OTB Takes Masters Victory at Mason Lake

  Props to Joel Jones this weekend who succeeded with Victory this Sunday at Mason Lake Road Race #1. Joel got into the breakaway of 4, leaving the Peloton gasping for minutes with a 3 minute gap! It was down to the sprint finish and our own prevailed. Congrats to you Joel! Here is a recap from the infamous Tom Hackleman with his perspective:

 "First, what a great start to our season for OTB Racing! The TT guys and gals are amazing. And we don't even have our Cat 3's and 4's report from M/L yet. Our race had an ideal team, weather, and strategy. Swaneee, Nelson, Jones and Hack (we missed you Austin) were just enough to cover any break attempts and there were several. We knew that there were going to be some big breakaway efforts. Swaneee got us through the first part of the race by patrolling the front and not letting anything get up the road without him. He definitely sacrificed himself for the team. Thanks, Swaneee. Nelson and I were always near the front ready to chase or attack. Joel was there also watching everything and waiting for his moment. Toward the end of the second lap a six man break developed with the right combo of teams and riders. Potter from Olympia and his teammate, a guy from Tacoma bike, a guy with a rental #, another guy and Joel "The Bullet" Jones. These guys were flying and I think finished about 3 mins. ahead of us. With three solid teams out of the chasing it was pretty easy to discourage any real chase effort. However that break was not going to get caught by any team or rider in our group. Eventually two guys got dropped from the break so now there were just 4".

Thanks Hack, after the break, Joel cleaned up the kitchen with room for dessert! Fantastic! GO OTB 2013!!!

Training Rides with OTB!

Yes you can! Who's gonna represent?
Here is the info:

WEEKEND TRAINING RIDE INFORMATION (PLEASE READ IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON RIDING WITH OUR TEAM):

TYPICAL RIDE LENGTHS ARE 2-4 HOURS AND BETWEEN 40-70 MILES. THE RIDE ROUTES VARY WEEK TO WEEK. RIDE PACE IS TYPICALLY 17-18 MPH (AVERAGE) DURING THE WINTER WITH AN INCREASE TO 19-20+ MPH (AVERAGE) AS THE RACING SEASON PICKS UP IN EARLY SPRING. THERE CAN ALSO BE SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE RIDE WHERE THE PACE PICKS UP SIGNIFICANTLY (25 MPH PLUS) FOLLOWED BY RECOVERY PERIODS. THUS, ONE CAN EXPECT (AND GET) A VERY HIGH QUALITY WORKOUT. THE GROUP DOES RECOGNIZE THAT DIFFERENT PEOPLE ARE AT DIFFERING STAGES IN DEVELOPING CYCLING FITNESS AND/OR GROUP RIDING SKILLS. THE GROUP HAS EASY TEMPO PERIODS WHERE RIDERS ARE ABLE TO REFORM INTO THE GROUP OR TIMES WHEN GROUP RIDING SKILLS ARE PRACTICED. EXPERIENCED RIDERS ARE ALSO HAPPY TO PROVIDE GROUP RIDING, RACING, AND TRAINING GUIDANCE. THE RIDES ARE USUALLY FOLLOWED BY A REHYDRATION AND “BIKE BULL” SESSION AT THE NEARBY CUTTERS POINT IN TACOMA OR SUSANNES COFFEE SHOP/DELI IN GIG HARBOR.



YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE OLD TOWN BICYCLE ROAD RACE TEAM TO PARTICIPATE AND ENJOY THE OTB SATURDAY/SUNDAY RIDES. IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON JOINING US PLEASE BE SURE TO DO THE FOLLOWING:



1) IF IT'S WET HAVE FENDERS WITH A REAR MUD FLAP ON THE BIKE, 2) BE SURE YOUR BIKE IS IN GOOD MECHANICAL CONDITION---WE RECOMMEND TIRE LINERS TO REDUCE FLATS, 3) BRING NECESSARY ENERGY BARS AND FLUIDS TO SEE YOU THROUGH THE RIDE, 4) BRING A SPARE TUBE(S), TIRE LEVERS, PUMP OR INFLATION DEVICE, 5) BRING ID AND MONEY (PLUS A CELL PHONE IS A GOOD IDEA), 6) DRESS FOR THE WEATHER---IF IT'S WET/COLD PLAN ON A TIGHT FITTING RAIN JACKET, BOOTIES, FULL GLOVES, AND TIGHTS. 6) NARROWS VELO NOW REQUIRES ALL OF OUR "GUESTS" TO SIGN A RIDE WAIVER/RELEASE FORM THAT CAN BE OBTAINED BY THE RIDE LEADER (IF WE DON'T HAVE A SIGNED WAIVER ON FILE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE). 7) WE URGE YOU TO ADHERE TO THE RULES OF THE ROAD AND ENCOURAGE SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE RIDING. WE WANT TO HAVE FUN WHILE ON OUR TRAINING RIDES AND ADDITIONALLY “KEEP THE RUBBER ON THE ROAD”



