Nebraska State Time Trial Championship

By Sean Weide and Jon Downey

The Elkhorn Valley Cycling Team powered by Monster, the host club for the Nebraska State Time Trial Championships, won a pair of state titles with Doniphan's Dan Schuldt (Cat. V Open) and Richard Hake (Cat. V Masters 55+) of Madison.

Elkhorn Valley Cycling earned a variety of medals is other classes also. Taking silver medals were Wayne's Allan Walton in Cat 5 (Masters 45+) and Norfolk's Jamie Bachmann in Women's Cat 4. Duane Blair of Norfolk earned a bronze in Cat 4.

Four riders from Team Kaos took home gold medals Saturday at the event as well.

Omahan's Chris Spence (Pro-I-II), Matt Landen (Cat. III), Mark Brackenbury (Masters 35+) and Matt Pavlovich (Cat. IV) won their respective divisions in the 25-mile race that was dubbed "The Highway to Hell presented by Monster Energy."

Spence clocked the fastest time of the day, 56 minutes and 58 seconds - an average speed of 26.3 mph - on the rolling, out-and-back course. The 47 riders who competed Saturday enjoyed a strong cross tailwind out of the south over the first 12.5 miles.

"My goal was to get under an hour," Spence said. "At the turnaround, I had passed Jon (Nelson) and Mark (Merritt) so my goal was just to try and catch everybody else coming back."

Fred Galata of Omaha Velo captured his eighth state time trial title in winning the Masters 55+ category. Galata, who won his first state title in 1976 and still holds the state 25-mile time trial record, said the course was certainly challenging.

"But it was also a very interesting course because there weren't any flats on it," he said. "You were constantly working against the hills. Plus, you had that horrendous wind on the way back. What was nice was having the tailwind going out so you could warm up."

Lincoln's Sydney Brown of Lincoln Plating-Lemond won the women's open division while Omahan Lindsey Heim (unattached) was the women's Cat. IV champion.

"I liked the course," Brown said. "The curves offered some relief and it was a lot nicer than seeing a long straight stretch of road. I'm looking forward to racing up here again in a few weeks for the Norfolk Classic."

Other winners in their divisions were Omahans Brian Kelly (Cat. V Masters 35+), Douglas Denson of Bike Masters (Cat. V Masters 45+) and Bill Gottberg of The Bike Way (Masters 45+).

Norfolk native Morgan Chaffin of Team Kaos, a two-time state time trial champion, did not compete Saturday after being injured in a fall at a race in Arkansas last weekend.

Dennis Grelk of MBWC/Team14 made the trip from Donnellson, Iowa, to race the course in a fully-enclosed recumbent. Dubbed the "nuclear banana" by one of the course marshals, Grelk's bright yellow Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) completed the distance in 43:20 - an average of 34.6 mph - despite his having to stop to negotiate the turnaround.

Others with local affiliation that competed in the State Time Trial Championship race were John Spray (Elkhorn Valley Cycling powered by Monster) of Norfolk, Scott Blair (Elkhorn Valley Cycling powered by Monster) of Pierce, Joe Savoie (Elkhorn Valley Cycling powered by Monster) of Omaha, and Tiffany Drahota (unattached) of Norfolk.

For more photos see the gallery.

Full results