2019: a number pinned on
The day starts in the Orinda BART parking lot: check-in, warm-up, a neutral rollout, then the Three Bears, Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear, on Bear Creek Road. In 2019 the owner of Expert Tree Service did all of it as a racer, before the company's name went on the event.
The Berkeley Hills Road Race →
We don't have his result, and that isn't why we're telling this. The person who later backed the race had already raced it.
2024: same bike, Cal Cycling kit
Five years later his daughter was on the start line, racing for Cal Cycling, UC Berkeley's cycling team, on the bike he had raced in 2019.
Collegiate riders have their own fields at the Berkeley Omnium, on both days, from Collegiate Novice up.
From racer to title sponsor
Expert Tree Service was the Berkeley Omnium's title sponsor in 2025 and 2026. In 2026 it also co-funded the $10,000 Pro/1/2 cash purse with KaiVelo, Pro/1/2 fields, split 50/50 between the Men's and Women's races.
The company also built the wooden podium the top three stand on at the road race.
Where the money goes
Berkeley Omnium proceeds go to East Bay high school NICA mountain bike teams. In 2026 that was $28,610, split among six teams. Title sponsorship is a big part of how the races cover their costs and still have money left for those teams.