THE "OPEN TRAINING" SEASON (MEANING OPEN TO ALL RIDERS) BEGINS SEPTEMBER 1ST AND ENDS ON DECEMBER 31ST. AFTER DECEMBER 31ST THE TEAM IS PREPARING FOR RACE SEASON AND WORKING ON DRILLS, TACTICS, AND TEAMWORK AND WILL NOT BE HAVING "OPEN RIDES" UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1ST ROLLS AROUND.



MEETING LOCATIONS:


9AM SATURDAYS @ CUTTERS POINT IN TACOMA. 5104 6TH AVENUE (6TH & ORCHARD) TACOMA, WA 98406. (253) 761-3113
*SUBJECT TO CHANGE



____________________________________________

9AM SUNDAYS @ SUSANNES DELI & COFFEE IN GIG HARBOR

3411 HARBORVIEW DR GIG HARBOR, WA 98332 (253) 853-6220

Meet The Team Ride September 24, 2011 9:00 AM

The Old Town Bicycle Racing Team would like to invite fellow bicyclists for a "Meet the Team Ride” at Point Defiance Park (main entrance) September 24, 2011 8:45 AM and rolling at 9:00 - look for us the main Park entry.

The Old Town Bicycle racing team consists of 50 team members who race primarily in Washington featuring National Champions, Senior Olympic medalists, Washington State Bicycling Association points’ leaders and numerous road race podium finishers. The ride provides an opportunity for those who have considered racing on a bicycle team or seek information on a bicycle racing to discuss with team members.

The ride will be divided into three groups A, B and C rider. C riders will be +/- 35 miles and will be a "no drop" ride. Groups A and B will be +/- 50 miles at a fast pace with opportunities to regroup.
The route will take us over the Narrows Bridge, through Gig Harbor and out towards Olalla and back. A and B routes will continue onto the Southworth Ferry Terminal and back.

OTB on the PODIUM...AGAIN!

Congrats to Lori Swanson! 2nd Place finisher at Ravensdale Road Race this past weekend!

Also kudos go to Joel Jones for his (4th) 4th Place finish this season! Wow! Top 10's include: Matt Becker (7th Cat. 4's), and Chris Nelson (9th Mens Masters). In Oregon Steve Matson and Jeff Patterson raced (2) back to back 40K tandem time trials and placed 1st and 2nd! Way to go guys! Also had a couple of our guys involved in a crash in Ravensdale on the last lap. Get well Choi and Kevin!

More to come this weekend as we will be representing @ Wenatchee Omnium.

OTB Enjoys A Very Successful Weekend In The Sun!!!

Wow! What a fun day in the sun. Great weekend of racing. We had 12 teammates on the top 10 board this weekend:

Longbranch Masters/Juniors State Championships :

30-39 Cat. 1,2,3
Alex Walker: 9th Place

35+ 1,2,3 Women
Jodie Bolt: 8th Place

30-39 Cat. 4/5
Chris Nelson: 7th Place

40-49 Cat. 4/5
Joel Jones: 4th Place

50+
Steve Matson: 10th Place

60+
Mark Underwood: 4th Place

Junior B
Nolan Brady: 3rd Place

Vance Creek Senior State Road Championship :

Cat. 4
Ben Storrar: 4th Place
Barney Gill: 9th Place
Andrew Austin: 10th Place

Cat. 3 Women
Jodie Bolt- 5th Place

40+ 4/5's
Matt Molzan: 5th Place

50+
Tom Hackleman: 1st Place

Congrats to all of you! Great work!

2011 Longbranch Masters/Juniors Road Race

2011 Longbranch Masters/Juniors Road Race State Championships

We are hosting the Masters/Juniors Road Race State Championship Saturday April 30th! This year the race will use our traditional loop with the start/finish located at the Longbranch Improvement Center. We hope you come out and compete for State Champion bragging rights! Check out the race flyer for more info.

We're Back!

The racing season has begun! OTB is already chipping away with many top 10 finishes so far. Great work! Let's keep up this momentum.

Here is a groups entry from the weekend @ IVRR written by Joel Jones:

A fun day in the saddle. Surprisingly just before the start of the
race the rain stopped and things began to dry out and the race began.
The field of +/- 50 with Gary, MM, JR, Darol and Swanneee.


