Why we do this
A lot of us are still riding because somebody once made room for us: waited at the top of a climb, showed us how to hold a wheel, told us we were ready for our first race.
The future of cycling depends on what we do for the next generation today. So the Berkeley Bicycle Club puts its race proceeds, its sponsorship and its members' time into young riders, in three places: high school mountain biking, Monarch's junior girls' road team, and our own juniors program, BBCjr.
Not every young rider is going to become a road racer, and that's fine. We want more kids on bikes, whatever they end up riding.
Racing that gives back
The Berkeley Omnium is two races, the Berkeley Hills Road Race and the Berkeley Streets Criterium, and its proceeds go to East Bay high school mountain bike teams in NICA, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. In 2026 that came to $28,610 for six teams: Berkeley High School, El Cerrito High School, Albany High School, Skyline High School, Oakland Tech High School and Oakland Composite. In 2025 it was $21,000 for four teams.
The money helps the teams with equipment, coaching, race opportunities and team programs. What the riders get out of it is bigger than the bikes: confidence, friendships, and the experience of being part of a team.
Why mountain biking, from a road race? Because high school mountain biking is where a lot of East Bay kids first race a bike, and every one of them who keeps riding grows the whole sport, road and dirt.
When the mountain bike season ends: BBCjr
BBCjr is our own junior program, open to riders 14 to 18, with every perk of club membership. Its mission is the club's: to foster local amateur bike racing, and to teach the sportsmanship, attitude and teamwork any good youth program should.
When the NICA season wraps up, we invite those riders to keep the wheels turning on the road. In summer 2026 that meant a social Monday evening ride from Berkeley and a Wednesday ride out of Lafayette BART, built around group riding, pacelines, bike handling and riding safely in a group. Juniors are welcome on the club's regular rides too, and our ride leaders are SafeSport certified.
The best part is who's on the ride. Juniors learn from experienced riders, coaches and mentors from across the NorCal racing scene, and many former juniors come back to mentor the riders behind them. Some BBCjr riders go on to race road races and time trials around Northern California; others just keep riding. Both count.
Racing with Monarch
For junior girls who want to race on the road, the club sponsors Monarch Juniors. Monarch Racing, presented by the KaiVelo Foundation, describes itself as home to a domestic elite women's road team and the largest junior girls' road team in the country, and says its elite riders aim to pass on the knowledge, support and opportunities they've received.
On a team like that, juniors race with older teammates to learn from. At the 2026 Berkeley Hills Road Race, Monarch juniors took the top three places in both Junior Girls 15-16 and Junior Girls 17-18.
Monarch Racing at the Berkeley Omnium →
Mentors, bikes and open doors
Our members mentor newer riders at the Early Bird and Late Bird skills sessions. We keep adding bikes to a loaner fleet so a kid without one can still start. A club member has sponsored the Skyline High School NICA team, and the club has donated to Women's On Track, hosted by Eclipse Racing.
One path, many directions
These aren't three unrelated projects. They're stops on the same path, and a rider can get off at any of them:
- Discover cycling
- Develop skills
- Explore racing
- Ride for life
A kid might find the bike on a high school mountain bike team, learn to ride a paceline with BBCjr, race junior road races with Monarch, and years later be the one waiting at the top of the climb for someone else.
You're part of this
Every registration, every sponsorship and every volunteer shift at the Berkeley Omnium feeds into this. If you raced, your entry helped fund those six teams. If you sponsored, you helped a young rider get a coach, a bike or a race. If you stood on a corner in a vest, you're part of why the race could happen at all.