There are local bicycle races scheduled both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, but that is likely the last time it will happen until next spring.
Following Saturday’s Deodate Road Race, just northwest of the Lancaster County line, and Sunday’s Christiana Criterium, there is only one more road race on the calender for 2009. That race is the Strasburg Road Race on Aug. 29.
Last weekend’s Tour of Lancaster County was the last local road race scheduled this year by local race promoter All That is Good.
By late Friday morning, there were 90 pre-registered riders for the Bike Line-sponsored Deodate race. Registration closes Friday, at 9 p.m. There is no same-day registration.
There were 96 riders pre-registered for Christiana Cycling’s 18th Annual Tour de Christiana Criterium. On-line pre-registration has already closed, but same-day registration will be held. There is a $10 additional charge for same-day registration.
Racers doing the Deodate race will be only a few miles - but likely several hours - away from riders attempting the Nightmare Tour on Saturday. That 178-mile ride follows the perimeter of Lancaster County. Nightmare riders will start after dawn in Marietta and ride south. The first Nightmare riders to reach the area north of Elizabethtown near the Deodate race course will likely arrive there in late afternoon. The last of the racers, the elite category 1,2 &3 racers, will start their 50-mile race at 11:15 a.m. and finish in about two hours.
