ tall DONUT signs welcomed the riders to the donut stops.The awards ceremony was legendary with celebratory champagne from custom imprinted bottlesA special thanks to The Arcanum High School marching band for helping at the donut stops.

2012- 1354 riders registered for the 6th version of the Tour de Donut. Major changes took place when we moved downtown Arcanum, offered sleeping bag space and camping, a post event street fair and food vendors and a new donut supplier. The Village of Arcanum and The Arcanum Business Association welcomed us with open arms after ten months of planning. A major rain event packing winds, lightning and five inches of rain limited camping though by opening ceremonies the sun was out and roads were drying. We had 600 dozen donuts made for the ride this year. Awesome to see so many bikes lined up downtown for the start. Mayor Judy Foreman ate the ceremonial first donut, Arcanum High School band played our national anthem and the riders were off. The balloon launch was much better this year with no trees for them to be stuck in and a nice breeze. Graham and Kim Guttadore led out the riders on a custom donut attired Harley with a donut flag fluttering in the breeze.
The riders for the full took over nine minutes to cross the start/finish line! ride day turned out to be sunny and cool with a bright blue Midwestern sky. The wind was noticeable this year on the final leg from the last donut stop. 300 riders took part in the mini-donut with some as young as 6 on their own bikes! We finally had things mostly correct at the first donut stop except we need more restrooms! Donut stop #2 had Coy Boroff and The Powerbar girls cheering people on/harassing them to eat more donuts. Due to a water main break we changed the location at the last minute and our markings made it difficult to find for some. We had one crash that required the ambulance this year. Thank you the Real Head Donut Christina Bowersock for the day to day operations of the ride, Tom Wesner for everything and working Stop #1, Coy at Stop #2, Shawn at Good Times Event Services for providing the most accurate and fastest results we have ever had, The Arcanum Business Association for allowing us to take over your downtown, Arcanum Schools for allowing us to use the school, Franklin Monroe schools, Arcanum Police department, Darke County Sheriff, The Greenville Key club, Bears Mill, Arcanum High School Band and music boosters, Franklin Monroe yearbook club, Mayor Judy Foreman and Ryan Dynes for all their help, Gettysburg EMS, Arcanum EMS, Sutton's, Powerbar, Smith Dairy, Dannon Yogurt, The Powerbar Girls, Chamois Butt'r, Lori & Nathan, Chris Boroff, Dan Hawley, Big Roger, Pat, Annie, Duzzy, Dan Hieston, Kris Osterbur, Captain Lou, Tim and Connie, Reece Lincoln, Countryside bike shop, Performance Bike shop, The Rose shop and everyone who helped promote the ride over the past year.

2013-1644 riders from 20 states and 5 countries registered for the 7th Tour de Donut. We have settled in to our new home at The Fieldhouse and Downtown quite nicely and with many more signs and directionals parking was much improved. Many more people took advantage of camping and sleeping bag space this year, probably due to the amazing weather. 750 dozen donuts were ordered for this years ride and were delivered at 6am on Saturday.
First edition of Tour de Donut tabloid featured many local businesses and all event maps and schedules.
Friday evening registration was staffed by Greenville Business and Professional women’s club and volunteers from State of the Heart Hospice in Greenville.
Saturday morning registration was staffed by Arcanum A# music boosters and State of the Heart Hospice.
Our first ever Kid’s races were very popular and drew 70 kids who all were awarded a Tour t-shirt thanks to Orthopedic Associates of Southwest Ohio. Faith Fellowship Church in Arcanum helped us organize and administer the kids events.
Hanging 150’ overhead was a huge American flag we borrowed from First Assembly of God in Greenville and was attached to a crane owned by JCrane from Covington with operator Joe Hueber. This was an awesome addition.
The Greenville Color Guard presented our nations colors and a give a rifle volley (21 gun salute) prior to the Arcanum High School Band playing our national anthem and the balloon launch.
The starts went according to plans and we had no serious crashes or issues.
Stop 1 at Bear’s Mill had the world famous Tom Wesner in charge with help from the Arcanum High School Band, Greenville Key Club, Gettysburg Fire Department ,Gettysburg rescue and Roger and Patty Bowersock.
Stop 2 had Franklin-Monroe boys basketball team harassing people to eat more donuts, Greenville Township rescue and incharge was Mary Lee Hodges and Shayna
Highlights include post ride food vendors Fat Mikes (with a donut bacon cheeseburger), Dog’s-N-Suds Root Beer and Martin’s lemonade shake-ups. Friday nite entertainment was the Game Show guy and Saturday was the popular newgrass band Wildwater. Jeff Gold from Sram was a popular vendor in our expo area.
Performance bicycle had a full crew of mechanics and stocked stops with free help and parts for those with mechanical problems. Bob Bitner from Countryside Bike Shop in Greenville was at the start to help with bike repairs.
Arcanum Rescue was on the scene (literally) for a medical issue at the finish line.
The costume contest was hotly contested and costumes very creative.
Awards ceremony was fun as always with many more people staying around to watch.
No timing issues were reported and people seem to really like the bike numbers.
The ladies specific t-shirt order was somewhat problematic with sizes running small.
Over 200 people ordered the custom cycling jersey designed for this years ride and or first offering of matching shorts and jackets was very well received.
We offered Gluten free donuts for the first time.

