The 2009 Millersville Road Race, an example image provided to the Lititz Record Express by Rich Ruoff
Local bicycle race organizer Rich Ruoff received permission from Lititz borough council recently to hold the third stage of a planned Tour de Lititz in the streets of the northern Lancaster County town on April 29.
The Sunday afternoon criterium in the town center will follow a mountain time trial, in the Middle Creek area, that morning and a road race on country roads outside Lititz the day before.
The race, held by the Chester County-based Road Cycling League, will almost certainly replace the Tour de Ephrata. The Ephrata race was also held by the Road Cycling League last year, on the same weekend and followed the same format. Details of the race will be forthcoming on the Road Cycling League website.
Tour de Lititz bicycle races have not been held since those from 1993-1996. Those races were organized by the now-closed Bicycle World bike shop in Lititz.
Ruoff is familiar to local races, having previously been the director of RedRoseRaces.com and AllthatisGood.com. Speaking to the Lititz council at their recent meeting, Ruoff said he hoped the race will become an annual event. He promised the criterium will bring professional and amateur riders to the town and spectators numbering in the thousands. It was chronicled in an article in the Lititz Record Express newspaper, partially reprinted below:
Tour de Lititz
Weekend bike race expected to attract thousands
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
“I propose that we put on a bicycle race here in Lititz,” Rich Ruoff, operations manager for Pro Cycling Tour, said in his brief address to borough council Tuesday night.
The plan to debut what is expected to become an annual event, and possibly a premiere race in the region, was unanimously approved.
The weekend of stage racing, to be known as the Tour de Lititz, is now set for April 28-29.
“It’s like the Tour de France, but a lot shorter,” Ruoff explained.
Stage one, on Saturday, will be a road race through neighboring townships. Stage two, Sunday morning, is a mountainous time trial near Middle Creek. The final stage, the Lititz Criterium, brings hundreds of cyclists through the borough’s downtown streets for a fast-paced, spectator-friendly finish.
A meeting of local officials was held last week and Ruoff has met all borough requirements. Council President Karen Weibel added that there will be little to no cost for taxpayers, and the event is expected to bring thousands of shoppers and diners to downtown Lititz.
Ruoff described the event as a “festival scenario” that will “run all afternoon” on Sunday. The final race, the fastest of the series, will be the pro men, who will do 45 laps on the short downtown course in a little over an hour. He said there will be announcers, a staging area, an expo and other related activities.
“We might still talk about bringing in a band, just to add to the festival,” he said.
In addition to the pros, there will be races for children and various levels of amateurs, men and women. As many as 500 cyclists could be in town for the weekend, and that means even more spectators.
“I would expect in the first year to do 2,500 to 3,000 people just around downtown,” Ruoff said. “Our goal is not just for this year. We want to try to make this grow from year to year, and make it one of the bigger amateur/pro-am stage races on the east coast, if not the biggest.”
“What kind of pros?” asked council member Todd Fulginiti.
“Lance Armstrong will not be here,” Ruoff was quick to point out.
He explained that the race is part of an amateur development branch that attracts regional-based professionals, some of which go on to become world champions, like Marty Nothstein.
“I doubt we’ll be flying teams in from Europe for the first year,” he said, “but these are the riders that ultimately end up on Olympic teams.”
Will the road to Rio de Janeiro, site of the 2016 Summer Olympics, go through Lititz? We’ll find out this April.
