About the BBC
The Berkeley Bicycle Club (BBC) is a group cyclists that includes
former, current, and future competitive cyclists. The club is
a member
of USA Cycling and boasts
senior founding members with exceptional accolades in racing, as
well as current competitors
with a range of experience from
introductory racers to professionals. The club provides the social
and training structure to facilitate each individual's improvement
in fitness, skills, and enjoyment of cycling. Many successful
racers have spent some of their time with he BBC.
Our Hall of Fame includes District and National Champions as well
as International Racers.
District & National Champions
Josh Dapice
Todd Brydon
Mark Caldwell
Dan Cvar
Dan Dole
Nick Farats
Robert Ford
Bob Muzzy
Alex Osborne
Francesca Saveri
Calvin Trampleasure
Alex Osborne
Mark Walsh
Mike Neel
David Brink
International Racers
Bethany Allen
Bob Roll
Heidi Hopkins
George Mount
Cindy Olavarri
Mark Pringle
Club History
The Berkeley Bicycle Club traces its roots back to the 1950’s
when Peter Rich, the owner the VeloSport bike shop, founded
Velo Club Berkeley. Peter Rich also started the Berkeley Hills
Road Race in 1957, which is the oldest continuously-running
road race in the United States and is one of the two
races hosted annually by the BBC. In 1971 Peter Rich promoted
the first edition of the Tour of California.
(Peter Rich)
The contemporary BBC was established in 1979, when the racing
team of Velo Club Berkeley merged with the Berkeley Wheelmen,
a recreational riding club looking for a new image and
direction. At the time, the BBC emerged as the premiere
amateur racing team in Northern California. Mark
Walsh gives
a description of the early club history at the time.
(Mark Walsh)
As many BBC racers migrated to professional teams in the 80’s,
the focus shifted towards developing new talent. Many of the
old riders who didn’t move on are still around over a quarter
century later. By the mid 80s, the Berkeley Bicycle Club had
grown to the point that it could support a semi-pro team of
riders scattered around the state but racing in the green-and-
white jersey of the BBC.
At the time, the money for the club was generated by the local riders and
enthusiasts and spent on the elite team, as was typical in
European cycling clubs of the era. Then in the early 90s the
club took off in a new direction, fired the professional
athletes and turned the resources towards the majority of the
club-member racers instead of the elite few.
In the following era, the club grew to more than 200 members and
put on as many as four races in a year, in addition to 20 weeks
of Twilight racing. With the explosion of Northern California
and Nevada (NCNCA) amateur racing there are over mnay amateur
cycling club options for racers to choose from, and the BBC
membership sits at about 100 members strong. The club averages
about two dozen active racers each season and puts on at least
two events; the Berkeley Hills Road Race and the BBC/Albany Criterium,
each year. As always, new and current members will continue to
leverage the club’s strong race history, its member’s race
knowledge and the club’s commitment to the promotion of the
sport.
(Peter Rich)
(Mark Walsh)