2014-Nearly 2000 rider from 30 states attended the ride this year. 850 dozen glazed donuts were consumed.
Friday evening registration was staffed by Greenville Business and Professional women’s club and Dan Dough Maynard. For the first time ever we had a Strider ride downtown as part of Wright’s bikes Strider ride series. An unpleasant forecast in the days leading up to the ride had many on edge though ride morning was dry and pleasant. Our second Kid’s races were very popular and drew 100 kids who all were awarded a Tour t-shirt thanks to Orthopedic Associates of Southwest Ohio. Faith Fellowship Church in Arcanum helped us organize and administer the kid’s events. The Greenville Color Guard presented our nations colors and a give 21 gun salute prior to the Arcanum High School Band playing our national anthem.
The starts went according to plans and we had no serious crashes or issues.
Stop 1 at Bear’s Mill had the world famous Tom Wesner in charge with help from the Arcanum High School Band, Greenville Key Club, Gettysburg Fire Department ,Gettysburg rescue and Roger and Patty Bowersock. A new method of closing the road allowed riders to descend the hill on one side of the road and go back up the hill on the other without crossing riders turning.
Stop 2 had Franklin-Monroe boys basketball team harassing people to eat more donuts, Greenville Township rescue and a return of the world famous Coy Boroff.
New awards this year were crystal stand up plaques and logo pint glasses.
We offered professional photography from Timbike2.
Our costume contest continues to grow and get more creative every year.
At the finish line were several new vendors though Fat Mike’s BBQ and their donut bacon cheeseburgers stole the show.
Shootin the Breeze was our band this year and they were very popular.
The inaugural Double D challenge was well received though the two loop course was problematic.
We cannot say thank you enough to the Darke County Sheriff's Office, Gettysburg Rural Fire Department, Arcanum Fire department, Arcanum Police department, Greenville Township Fire Dept, Tri Village EMS, Pitsburg Fire department, Darke county amateur radio club, Darke County EMA, Darke county dispatchers and Mercer County Sheriff for allowing the use of their communications truck.

2015:
A complete sell out at 2008 riders from 28 states registered for the ride. 1000 dozen glazed donuts were ordered including 150 dozen jelly filled and crème filled for The Glazer donut stop.
Friday evening registration was staffed by Greenville Business and Professional women’s club and well super smooth. With a well publicized sell out no one came forward to attempt to register!
In an attempt to make the event more safe and not cross State Route 49 all new courses were planned and ridden multiple times by Roger Bowersock and painstaking painted to perfection with Tom Wesner. The new courses will be the first time the ride has left Darke county and the 1st time in 8 years where the ride did not have its traditional stop at Bears Mill.
On ride morning it was another cool and overcast fall day before the clouds broke up to reveal a beautiful blue sky.
The 3rd kids events drew 100 kids who were all awarded a t-shirt , medal and all the donuts they can eat. Faith Fellowship Church in Arcanum helped with the kids events again this year.
The new start direction provided some confusion for riders who were expecting a start in the opposite direction.
The costume contest continues to be popular with more unique costumes this year.
The Darke County Honor Guard presented our nations colors and gave a 21 gun salute prior to the Arcanum High School band playing our National anthem.
The first time start of all the events at one time worked perfectly with riders being given the entire road for the first few miles to sort out their location in the pack.
Donut Stop Gordon United Methodist Church-Mark Abel was in charge and did a brisk donut business. Helpers here included the Gordon EUM youth group and Franklin Monroe Business Women
Donut Stop Stop Lewisburg Park-Tom Wesner was in charge and had help from Lewisburg Community Foundation.
Donut Stop Kennedy Winery-Coy Boroff was in charge with help from Tri-Village cheerleaders.
Glazer Stop- Our new addition was manned by EUM youth group, Orme Hardware and Arcanum high school band. The Glazer donuts were jelly filled and crème filled

