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Early in the morning on Saturday, July 15, more than 100 bikers were gearing up for the Sixth Annual Tour de Donut bicycle event in Luverne.
The competition, organized by Dave Duffy and volunteers, draws bikers from as far away as Minneapolis, Grand Forks and Kansas City to ride bikes, eat donuts and have fun.
The event is broken into four routes based on distance.
•The untimed 7-mile or 11-mile fun routes around Luverne on the Loop and Ashby Trail.
•The timed one stop 19-mile route to Beaver Creek and back.
•The timed 35-mile route with stops in Beaver Creek and Steen.
•The timed 50-mile route through Beaver Creek, Steen, Hills and Lester, Iowa
At stops in the timed routes, bikers could eat donuts to shave minutes off their final time.
For each donut eaten, six minutes is taken off a biker’s ride time. Plus, there was a fritter bonus of three minutes for each one eaten.
Many riders eat one to three donuts in the events, but there were two individuals who ate 12 donuts each.
Eating the 12 donuts resulted in 72 minutes taken off their total ride time, which offered a big advantage for those who could stomach the extra weight.
There were 26 bikers in the seven- and 11-mile routes combined.
The 19-mile route had 13 riders, 36 riders took on the 35-mile route, and 26 riders braved the 50-mile excursion.
Results in 19-mile race
In the men’s division
First Place went to Rory Davis, age 13, from Brandon in one hour, 17 minutes flat.
Second Place was Stephen Davis, age 47, from Brandon in 1:17:28.
Third Place was Jase Arp, age 19, from Luverne in 1:28:00.
Fourth place was Jerad Arp, age 43, from Luverne in 1:30:21.
In the women’s division
First Place went to Kathryn Davis, age 48, from Brandon in 1:23:12.
Second Place was Nicole Christoffer, age 53, from Sioux Falls in 1:28:22.
Third Place was Nancy Van Overschelde, age 52, from Sioux Falls in 1:47:45.
Fourth Place was Paula Jelken, age 59, from Luverne in 1:48:12.
Results in 35-mile race
In the men’s division
First Place went to Craig Carlson, age 66, from Sioux Falls in 1:30:48.
Second Place was William Ward, age 26, from Sioux Falls in 1:40:43.
Third Place was Jon Alvey, age 40, from Sioux Falls in 1:51:12.
Fourth Place was Jeff Ptacek, age 58, from Sioux Falls in 2:01:00.
In the women’s division
First Place went to Tricia Way, age 48, from Mitchell in 2:27:39.
Second Place was Nicole Van Ginkel, age 41, from Rock Valley in 2:28:14.
Third Place was Kellen Boice, age 41, from Sioux Falls in 2:30:45.
Fourth Place was Katina Voje, age 47, from Mitchell in 2:31:00.
Results in the 50-miler
In the men’s division
First Place went to Nathan Rham, age 42, from Grand Forks in 1:44:50.
Second Place was Shane Taylor, age 55, from Mitchell in 2:09:37.
Third Place was Samuel Zollicker, age 36, from Sioux Falls in 2:31:56.
Fourth Place was Matthew Kennedy, age 24, from Pipestone in 2:44:01.
In the women’s division
First Place went to Meredith Keith, age 36, from Sioux Falls in 2:56:10.
Second Place was Grace DeVries, age 57, from Worthington in 3:02:24.
Third Place was Tammy Schnaible, age 64, from Sioux Falls in 3:13:31.
Fourth Place was Alexis Wilson, age 25, from Kansas City in 4:02:25.
The Tour de Donut event partners with “Jennica’s Journey” for Jennica Arp, who was born with cystic fibrosis.
Jill Arp, Jennica’s mother, said, “She absolutely LOVES donuts, so volunteering at Donut Stop #1 in Beaver Creek is her favorite.”
“Unfortunately, the air quality and Jennica’s current lung health prevented her from helping us at this year’s Tour de Donut.”
Jennica’s Journey volunteer crew served up donuts and met all of the riders at the Beaver Creek stop.