Tim Koch

Many new members, those of you who joined the Club in the last five years, may take for granted the popularity and usual high attendance of weekend rides, tours, and other Wheelmen activities. Well folks, that was not always the case. Ten years ago, if we had 10 riders show up for a weekend ride that was a big turnout. We did not have a weeklong tour, we had no evening training rides, no DCT training rides, no monthly Zodiac trips. Club meetings were in their infancy with just a few people attending and the agenda dealing more with boring business issues. The Annual Awards Banquet was held in a pizza parlor with maybe 25 members and their spouses attending. Yes, things were a lot different then.

Tim Koch, a member since 1978, was very frustrated with the direction, or lack of, which the Club was taking and decided to take matters into his own hands. Back then he witnessed the success of the Sacramento Bike Hikers who sponsored the annual North Coast Tour to Mendocino County. He noted that most of their officers came from those who participated in the weeklong tour which was the event that galvanized the club and gave it some identity and a reason to join.

In 1988, Tim went on the very first Wheelmen Tour of the Tahoe/Nevada area spearheaded by Frankie and Wayne Kincannon. While sitting in a bar in Virginia City overlooking the hot and barren Nevada desert, Tim was struck with an epiphany, maybe a result of one too many beers. In the 25+ year history of the Wheelmen, this moment in time marks the turning point for the Club's future. He felt that a successful Club tour would lead to a successful organization. The desert scenery did not overwhelm Tim, especially in June, so with the help of the Kincannons he organized an exploratory expedition of the more scenic California Central Coast in the summer of 1989.

As they say, the rest is history.

In 1990, Tim aggressively marketed the Central Coast Tour and got 48 people to sign up, many who were not members at the time but became one after having such a good time on the tour. Yours truly was one of them. His theory about matriculation of club officers also bore out with almost all the officers since having participated in one or more of the Wheelmen Tours.

Over the last ten years, Tim has planned, organized and directed the annual weeklong tours taking the Club to the North Coast-Wine Country, Cascade-Sierra Mountains, Southwest Oregon Coast, and Crater Lake-Central Oregon. In order to keep the tours fresh and interesting, the tour route is repeated no more than two years in a row. Each year, the Club tours gain in popularity with last year's Crater Lake Tour drawing a record of 65 riders.

His vision, creativity, and leadership skills made Tim the easy and logical choice for the inaugural JIM GILMAN MEMORIAL AWARD recognizing a member as THE WHEELMAN OF THE YEAR for extraordinary and outstanding contribution to the Club. The Wheelmen would not be the Club that it is today without the visionary efforts and hard work of Tim Koch.

Tim, who is 49 years old, was born and raised in Carmichael. He attended La Sierra High School, American River College and received his Bachelor's Degree from Sacramento State College. He attended dental school at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and graduated in 1976. He has been a dentist for 23 years with a thriving practice in Carmichael. Dr. Koch is the family dentist for a many Wheelmembers.

Tim and Carol have been married for 26 years and raised two sons, Patrick and Danny, who are now young adults. In addition to raising a family, he counts bike touring of foreign countries as personal highlights with trips taken to New Zealand, Ireland/Wales, and Holland/Germany over a five year span. Tim converted his 1978 Centurion into a touring bike installing S & S Couplers for easy breakdown and packing for overseas flights. For domestic touring, he rides a Trek 5200. Tim recalls taking up cycling nearly 30 years ago when he bought his very first 10-speed, a Roddy road bike from White Front.

Like many avid cyclists who tend to eat too much, Tim finds the combination of bicycling and touring, the best of all worlds for personal enjoyment and weight reduction program. Tim enjoys riding and socializing with fellow Club members and holds them in high regard when he asks members for help. Compared to other professional and fraternal organizations he belongs to, he says cyclists volunteer more without complaining and criticizing than any of the other groups he's associated with.

As Paul Harvey says, "and now you know the rest of the story." Next time you see Tim on a ride, thank him for all he's done for the Club. We're certainly enjoying all it's become and our lives are better off for it.