The first stage of the three-race Tour de Ephrata will be held in southern Lebanon County next month after the West Earl Township supervisors rejected an application to hold it in their area.
The Jackson Road Race will be on a five-mile circuit near Myerstown on Saturday, April 26.
The course replaces the Farmersville Challenge course, that started and ended last year at the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center campus near Brownstown.
After that race last year, West Earl supervisors told Red Rose Races Director Rich Ruoff that the Farmersville race would not be welcomed back. At a meeting early this month, township police and fire officials related problems with the race dating back to 2004. Previously, they complained about volunteers and residents being “cussed out” by riders and a “blatant disregard for the safety” of volunteers, according to newspaper accounts of supervisors’ meetings.
There was a large crash in the sprint finish of last year’s Category 3 race. The course was closed for at least a half-hour following a crash in the Category 3 race. About 15 riders went down in the pile-up and at least two were taken by ambulance to local hospitals.
Ruoff apologized to the supervisors and emergency officials at the recent meeting and appealed for the opportunity to hold the race again. They sent him back with a request for more information before eventually rejecting the race. They did however grant Ruoff permission to hold the Brownstown Road Race in the township on June 28.
The Jackson Road Race will be on a rolling rural course between Schaefferstown and Myerstown. The parking and registration area for the race is on the campus of the Eastern Lebanon School District.
The Saturday road race will be followed by an uphill individual time trial on Sunday morning and a criterium race in downtown Ephrata on Sunday afternoon. Category 5 racers are permitted in the road race only. Online registration is on BikeReg.com. This morning, 85 riders had already registered for the three-race tour since the registration opened last weekend.
