Road Bike Racing - Attention Mid-Atlantic Racers

Chester County Velo-Iron Hill Brewery (my team) along with Team Human Zomm have joined forces to put on a great late season road race, The First Annual Cheyney Challenge, September, 7th!!

Course: Starting at famous Cheyney University in Thornbury Township, PA, this 10.1K road course consists of classic Chester County road riding & the famous Glen Mills Hill. Ranging from 2 to 8%, this 1.5k climb will allow strong riders to up the pace/pain. The course definitely is suited for all-arounders & resembles many ‘Classics’- style courses with a little of everything–long flat sections, a nice climb & technical decent with a flat, fast, long sprint to end the day.

For those who haven't heard of Cheyney or Thornbury it's located 5 miles outside of West Chester, PA. The roads are in great condition and there should be very little traffic, we are trying to get a rolling closure but not certain we can. Here's a link to register, http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=6974 your support is greatly appreciated.

What's the breakdown on the P123 race? I may be able to convince some teammates to head up there.

cool. I havent raced in what feels like forever and keep having conflicts with upcoming events on the calender. I hope I can make the trip up.

What's the breakdown on the P123 race? I may be able to convince some teammates to head up there.

Not sure, I will try to find out for you. I know we are trying to gather some primes as well and hoping to have a KOM prize. Human Zoom puts on a crit in the spring and the cash and prizes are pretty decent.

cool. I havent raced in what feels like forever and keep having conflicts with upcoming events on the calender. I hope I can make the trip up.

Let me know if your coming and we can finally meet face to face.

I'm in for sure, John runs great races.

I signed up and right now I'm the only cat 5. Rawr!

Hey, where's the equality?



Cat 5/Citizens A 40 km 8:10 AM $30 Medals/Prizes 50
Women's Open 60 km 10:15 AM $25 250 in Medals/Prizes 50

Women go further and even have a chance at money, but pay less. I may have to file a grievance with the union.

Wanted to give this a bump as the race is this Sunday, while it may rain on Saturday Sunday is looking good. So if you can please come out, it's going to be a great race.

Hey, where's the equality?



Cat 5/Citizens A 40 km 8:10 AM $30 Medals/Prizes 50
Women's Open 60 km 10:15 AM $25 250 in Medals/Prizes 50

Women go further and even have a chance at money, but pay less. I may have to file a grievance with the union.

You're cat5 you get no respect:roflmao2: Just kidding, womens open is open to all women, it has to be better.

Should be a great race, won't be there, but I love riding that area. Enjoy!

Some of my teamates are heading up for it. Youse guys are in trouble.

Wanted to give this a bump as the race is this Sunday, while it may rain on Saturday Sunday is looking good. So if you can please come out, it's going to be a great race.

I have 2 team mates who are heading up for the 3/4 - father son duo. Father is the craftiest racer I know, wins a race ea. year but gets dropped every group ride, and isnt even that fast of a sprinter, just very crafty.

I was planning to go, but my wife put the kibash on it as it'll be a 12 - ish hrs. day away from home if I didnt get caught up in eagles gameday traffic, which I would. Bumming big time, that course description actually looks to suit me very well.

Good luck with your race, I hope it goes well and becomes a mainstay on the PA calender!

I have 2 team mates who are heading up for the 3/4 - father son duo. Father is the craftiest racer I know, wins a race ea. year but gets dropped every group ride, and isnt even that fast of a sprinter, just very crafty.

I was planning to go, but my wife put the kibash on it as it'll be a 12 - ish hrs. day away from home if I didnt get caught up in eagles gameday traffic, which I would. Bumming big time, that course description actually looks to suit me very well.

Good luck with your race, I hope it goes well and becomes a mainstay on the PA calender!

I'm in for the 3/4, as are a few of my teamates....there is very dismal pre-reg numbers thus far, which is a shame. I'm totally burnt out at the moment, but doing this race just to support HumanZoom/John Lenart becuse they run such great events. We'll see!

Some of my teamates are heading up for it. Youse guys are in trouble.
What team and what race?


I'm in for the 3/4, as are a few of my teamates....there is very dismal pre-reg numbers thus far, which is a shame. I'm totally burnt out at the moment, but doing this race just to support HumanZoom/John Lenart becuse they run such great events. We'll see!
Thanks for coming out, I will be in the lead car for the 3/4 race. John has been great to work with and knows how to run a race, we were supposed to have this in July but the comeback crit took the date at the last minute. We're hoping to get enough people racing to put the word out next year that this is a good race, we will have it earlier in the season for sure. Looks like the rain will move out saturday so we should have some day of registrants as well.


Should be a great race, won't be there, but I love riding that area. Enjoy!
Shoot me an email if you ever want to ride out that way, I live out there. Is your wife on the phone right now?



Good luck with your race, I hope it goes well and becomes a mainstay on the PA calender!
Thanks, we're planning on making it a annual race.

