You know how at least one "Amazing Race" episode involves food?

Fittingly, host Phil Keoghan's cycling tour across America now includes a food story.

And it happened in Nebraska on Thursday, during his ride into Lincoln.

Keoghan said Friday at his promotional stop at GNC's SouthPointe Pavilions location that when he and his crew hit Nebraska, the hot topic had been kolaches.

Why?

His crew includes Emmy-winning cameraman Petr Cikhart, who is from the Czech Republic. Cikhart is shooting video for Keoghan's blog, which is chronicling his trip.

"We were biking along when Petr asked if I've ever had a kolache," Keoghan said. "I told him no, I haven't."

Cikhart explained that Nebraska boasts one of the nation's largest Czech communities and that he needed to try the country's favorite pastry.

Hearing that, a guest rider called a friend who went to Wilber and bought some.

"All of a sudden a guy turns up on the side of the road with a box of kolaches," Keoghan said.

Of course, they stopped to eat them.

"Sadly, I couldn't fully savor them," Keoghan said. "The last 48 hours I was really struggling with dehydration, and I couldn't eat very well."

Keoghan was feeling better Friday, when more than a 100 fans met him at GNC, which is sponsoring his 40-day, 3,500-mile "Ride Across America."

Keoghan is riding to promote healthy lifestyles and bring awareness to the battle against multiple sclerosis. He left Los Angeles on March 28 and plans to reach New York on May 9 - the day before the "Amazing Race" season finale airs on CBS.

While in Lincoln, he sat at a table outside GNC and signed autographs, posed for photos and chatted with fans. Many of them had his book, "No Opportunity Wasted," with them to sign.

Fans on hand included:

- Jarrett Fowler, a 32-year-old second-grade teacher in Utica, who was there to "beg to be on the show." She arrived with her passport, complete application and partner, her sister-in-law Lillian. "They've never had sister-in-laws," she said.

- Rebecca Zieg, a 28-year-old massage therapist, who asked Keoghan to do his "eyebrow thing." Keoghan did so for a picture.

- Kierra Dunkin, a 13-year-old student, who had Keoghan sign her science fair project on MS. Her grandmother has lived with the disease for 36 years.

- Jim Murphy and Toni Churchill, two Lincoln post office employees, who provided the afternoon's funniest moment. They asked Keoghan to re-create "Race's" elimination scene with them. Churchill also had Keoghan sign a Travelocity gnome.

As for the kolaches, well, the story ends with a broken bike.

While they were stopped, the wind caught Keoghan's parked bike. Crew member Gregg Peart lunged to prevent it from falling on Keoghan, who had taken the camera to film Cikhart enjoying a kolache.

Keoghan avoided the bike, but Peart wasn't so lucky. He tripped, fell and landed on it, bending the bike's derailer, which The Bike Rack in Lincoln repaired. The local bike company donated its repair fees to the MS Society.

"It's all the kolaches' fault," Cikhart joked.

And Peart?

"He rolled over like the Michelin Man," Keoghan said. "Only his pride was hurt."

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.