Last Friday, race promoter David Butterworth cancelled his Deodate Road Race. This Friday, it was Rich Ruoff’s turn.
Ruoff, former director of RedRoseRaces.com, cancelled his Londonderry-Conoy Road Race late this morning. In an e-mail message sent to registered riders, Ruoff wrote that “registration is slow and I’m not in a position to absorb a loss.”
There were 116 riders pre-registered for the race by the close of online registration Thursday evening. Ruoff had planned to allow same-day registration on Saturday.
Ruoff asked registered riders to allow their registration fees to be directed to the Race Avenue Criterium, on Aug. 23 - the last local race of the season.
Racers will have another chance this weekend. On Sunday, the 17th Annual Tour de Christiana Criterium will be held in Christiana, a town at the southeastern edge of Lancaster County. That race was resurrected last month by David Felpel and George Metzler, two founders of the original race. By the close of on-line registration Thursday evening, 115 riders had pre-registered. Same-day registration will also be available.
The Christiana race - and 15 other events - was cancelled at the beginning of June by David Butterworth, controlling partner of RedRoseRaces.com. Butterworth said the race promotion company was losing money. (You can read the accounts of RedRoseRaces’ collapse by Butterworth and his former partner, Ruoff, under the Quick Links at right, under “RRR: Butterworth’s side” and “RRR: Ruoff’s side.”)
Since the collapse, Butterworth held two races under his Pro-Am Cycling banner. The Deodate race was cancelled. Ruoff, in conjunction with local racing teams, put on two races and helped with a third before cancelling Saturday’s Londonderry-Conoy race.
