Summer 2004 News Archives

News for June 26th, 2004. (Rouff, Robertson, and Hall find success.)

News for July 8th, 26th, 2004. (Omnium, Dr. Douglas, and chrono men.)

News for August 15th, 2004. (Oz & GP hit Utah, more cyclists in the media.)

 

Doin Time in Leavenworth Crit.

GP VeloTek's Adam Lang laps Junior field and GP's Kurt Albrecht win's Cat 4/5 and Masters race. A great course saw action packed races with many breakaways through out the day. Dean parker (Team X) road great in his two break-aways and is training towards his season goal of Cyclo Cross Nationals. Big John sponslor (KCOI) road to a strong 3rd place off the front of the Cat 4/5 race. John was the surprise winner of the 3rd Annual Perry Roubaix this April. Team GP VeloTek, Santa Fe Trail, and KCOI had a large team presence at the Doin Time Crit. Local Kansas cycling observers note that the Junior field was almost the biggest field of the day. Cycling pundits also note that Juniors, Women, Cat 4's and Cat 5's make up by far the largest fields at many races this year. Could the strong showing of these category's mean more specific races for them in 2005?

More Photos of Jr's, 4/5's, & Masters.

Race Results.

Kansas Juniors receive National exposure!

GP VeloTek's Joseph Schmalz ranks 1st in National road race rankings (Junior 13-14 Category) and 2nd in Crit in USAC National points ranking. Seven juniors from the KC, Lawrence and Wichita area are ranked in the top 60 in the United States. Rankings are a nice feather in the cap but rely on race promoters to submit their race results to USAC and one day licensees don't receive points which is what happened to GP's Garrick Valverde. Still, if you compare the 4000 licensed cyclists in California to the 325 in Kansas we are doing pretty well!  Junior 13-14 Rankings Summary.  Joe ranks 9th over all in US Juniors for all age groups.

GP VeloTek and BSA Venturing Crew makes a splash at National's. Story to come... More Junior Photos.

(Photo's Courtesy of Dean Parker & Jim Whittaker)

GP VeloTek launches new team web site at www.velotek.com thanks to hard working graphics-go-to-guy Evan Solida. Alta-Sport's 17 days of racing in the 2004 Kansas calendar was made possible by the hard work of GP VeloTek team members and their families. Special mention goes to support staff person Margretta De Vries for her commitment to grass roots cycling and Junior cycling. Alta-Sport is a proud supporter of GP VeloTek's senior and junior squad.

This is from Santa Fe Trails Bike Shop Team. Local Press.

USA Cycling board of Trustees elections results announced. Our very own KCA Chris Hess was running for the Central section before he pulled his name from the hat. Interestingly, Texas Junior Advocate James Karthauser beat the incumbent. Votes were up thanks to the easy online voting system.

See the vid of Coach Jim speaking to the Lawrence City Commission about Helmet use. The commission passed a helmet rule for children in Lawrence, "ticketed" kids received coupon at a local ice cream shop and info on free helmets. What team did Jim ride for? Ok, this video is a bit old. Bike Rodeo Info.

Cycle Works Firecracker 500 Race results, report and photo's.

Randy Martin displays his photo's of the KS State Crit.

Alta Sport bring's your 2004 Kansas State Crit Champs photos.

 

Giant Bicycles & Cycle Works to Sponsor GP VeloTek. Check out Giant's new web site.

Spring Fling Final Race Report Up! (lot's of graphics, could be a slow page load.)

GP VeloTek youth cycling team dominates junior category. Senior riders make a go of it too. Highlighted by Evan Solida's Kansas State Road Race Championships. Teammates Jim Whittaker and Wil Allen road aggressively to pave the way for Evan' success. After a brave long distance effort by Eldon Roush (KCBC) Whittaker's solo effort spurred the pack to chase and Wil Allen kept the pace high into the precarious crit corner before the finishing stretch. Evan's win was extra sweet as he wrecked when the Category 3, Category 1/2/3, Masters 35+, a few juniors and women all intermingled on the too short road course.

 

GP VeloTek's Kurt Albrecht places 1st at the Category 4 Tour of Kansas City Overland Park Grand Prix..

 

 

Kurt dedicated himself to improving his cycling in 2003 but his injuries that year delayed his progress. During the 2004 season Kurt's made steady progress with flashes of strong form. Thanks to Kurt's SRM power meter accurate tracking and training modification is fast and accurate. Kurt's power data for sprinting puts him near the top of the class but as all experienced sprinters know luck, timing and risk taking are essential to sprinting success. Kurt's coach Jim Whittaker estimates most new riders need 10 to 20 races when they are in contention for a top spot in the final sprint to perfect their timing. When you have the physical ability sprinting is as much about positioning and timing as anything else.

SRM Power Data

Kurt's SRM Power data shows an average power of 253 watts and average speed of 25.49. The power levels and average speed are high for a category 4 race but about average for a large aggressive race. More revealing is the lower peak watts in the final sprint which suggests less of a pure explosive sprint and a longer effort at the end of hard 45 minutes. Many large technical crits share this attribute, the final top ten is decided in the last lap or two and not the last 200 meters.

Twilight Bike Boom Article in the Lawrence Journal-World.

Twilight Podiums.

Cat C's - Garick and Greg of GP VeloTek Dominate.

Cat A's - the Team X show with KSU and GP challengers.

Cat C's - Brad Cole win's series but last race is Jack's show.

 

Alta Sport and the Twilight Bike Race welcomes Kief's as a supporting sponsor. See cyclist Dave Nigro at Kief's for all your audio video needs.