The pace started out very relaxed with nobody to excited to do much
work before the big hill. A Starbucks rider slowly road away from the
group and nobody really thinking much about it…. Famous last words… As
we approached the base of the hill he kept looking back to see when we
were going to come up to him but we never did. He hit the hill hard
and was gone for the rest of the day; an amazing ride by him out on
his own for 40 miles! At the bottom of the 1st climb two others went
off the front for a couple miles one came back and the other stayed
out. The rest of the race was a little bit of frustration as there
was no organization or desire to bring back the riders out front
despite several attempts by MM and myself to rally some troops to get
it going. Matt & I would take a couple of good pulls at the front and
then wait for the rider that would never come through. Early season
racing at its finest. Coming down the 1st climb on the 2nd lap
another rider went off the front and once again nobody responded or
cared to respond. During the 2nd lap and acceptance that we would not
be able to bring anybody back I focused on maintaining good
positioning for the finish. Coming off the final climb I was sitting
3rd and was able to stay in the top 10 despite a couple riders passing
on my left over the yellow line. Fully rested and cruising at 20 mph
pace finally at 1k the lone Cucina guy goes hard and stretches us out
a little. Still on the left and in the top 10 we hit the 200 m mark
and I gave it all I had through a great line getting my first 1st in
the field sprint.


Thanks guys for all the congrats and high 5’s after the race; great to
be part of the team!

Thanksgiving Morning "Dog Dodge Ride" ***POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO WEATHER***

In honor of teammate, Matt Becker, who took the big hit from "The
Silent Psycho Dog" last Thankgiving Day during our ride, we are
gearing up for another try at this. Matt has bravely volunteered to
join us again and will be there with gun in hand. To help ward off
dogs, we ask that you will bring "silver bullet" dog propellant (they
say it works with werewolves, use your imagination, I hear Coors Light
is a possibility).

Date: Thanksgiving Morning 11/25 *****POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE*****
Place: Meet @ Susannes Deli @ 8AM
Route: Same as last year (Olalla, Port Orchard)
Length: About 2-3 Hours of Dog Dodging Fun
Pace: Social 14-16

Please Chime in if you will be there. Bring your "competent" riding
friends, it's an open ride. Hope to get a big turnout.

New Ride Location and Start Time:

During the winter season we will be starting our Saturday rides from the Manolin Cafe on So 12th Street at 9:00AM

Winter Rides

We have been riding from the Mandolin Cafe on Saturdays at 8:30 AM. Show up early for a coffee or preload pastry.

Please bring Fenders with buddy flaps in the event of rain.

Saturday Ride 10/2

8AM ride leaving from Cutter's departing 8:05. Route TBD. GH crew
meeting @ 7:15 @ Susannes and heading across bridge to meet up w/Tac
crew.
Don't know about a Sunday ride yet...
Over and out

Meet the Team Ride - Saturday 9/18

The Old Town Bicycle Racing Team would like to invite fellow bicyclists for a "Meet the Team Ride” at Point Defiance Park September 18, 2010 8:45 AM and rolling at 9:15 - look for the blue Old Town Bicycle Tent at the main Park entry (please arrive early to allow time for filling out a waiver form and introductions).

The Old Town Bicycle racing team consists of 50 team members who race in primarily in Washington featuring several Senior Olympic medalists, Washington State Bicycling Association points’ leaders and numerous road race podium finishers. The ride provides an opportunity for those who have considered racing on a bicycle team or seek information on a bicycle racing to discuss with team members.
The ride will be divided into three groups A, B and C rider. C riders will be +/- 35 miles and will be a "no drop" ride. B riders will be a fast pace with several opportunities to regroup. A riders - give us what you got!
The route will take us…. I propose we do the GH Olalla route. C rides will stay on crescent valley drive. B&A rides go up the hill.

Please visit our website at http://www.narrowsvelo.org or blog at http://www.narrowsvelo.blogspot.com

Narrows Velo Road Race Team (Old Town Bicycle) 2010

2010 Masters/Juniors Road Race State Championships

2010 Masters/Juniors Road Race State Championships

We are hosting the Masters/Juniors Road Race State Championship Sunday May 2nd on a new course! The start/finish location remains at the Longbranch Improvement Center, but the course adds a mildly rolling loop. Check out the race flyer for more info.

Congrats to our racers last weekend, Victory for OTB!

Props to Steve Matson for placing 1st in the Masters Race at Mason #1, and also for Jodie Bolt (6th) and Lori Swanson (7th) for placing top 10 in the Womens. Outstanding! Also job well done at the Icebreaker Timetrial (photo).