I have 2 team mates who are heading up for the 3/4 - father son duo. Father is the craftiest racer I know, wins a race ea. year but gets dropped every group ride, and isnt even that fast of a sprinter, just very crafty.



Cool guy to race with too. He and I have talked at a number of races if it's the guy I'm thinking about (Euro dude, Belgian I thought?)

^portuguese

What team and what race?


Thanks for coming out, I will be in the lead car for the 3/4 race. John has been great to work with and knows how to run a race, we were supposed to have this in July but the comeback crit took the date at the last minute. We're hoping to get enough people racing to put the word out next year that this is a good race, we will have it earlier in the season for sure. Looks like the rain will move out saturday so we should have some day of registrants as well.


Shoot me an email if you ever want to ride out that way, I live out there. Is your wife on the phone right now?


Thanks, we're planning on making it a annual race.


I'll be in the Philly Ciclismo kit, black oakley radars....if I'm off the front or off the back, be sure to give me a push or a draft eh? hahaha

Cool guy to race with too. He and I have talked at a number of races if it's the guy I'm thinking about (Euro dude, Belgian I thought?)

I think your thinking of Nick Bax's father, Ad. I remember him bringing Nick to tradzone to do the C race. Now look at him, one step away from a pro signing.

There's a couple father/son combos in MABRA.

Oh, Croadie, my team is Latitude/ABRT. Some cat 3's and some cat 2's.

I think your thinking of Nick Bax's father, Ad. I remember him bringing Nick to tradzone to do the C race. Now look at him, one step away from a pro signing.

There's a couple father/son combos in MABRA.

Oh, Croadie, my team is Latitude/ABRT. Some cat 3's and some cat 2's.

Ah, I am a lowly cat4 so they won't get a chance to put a hurtin on me. Glad they're making the drive up.

Sweet course and nice turnout. Definitely one to put on the calendar for next year.

Sweet course and nice turnout. Definitely one to put on the calendar for next year.
Thanks! We will have this race again next year, hopefully a little earlier in the year. It was my first time putting on a race and it was stressful, yet exciting but working with John Lenart was great, he knows how to run races. We did get a lot of positive feedback from the racers



Oh, Croadie, my team is Latitude/ABRT. Some cat 3's and some cat 2's.

I believe it was your teammate, Matt who took a spill on the final lap on the downhill before the finish. When I heard crash on the radio I thought I was going to see carnage, it's a 45-50mph downhill. He was in good shape considering, some road rash and needed some stitches. The other guy who went down got up and rode in. Both were lucky.

Some more notes for anyone who goes next year:

- Take a climbing/ascending 11-26 instead of a pancake flat crit-oriented 12-25 (especially when you can't get into the 25) or you'll end up suffering like I did.
- Use a trainer to warm up as the roads tend to be pretty crowded and there aren't any shoulders.
- Signs would make the parking lot easier to find.
- I like the fall date. Putting it earlier in the year might just make it conflict with more events. The only race in the area I know of on the same weekend was the DE state time trial which was scheduled for Saturday.

WCRoadie....nice to meet you as well! Got your PM, and since I've only got good things to say I'll let everyone else hear as well (some good PR).

1. The course ROCKS. There was everything; climbs, descents, rollers, flats. Regarding the course itself, I'd agree with everyone else that having the finish at the bottom of the hill is a bitter bothersome. If you made the S/F after the first right hand turn, about 500m up the road it would smooth everything out alot more. The railroad tracks were fun, bunny hopping them right before the climb made for a very hectic first 200m of the hill. Other than that, change nothing.

2. Facilities - more port-a-johns are a must. as well, having someone to sweep the parking lot prior to the race might be a good idea...there were tons of glass shards everywhere (I actually got a flat 20 mins before the race from a piece of glass in my tire).


As for how I did - I did alright, for being completely burnt out and exhausted from school being back in session I'll take my 20th place. Was climbing fantastic and being a jerk, trying to shed people up the climbs which worked quite well. However, by the sixth lap I shed myself which made for a very lonely last 10k haha.

I will definitely be back next year, and everyone from our team is saying the same

My version of the 4s finish (had Shirks not blown the field apart):

http://steaktaco.com/images/z080907.jpg

WCRoadie....nice to meet you as well! Got your PM, and since I've only got good things to say I'll let everyone else hear as well (some good PR).

1. The course ROCKS. There was everything; climbs, descents, rollers, flats. Regarding the course itself, I'd agree with everyone else that having the finish at the bottom of the hill is a bitter bothersome. If you made the S/F after the first right hand turn, about 500m up the road it would smooth everything out alot more. The railroad tracks were fun, bunny hopping them right before the climb made for a very hectic first 200m of the hill. Other than that, change nothing.

