Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic

Although the name has changed to the Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic, you can still count on the fun and excitement of past years. Thrill to top-notch professional bike racing with the Iron Hill Pro Men’s Criterium and the Brumbaugh Wealth Management Pro Women’s Criterium. Enjoy top amateur racing in the Rothman Institute Amateur Criterium. Have a blast watching the Tolsdorf Trike Challenge. Sign up your children for the West Chester Dental Arts Kid’s Race. Enjoy the Kid’s Zone and Community Festival. Mark your calendar: August 12, downtown West Chester. . . for the thrill of it!

Every year, the Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic, sponsored by the Benchmark Federal Credit Union and presented by the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce, brings thousands of race spectators and their families onto the streets of West Chester where they get an up-close look at top athletes as they race in the downtown streets at speeds up to 35 mph and more. This year’s Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic is expected to be the largest turnout since the race’s inception.

“This is an exceptional, familyfriendly event in the heart of our community. We are so excited, as the only federal credit union to exclusively serve Chester County, to sponsor the Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic and have our staff volunteering,” says David LaSala, Benchmark Federal Credit Union President and CEO.

In addition to top-notch professional bike racing, the day will be packed with lots of family-friendly events and activities throughout West Chester.

Truth be told, this day of nailbiting competitive racing will have started much earlier with the Rothman Institute Amateur Cycling Trials at 8:00am and running until 3:00pm on the campus of Bayard Rustin High School in West Chester. This series of nine criterium-style races is open to Cat. 2,3, 4, 5 men and women riders, as well as masters 35+, 45+, 55+, 65+ and juniors 9 to 18. The top qualifiers in selected categories will help determine the field for the aforementioned Amateur Finals.

Enjoy all that downtown West Chester has to offer during a day of racing excitement and family fun for everyone. Welcome to the Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic, sponsored by Benchmark Federal Credit Union.

Registration for the Tolsdorf Trike Challenge is now open! Get your team together. The Tolsdorf Trike Challenge is an adult tricycle relay race - a series of hot-handed, cold-blooded heats down Gay Street on adult-sized tricycles. We’ll provide the tricycles, you provide the riders. Any business, group or organization is invited to enter as many 5-member teams as they wish. The victorious team members will be awarded VIP passes to the lavish Crit Club and will receive the coveted Trike Challenge Trophy. Visit the website for race rules and registration.

And, for those interested in being part of the excitement, we need your help! Hundreds of volunteers are needed to make the Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic a success. If you would like to act as a goodwill ambassador for the event, please consider volunteering. From race-day set-up and take-down to course marshaling and traffic control, there are many ways you can be a vital part of this event. All volunteers receive an official Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic T-shirt and a great view of the racing action! If you are 18 or older, sign up online today!

Schedule of Events

Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic is a day of fun and excitement for the entire family beginning at 3:30pm with the West

Chester Dental Arts Kids’ Race. Sign up your children to participate in a series of age-determined sprints for children 3 to 10 years old. At 4:00pm the Kids’ Zone and Community Festival open with a great choice of family-friendly activities. Next up, 4:30pm finds adultsized tricycles taking over Gay Street for the Tolsdorf Trike Challenge, a doubleelimination tag-team tricycle race. The excitement continues to build, first with the Rothman Institute Amateur Criterium at 5:45pm (Trials at 8:00am at Bayard Rustin High School), followed by the Brumbaugh Wealth Management Pro Women’s Criterium at 6:45pm, culminating at 8pm with the Iron Hill Pro Men’s Criterium.