Originally Posted by jeremywhitehorn

i'm sure we're all in shape enough at some point to keep up with the pace of the doughnut ride, it's the hellish take-no-prisoners pack riding that scares me. i can't believe we're talking about the doughnut ride. we're such roadie scum! i'm shaving my legs later; who's in?

Originally Posted by Flimflam

I'm far from being roadie scum on my clapped out old Centurion, but I'm definitely in for the donut ride - my only concern is holding the hammer down enough to keep up. I think I'm fairly quick compared to the average person on a bike - but that's not who rides the donut and I'm probably not that fast for long stretches - I rode in a peleton on the ride for heart for a while and had trouble keeping pace after a while, though I was on platforms and not in super shape at the time I still dropped off the pack. I rode back from Niagara Falls (100 miles almost to the dot on my route) the first time in 8.5 hours including lots of breaks, which isn't too bad, but it's no 23+mph constant (I ride more like around 19-21mph mostly as I keep in the same gear all the time). I'll be pushing more on the Hairshirt, which I've not done before.

I'm down for the challenge though

Oh and I've only had my legs shaved due to compromised sobriety and girls who thought it'd be funny... yeah, it wasn't and it's not.

As for drafting, I prefer to pull - I hate being behind people too close in the open country, let alone the city - I'm not used to riding in close quarters, so I'm fine with doing some work out front. Drafting unannounced hasn't really happened to me yet, but I've pulled a few buddies through town (places like across the Bloor/Danforth viaduct) which is cool by me. I ride inconsistent hours, and most of the riders I encounter are either way slower or don't seem to ride the same route for long enough, as I stick to the major arteries for my near-daily cross-town riding (Bloor/Danforth being the main drag). Drafting doesn't seem to make much sense to me in town unless it's hella windy, that's about the only thing that'll make me tuck in to the drops, I mostly ride on my hoods/tops.

Edit, the donut is more like 100km? Hmm, well I rode to Cambridge which is about 100kms, I got there in about 4 hours on platforms with a backpack and a few breaks along the way - what's the usual donut ride time? (Desperately trying to see if I'm able to save face and do this thing )