By TIM KELLY
“They saw us coming!” Joe Schneider said of the fifth annual Tour de Donut. “We may have to diversify our awards with different categories now. It might not be fair to simply rate the donuts as we’ve done in the past.”
The Tour, brainchild of Gardens resident Carl Wanek, is a 10-mile group bicycle ride from Wanek’s home to each and every mom-and-pop donut shop in Ocean City.
It begins at Dot’s Pastry Shop at 3148 Asbury Avenue and zig-zags north to Brown’s Restaurant. This year’s version attracted about a dozen riders and sampled the wares of 11 donut shops and restaurants offering fresh donuts.
“Some people think this is a race and try to speed past us to the next shop,” said Mike DeVlieger, an Ocean City councilman and longtime Tour de Donuts participant. “This isn’t about speed; it’s about sampling quality.”
In several previous years, the “best donut” ranking frequently came down to the last two stops on the Tour – Oves Beach Grill on East Fourth Street and the Boardwalk and Brown’s Restaurant at 110 Boardwalk.
“It used to be between these two for the freshest and tastiest,” Wanek said, “but this time a lot of shops that weren’t in the running before seriously upped their game.”
Oves fan Bob Anderson, of nearby Fourth Street, agreed. He was hosting his five grandchildren who live in West Chester, Pa.
“I think it’s a great, great thing,” Anderson said of the competition. “In Philly, they do similar (contests) with cheesesteaks and pizza. Ocean City has some super donut shops. Why not put them to the test? When they compete, it makes all the donuts better.”
This is not to imply the Tour is all serious business. “It’s a great morning activity that spreads a lot of happiness,” Schneider said. “We had our laughs, and we saw many smiling faces.”
Gray skies, 66-degree temperatures, a threat of rain and 95 percent humidity did not stop the riders or the donut makers. In fact, a break in the clouds gave way to sunshine as the bikes pulled up in front of Oves.
They were clad in specially-designed Tour de Donuts T-shirts and lined up for a group photo.
“Now we are ‘those people,’” Schneider said, apparently meaning that the photo-op literally stopped traffic and disrupted the normal flow of people on the boards.
Oves donut man Bookie DeSimone seemed unconcerned he hadn’t heard of the Tour, nor was he aware it was on the way.
“It’s cool,” DeSimone said of the impending judgment. “We offer a fine selection of donuts.”
His boss, Tom Oves Sr., laughed when informed about the event. “Is that today? Those guys are crazy, but they know a great product,” Oves said.
“We will put ours up against any donut anywhere, not just in Ocean City,” he continued
After the riding ended, the group convened to Wanak’s garage/man cave, where Schneider said deliberation took place and a secret written vote was taken.
As suggested, the riders give out the awards in categories this time. The results, according to DeVlieger:
Browns and Oves: Hall of Fame
Nauti Donuts: Best Overall
Mallons: Almost as good as their calling card sticky buns.
Bob’s Grill: Freshest
Dot’s: A great donut and Ocean City staple
Cathy’s: Best cream-filled
Fractured Prune: Best selection
Bashful Banana: Healthiest
Drip ‘n’ Scoop: Bacon Me Crazy did so
Ward’s Pastry: Best value
So there you have it. Let the public arguments commence. Agree or disagree, just don’t forget Ocean City is a donut town.
Joe Schneider, left, and Carl Wanek are veterans of the Tour de Donut.