2. Facilities - more port-a-johns are a must. as well, having someone to sweep the parking lot prior to the race might be a good idea...there were tons of glass shards everywhere (I actually got a flat 20 mins before the race from a piece of glass in my tire).


As for how I did - I did alright, for being completely burnt out and exhausted from school being back in session I'll take my 20th place. Was climbing fantastic and being a jerk, trying to shed people up the climbs which worked quite well. However, by the sixth lap I shed myself which made for a very lonely last 10k haha.

I will definitely be back next year, and everyone from our team is saying the same
Thanks Dan, the finish was a concern of ours, I wanted in after turn 1 as well the problem is that it the finish line tent and everything would have to be on a homeowners lawn, even if they were fine with that, if there were a crash and someone hit a mailbox, tree or anything else on their property, the homeowner could be liable and get sued. We would not want that to happen.

We are thinking about finishing at the top of the KoM hill next year, there's not a lot of open public space around the course. We are going to hold a recap meeting and start the planning for next year. Barring any unforeseen issues, we will be having this race next year.

That hill put a hurting on my fat arse as well. I was ready for the season to be over and looking forward to a break. I'm planning on dropping 10 - 15lbs in the offseason and coming into next year on real good form. Thanks again for coming out.

Thanks! We will have this race again next year, hopefully a little earlier in the year. It was my first time putting on a race and it was stressful, yet exciting but working with John Lenart was great, he knows how to run races. We did get a lot of positive feedback from the racers



I believe it was your teammate, Matt who took a spill on the final lap on the downhill before the finish. When I heard crash on the radio I thought I was going to see carnage, it's a 45-50mph downhill. He was in good shape considering, some road rash and needed some stitches. The other guy who went down got up and rode in. Both were lucky.

Nat. He's pretty banged up, but in good spirits. He mentioned grinding off a section of bone off his right elbow, flesh holes in both elbows that needed to be stapled closed and some road rash too, but otherwise he's OK. He'll probably be out riding again this week.

Hey Steak, I just realized something: Was that you sporting the Unattached jackets while the woman was getting ready for the race?

Nat. He's pretty banged up, but in good spirits. He mentioned grinding off a section of bone off his right elbow, flesh holes in both elbows that needed to be stapled closed and some road rash too, but otherwise he's OK. He'll probably be out riding again this week.

damn, I just rode up on the catoctins with him over labor day weekend, he's a ridiculously good descender and bike handler.

are results for this race anywhere? I need to scout out my competitions form for this coming weekend:D

Nat. He's pretty banged up, but in good spirits. He mentioned grinding off a section of bone off his right elbow, flesh holes in both elbows that needed to be stapled closed and some road rash too, but otherwise he's OK. He'll probably be out riding again this week.

OUCH! But like I said, it could have been a lot worse

damn, I just rode up on the catoctins with him over labor day weekend, he's a ridiculously good descender and bike handler.

are results for this race anywhere? I need to scout out my competitions form for this coming weekend:D
I was told someone blew a tire causing the crash, nothing really he could do, so his bike handling ability isn't a question.

The results should be posted soon.

Hey Steak, I just realized something: Was that you sporting the Unattached jackets while the woman was getting ready for the race?

Yep, that was me. I only had to be in kit for fifteen minutes 'cuz WCroadie dropped me.

Nat. He's pretty banged up, but in good spirits. He mentioned grinding off a section of bone off his right elbow, flesh holes in both elbows that needed to be stapled closed and some road rash too, but otherwise he's OK. He'll probably be out riding again this week.

his elbow's broken. season over.

WCRoadie - I've heard some mixed reviews on the course layout related to safety. primarily the finish at the bottom of a hill someone else mentioned. I dont have other specifics, and am not trying to sound like a dick, just wanted to pass on the word so you all have some constructive criticism to use when planning for next year.

Yep, that was me. I only had to be in kit for fifteen minutes 'cuz WCroadie dropped me.
But I enjoyed the conversation before I dialed it up to 400 watts and droped the hamer:lol:

his elbow's broken. season over.

WCRoadie - I've heard some mixed reviews on the course layout related to safety. primarily the finish at the bottom of a hill someone else mentioned. I dont have other specifics, and am not trying to sound like a dick, just wanted to pass on the word so you all have some constructive criticism to use when planning for next year.
I agree that the finish could have been sketchy, but the only crash all day was on the last lap in the 123 race and caused by a blown tire. Read at my previous post, I did have some concerns about finishing the race there, but this year it was the only choice. Most of the course is surrounded by people's homes and having a finish in front of their house, if they let us, and there was a crash with a rider getting injured on their property, the home owner could be liable.

Next year we WILL NOT have the finish in the same location. The finish was the only complaints we had about the course and there wasn't a lot. I appreciate your comments and welcome them, we want this race to become an annual event and one in which many racers look forward to. Again I appreciate any feedback you or anyone else can provide.