Race Report (snippet) by Steve Matson:

We had a great day today in the Masters C/D race with eight guys in   

the field: Joel, Choi, Nelson, Michael, Chuck, Swanee, Darol, and me.
Awesome turnout! Right after the neutral roll out our guys went to
the front and pushed the pace; everyone worked hard (except me), and
in the end I got lucky and won the sprint. The results weren't posted
when I left, so I don't know how others placed, but everybody
finished and we had a blast. It was cloudy and cool, but with no rain
at all. 


Race Report by Lori Swanson:

Thanks to everyone for all the Congrats to Jodie and I! We had a great time
and I was thankful to get the 1st race jitters out of the way. 
 In the Cat 4 women's races there's never a dull moment!  Jodie and I were
thankful to survive several near misses and some sketchy pack riding.
Overall, it was Group Health that dominated the race by sending riders,  one
after the other,  off the front of the pack. 
Jodie and I maintained our positions in the front of the pack for both laps.
In the last 200 meters I had great outside position for the sprint but
completely blew it by going way too early. As I was about to cross the
finish line, I see this streak of blue and white go flying by me at top
speed! There went Jodie, blowing through the front of the pack for another
top 10 finish! Jodie you are amazing! Not to mention that you have been
dealing with injuries the past 2 weeks.  Scary to think what you'll do when
you are 100%!!!!! 
Congratulations again to the OTB Men!  Steve - what a way to start out the
season with a 1st place finish!  Great job to all the guys who worked to set
up the win and fought to stay rubber side down.  Matt said that was the
craziest Master's race he's ever raced in.   
Thanks again for allowing me to race with OTB! We have an amazing group of
people on this team! 
Have a great week! Lori J 

What's Happening? Where is Everyone? What's going on?

We just wanted to give everyone that checks in on our blog that there is actually quite a bit going on (training wise that is). Currently we are wrapping up our winter training and moving on to the 2010 race season! With thousands of rainy cold base miles behind us, we can hopefully look forward to sunny skies and lot's of big wins.

This weekend kicks off the official race season with the Mason Lake Series Road Race and Icebreaker Time Trial. The next few months are going to be a blast with so many races happening every weekend. We especially encourage you to come witness our own race put on by Narrows Velo (Old Town Road Race Team) on Sunday, May 2nd. This will be the state championship race for the Masters and Juniors. A must see event! There will be some great prizes given out by our sponsors. The race is located in the Longbranch area and the start/finish will be at the Longbranch Improvement Club located off of the Key Peninsula Highway.

We look forward to another great year of road racing and thank the WSBA, the sponsors, and the local folks who help make this possible.

Announcing....The 2010 Narrows Velo Road Race Team

Check Out our New Diggs!

Click On Pic to expand.

Saturday 1/23/10 Ride

Wanted - Riders for this Saturday.

60 miles. Victor Falls - So Prairie - Orting and back.  One monster
climb out of Sumner (regrouping at the top of the hill) then
relatively flat.  Those who do not want to climb can stay on the
lowlands and meet up with us in So Prairie.   The pace will be a base pace and easy on the hill working on strength.

Pending weather conditions the ride will have two hot spots.  One going out at the Puyallup Town Line on Levee Road and then coming back at the Fife Town Line.  Town lines will be called out ahead of time
with a safe/not safe.

Remember your Fenders and protect your buddy with a buddy flap!

Meet at Cutters 9:00 and rolling at 9:10 sharp.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wa/tacoma/350126409370486025

Sunday 1/24/10 Ride

Save some energy for Sunday's Ride! Don't let Victor Falls Get you
down (Sorry Joel).

 We will be meeting at Susanne's @ 9AM for some Sunday fun. I haven't
mapped it out yet but it will be a Port Orchard Loop (50-70 miles
depending if you ride from T-Town) with 2-3 "hot spots" for sprints
and climbs. No drop policy. Good times, Tempo Pace Zone 2-4.
Fenders and Mud Flaps a must if there is even the slightest chance of
rain.

Route Link: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/wa/gig%20harbor/852126412171539291

***W.D.O.B. Ride*** Sunday, January 17th 9AM

The GH Matt's will be leading our ride tomorrow from Susanne's Deli on Harborview Drive in GH @ 9AM, should be around a 3 hour ride from Susanne's and back and about 50-60 miles (no interval work, paceline rotations, sprints, or KOM's, just nice easy group riding...that will be next week!). Show up and ride the Port Orchard Loop with us and then find out what a W.D.O.B. is. Please chime in if you are coming so we know whether to wait for you or not. Don't forget your fenders, lights, and buddy flaps! Later!