Lancaster-based Red Rose Races, the largest bicycle road race promoter in the Mid-Atlantic - and by entrants, possibly the largest in the country - has canceled its races for the remainder of the season and will begin liquidating assets, said David Butterworth, the company’s controlling partner.
Butterworth sent an e-mail Wednesday morning to riders who participated in last Saturday’s Millport Road Race. In the message, Butterworth said the races have been “suspended indefinitely,” beginning with this Saturday’s Rapho Road Race. Nearly 100 riders had registered for the race before the on-line registration was closed on Monday afternoon.
Butterworth said today that “past and current expenses have snowballed out of control, until we were unable to cover expenses.” Although he declined to be specific, the primary expenses related to personnel costs. Rich Ruoff, the founder of RedRoseRaces.com and the company’s only full-time employee, has resigned, Butterworth said.
Ruoff did not return a call for comment today.
The RedRoseRaces.com website remained up today with no indication that races had been canceled.
“At this point we’re not sure what the future holds for bike racing in Lancaster County this season, but we are working to try to preserve a few races,” said Butterworth, who said he has spoken to officials from USA Cycling and from the Pennsylvania Cycling Association about the situation. Likely any races that could be revived would be late in the season.
Attempting to hold any races is complicated because the races themselves are assets of the company and would have to be sold or the company’s debts satisfied before they could be held, he said.
The announcement leaves a void in bicycle racing on the East Coast. RedRoseRaces events draw riders to Lancaster County nearly every weekend between March and August. Those riders come from as far away as New York, Virginia and Ohio. The largest races drew more than 450 entries.
Rob Allen, whose Spinners Cycling bike shop in Leola sponsors a racing team and who races in RedRoseRaces himself, said his phone has been ringing off the hook for the past few days as news of RedRoseRaces’ demise spread.
“It’s going to impact a lot of people personally,” said Allen, noting that some people had registered for the entire RedRoseRaces season. “People took off work and basically built their whole schedule around the season.”
The extensive calendar of RedRoseRaces events was unique, he said.
“If you look at racing in North America, this was just an awesome thing we had,” Allen said. “I guess it takes us back to the days of driving to Maryland and Virginia. It was kind of a special thing we had here. I guess it was too good to be true.”
RedRoseRaces other assets, including the custom-built trailer used at races, signs and the sound system, will also be sold after buyers are found and prices established, Butterworth said.
The company’s debts include the advance registration fees paid by racers. Typically, those fees are between $27-$32 per race. Butterworth said he would attempt to make “restitution to everyone owed money in some proportionate and fair way, but this will take time.”
Ruoff, he said, has attempted to find additional financial backing this week, but has been unsuccessful.
Ruoff began RedRoseRaces five years ago and has seen a steady increase in the number of events and attendees. Late last year, RedRoseRaces merged with Butterworth’s Pro Am Races and consolidated his races in the RedRoseRaces calendar.
Butterworth said they were seeing record attendance this year.
“The season was going well in terms of entries. It was just a matter of past obligations and spending just spun out of control and doomed the current season,” he said. With the weight of past debt and additional costs, “the bottom fell out financially.”
Allen said he is hopeful area bike shops will step up and fill some of the void left by the sudden departure of RedRoseRaces. His shop and team now organize two races.
“I’m not panicking, because we still have a few training races, but I’m bumming. Our team is bumming,” said Allen.
