Rock Lititz goes viral

There was a crash at the end of virtually all of the Rock Lititz criterium category races Sunday afternoon, but it only the category 4 race which was getting the attention on Tuesday.
A 28-second video uploaded to YouTube.com shows the wreck in the last corner of the last lap of the downtown Lititz race. It caught the attention of sports writers from both NBC and Deadspin.com.
“Yikes! It hurts just watching this cycling pileup” exclaims the headline on NBC’s Off The Bench blog. “Sometimes You’re the Cyclist and Sometimes You’re the Pavement Splatter,” exclaimed a sensitive headline on Deadspin.

According to the YouTube poster, the lead cyclist who overshot the turn was able to get up and walk around after the crash. He was later taken away in an ambulance.
It was the first year for the Rock Lititz Tour, which included a road race Saturday between Lititz and Ephrata, a hill climb time trial in West Cocalico Sunday morning and the criterium in downtown Lititz on Sunday afternoon. The tour drew 287 riders. The tour replaced the Tour of Ephrata which was run on the same weekend in previous years. This year’s race used the same road and time trial courses as the Ephrata race but moved the criterium to Lititz’s downtown. The tour was organized by the Road Cycling League.
(Disclosure: My younger son is shown in the video. The only junior in the race, he was unable to avoid the crash but, fortunately was not among the first few and was unhurt. He walked his disabled bike across the line for 15th place.)