We cannot say thank you enough to the Darke and Preble County Sheriff's Office, Arcanum Fire department, Arcanum Police department, Greenville Township Fire Dept, Tri Village EMS, Pitsburg Fire department, Lewisburg Fire, Police and EMS, Darke county amateur radio club, Darke County EMA, Darke county dispatchers and Mercer County Sheriff for allowing the use of their communications truck. Thanks for keeping our riders safe.

First Tour de Donut without the help of Roger Bowersock Sr. who died in March after complications of a pacemaker procedure. We sure could have used your help Dad.

We had our first accident during the ride this year within the ride production crew as someone who shall remain nameless backed a truck and trailer into one of our other trucks while picking up donuts. We also lost two 10 x 20 pop up tents when they blew away in the late afternoon.

For the first time ever we had what the medical professionals considered a possible life threatening injury on the ride and Careflight medical helicopter was called to transport a teenage girl for immediate treatment. The girl was riding with her Dad and brother and she turned around to talk and highsided and crashed herself. Her injury turned out to be just a bruise and she was home from the Dayton hospital before we were on Saturday evening.

2016: Tour de Donut TEN Sold out 2000 participants.

Tour de Donut on site starts for our group on Wednesday with transportation of equipment, picking up loaned pieces and general set up. While setting up on Thursday a few local boys asked if they could help us unload fencing, restoring our faith in the next generation. They had fun and so did our crew. Candy, Root beers and some folding money for all!

We decided to put up caution tape on the doors to keep out those attempting to pick up their packets before the official start time. This allows our crew to organize and train volunteers and have their dinner before a long evening and Saturday. It worked well and they passed the time with many line hecklers. The first person arrived two hours before the official start of registration.

A horrible weather forecast changed to acceptable weather on ride morning. Temperatures were cooler than normal and windy with threats of rain though it did not actually rain during the ride.
We were nearly drowned with storms while tearing down though everything was loaded and we were on our way to storage by 4pm, probably the earliest ever thanks to the help of the Arcanum High school football team who helped load trailer after trailer of heavy stuff for our tired crew.

Glazer donuts: 2000
Golden crunch top Persian from Charlies Pastry shop in Celina Ohio
Peanut Butter filled donut from Farmer’s Daughter bakery in Arcanum Ohio

1000 dozen glazed yeast donuts by Sutton’s in Arcanum /Ulbrich’s in Piqua( that’s 12000 donuts)

Donut pushers:
Gordon: Mark Abel
Lewisburg: Tom Wesner
Kennedy: John Hawley

It takes hundreds of volunteers to put on The Tour de Donut.
The awesome groups that helped out this year were:
Greenville business and professional women-registration
Arcanum High School Band-National anthem, send off music, Glazer Stop
Arcanum Football- helped with tear down
Orme Hardware- Glazer Stop
Greenville Key club-Registration, Glazer stop, Finishline
Tri-Village Cheerleaders- Kennedy winery stop
Franklin Monroe leaders-Gordon stop
Lewisburg community leaders-Lewisburg stop
Gordon United Methodist youth group- Gordon Stop
Without their help and enthusiasm the ride would not be what it is.

A last minute and unannounced detour sent state highway traffic into Arcanum on ride morning. With the help of local law enforcement we changed the direction of the start back to the “old” way and riders snaked through town to avoid the traffic.
We cannot say thank you enough to the Darke and Preble County Sheriff's Office, Arcanum Fire department, Arcanum Police department, Greenville Township Fire Dept, Tri Village EMS, Pitsburg Fire department, Lewisburg Fire, Police and EMS, Darke county amateur radio club, Darke County EMA, Darke county dispatchers and Mercer County Sheriff for allowing the use of their communications truck. Thanks for keeping our riders safe.

As the ride continues to grow we continue to learn and improve the event for you.

All left over donuts, yogurt, fruit, energy products are given to local nursing homes, cancer organizations and churches.