The Kaw Valley Bicycle Club is a bicycle touring organization of the Topeka, Kansas area. During 1971, Karl Hummel was the manager of Stephens Cycle, the local Schwinn dealer at 21st and Western. Customers frequently asking him and owner Sarah Stephens if there were any sort of organized cycling in town. Gene Wansing, a young intern with the city parks department inquired with his boss, Topeka Parks Superintendent Joe Abrahams, who mentioned Phil Menninger's name. Through communicating, Phil Menninger, Karl Hummel, and Gene Wansing met to discuss the formation of a club. On April 22, 1971, a handful of cyclists gathered at Crestview Recreation Center to formally organize. The result was a club to be known as the Topeka Wheelmen. Menninger was elected president, Wansing the vice president, and Hummel the road captain. By July, the club had quickly grown to 107 members. To promote the group, they ordered club patches, which arrived soon after, reading Topeka Wheelman. After selling out the initial order, the club changed its name to the gender neutral Kaw Valley Bicycle Touring Club. Years later, Touring was dropped from the name to reflect the Club's embrace of all cycling. [Kaw Valley Bicycle Club. "About Us." http://www.kvbc.org/about.html (accessed October 27, 2009).]
From the description of Kaw Valley Bicycle Touring Association records, 1979-1982. (Kansas State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 698449559
