For its third year in Troy, the Tour de Donut ride will once again start and end around the square of historic downtown Troy on Saturday, August 24, 2019.
Last year’s event in Troy brought in 2700 riders, the largest participation number to date. Being Ohio’s largest one-day bicycle event, 2018 cyclists traveled to the Tour de Donut from 28 states and Canada.
For 2019, the Tour de Donut once again welcomes Be The Match as their official charity partner. For the runners/walkers out there, Be The Match invites you to participate in the Buckeye Donut Dash. This 5k will begin in downtown Troy at 8:30am on Saturday, August 24, 2019 running simultaneously with the Tour de Donut. The Buckeye Donut Dash raises funds to help patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. With your support in fundraising, you help more patients afford transplants, add potential marrow donors to the Be The Match Registry and make more life-saving research possible.
The Tour de Donut is a unique bicycle event in which participants’ ability to eat donuts is just as important as their ability to ride their bicycle. During this timed bicycle event, riders visit donut stops along the course. For each donut the rider will eat (and keeps down), five minutes will be deducted from their ride time. The Glazer, a special donut stop, will return by popular demand. Each donut eaten at this stop is worth a ten minute deduction in ride time. A competition will be held between area donut shops during the Troy Strawberry Festival in June to choose the coveted special glazer donut.
Traditionally there have been three distances offered for the Tour de Donut, 16, 32, & 64 miles, but in 2019, an additional distance will be introduced. A 10-mile ride on the bike path will be offered for those beginners or young riders who want to participate, but do not feel comfortable riding on the road with other riders due to car traffic.
The Donut Mini will return with one donut stop. The Full will offer two donut stops. And, for the experienced cyclist, the Double D Challenge will have three donut stops. New this year, the winner of each category for each ride will receive a Championship Jersey compliments of Kettering Health Network.
A free children’s bike ride will take place at 8 a.m. on N. Market Street. Anyone interested can register the day of the event at The Rec parking lot in downtown Troy. All children participating will receive a free T-shirt, finisher medal and all the donuts and milk they care to eat courtesy of Orthopedic Associates of Southwest Ohio.
Due to packet pickup on Friday, August 24th, an evening event has been designed to welcome riders, runners and residents to this beautiful area. This event, “Donut Jam”, will highlight bands, a donut eating contest, beer and food trucks, many children’s activities and the popular shops and restaurants in downtown Troy.
Saturday’s festivities will begin early with registration starting at 5:30 am. Not to worry, breakfast foods will be available throughout downtown and at food trucks. Everyone will be gearing up for the 8:30 am start of both the Tour de Donut and the Buckeye Donut Dash. More musical entertainment and children’s activities, along with a visit by the Columbus Zoo, will be a delightful way to spend the morning.
Online registration is open for both Cyclists and runners/walkers.
Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas including Tour de Donut set-up, the children’s activities area and beer pouring from 11am – 11pm on Friday, August 23 and from 8am – 2pm on Saturday, August 24. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Miami County Visitors Bureau at 937-339-1044.
