2010 OBC Racing Program

Welcome to 2010!  The Ottawa Bicycle Club Racing Program would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  As we all recover from the holidays, lots of great food and drinks, we start to look forward to racing in 2010.  It is difficult to imagine racing this time of year, but spring is fast approaching and I know many of you are in your basements training hard. 

Overall for 2010 the focus of the OBC Racing Program is to have a friendly, club-based atmosphere where people can come together, share their love of racing, train together, attend races and compete together.  The OBC race teams welcome males and females of any age, ability level or racing background.  If you are interested in development, competitive racing, group training rides, and a supportive atmosphere, the OBC Racing Program is the place for you. 

For the 2010 season the OBC Racing Program will continue to offer something for everyone.  Below is a brief overview of the four dimensions of the team.  Additional information is posted on the team website, including key contacts for each part of the Racing Program. 

For the young aspiring cyclist, the OBC offers an excellent youth development program - also known as the Learn to Ride Team.  The program focuses on teaching youth (aged 7 to 14) how to ride safely and fast in a Peloton.  The focus is on fun and skills development from bike handling to building speed to pace lines and echelons and more.  Rob McClure will be heading this team. 

For the more advanced or older youth, the OBC continues to offer a very competitive Junior Racing Team (ages of 15 to 18).  We are pleased to have Level 3 Road coach Don Moxley as program coach again this year.  The team's focus will continue to be the development of new and existing athletes by exclusive training and instruction programs in both road and track. Don will continue to prepare riders for provincial and national championships in order to show that the OBC has the best development program in Canada. 

At the Senior and Master levels, the OBC is turning its attention to building on the success of the past and increasing the size, strength, competitiveness and exposure of its Senior and Master racing teams.  The focus will be on getting riders together for group training rides, coordinating race attendance, building team tactics, and attracting talent to the team.  We are looking for interested and committed riders at any of the Senior and Master levels to help build a strong, competitive and fun team. 

If you are not the racing type, but wish to give of your time, resources or knowledge, please consider volunteering to assist with the OBC Racing Program.  Volunteers are welcome in any capacity and with any team.  In order to run our programs we rely on the efforts of volunteers and your time could help us build and improve the Racing Program as a whole.  In particular, those interested in helping with the Learn to Ride Team are encouraged to lend to hand. 

Anyone interested in racing with the OBC or volunteering in any capacity is encouraged to contact me or one of the volunteers.  All relevant contact information is located on the OBC website under the Racing Teams link. 

Thank you for your interest and I look forward to seeing some new - and some old - faces (in our new jersey) in 2010!  Happy Training and Racing!

Graham Page OBC Racing Director