Message from the Race Director

Thank you everyone for a great 2010 Tour De Donut! I am happy to be taking over the reigns but will miss Dave Sweeney, who had organized the race for the last ten years. Dave, your contributions to the TDD will be missed and are much appreciated.

Before taking this role, I had ridden in the race for three years from three different perspectives. One year I started clear in the back and tried to catch up. I never did, ending up in the middle of the pack. The next year, I started in the front and stayed in the slipstream of a bunch of riders much more talented than me. Finally, I rode with a friend recreationally and ate a few donuts. Those perspectives helped me better think about your Tour De Donut ride.

One thing that concerned me greatly last year was safety. In my opinion, we had too many preventable accidents last year. Thankfully, the Staunton Ambulance Service sponsored the ride and provided great support. Still, I think we can do more to prevent accidents.

We are teaming with Fleet Feet to implement RFID timing for the first time. We will have to manually enter the donut counts, but this will clear up the logjam at the finish!

Also, we are asking the recreational riders to let the speedsters start in front this year. Riding at 20-25mph on someone's wheel can be a hair-raising experience, especially if you have no idea if the people in front or around you know what to do -- how to hold a line, signal slowing, point out road hazards, etc. This request is necessary because the Tour De Donut has grown in popularity and because we need to reduce the risk of injury in the first mile or two.

I have been collecting a lot of lessons learned and suggestions from previous years, and I welcome your comments. Feel free to drop me a note to tell me your favorite Tour De Donut story. You are a member of an exclusive bicycling family!

Sincerely yours, Christian Hasselberg, Tour De Donut Race Director