Racing the Berkeley Omnium: Berkeley Hills Road Race & Berkeley Streets Criterium

What the Berkeley Omnium is

In cycling, an omnium is a competition made of several races, with each rider’s results combined into one overall standing. The Berkeley Omnium, organized by the Berkeley Bicycle Club, joins a historic road race and a downtown criterium into a single weekend. The 2027 edition is April 17–18, 2027.

The pairing is what makes it interesting. A pure climber can win the road race and lose the overall in the crit; a sprinter who hangs on over the hills has a real chance on Day 2. Road race vs criterium explains why the two formats reward such different riders.

The Berkeley Hills Road Race

The Berkeley Hills Road Race, often shortened to BHRR, is Day 1 and the older of the two races by decades. Peter Rich, a Bay Area racer who went on to compete in Italy and Belgium, promoted the first edition in 1957, and Bob Best won it. In 1979 Velo Club Berkeley and the Berkeley Wheelmen merged to form the Berkeley Bicycle Club, which has organized the race ever since.

Generations of Bay Area racers have measured themselves on these hills, and some went a long way. Jonathan Boyer won in 1979, two years before he became the first American to ride the Tour de France. Olympic speed skating champion Eric Heiden won in 1983. Luke Lamperti won in 2019 and turned pro in 2021. When COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 race, riders took on the climbs in two virtual rounds on Strava instead, and the race returned in 2022 as Day 1 of the first Berkeley Omnium. The 2026 race was the 70th edition.

The course: the Three Bears

The race loops over the Three Bears — Baby Bear, Mama Bear and Papa Bear — on Bear Creek Road near Orinda, climbs that many East Bay riders know from weekend rides. The organizer lists each lap at 18.76 miles with 759 feet of climbing, and the climbs come around again every lap. Cycling West puts the back side of Papa Bear at 2.1 miles, and that’s where the race is typically decided: riders who have been hanging on finally come off, and whoever can still attack there usually wins.

The Berkeley Hills Road Race page has the course map and Strava route, and the full story, with every winner since 1957, is in the Berkeley Hills Road Race history.

The Berkeley Streets Criterium

Day 2 moves the racing into the city. The Berkeley Streets Criterium, often just called Berkeley Streets, is raced on a closed circuit along Berkeley Way and McGee Avenue beside Ohlone Park. Laps are short, the corners come quickly, and the bunch stays together lap after lap until someone gets away or the whole field sprints for the line.

It is also the most social day of the weekend. In 2026 a kids clinic and a kids race ran alongside the adult fields. See the Berkeley Streets Criterium course and race-day details.

What racers can expect

Both races are USA Cycling sanctioned and run under the Northern California Nevada Cycling Association (NCNCA), with registration on BikeReg. In 2026 the fields were Elite (Cat 1/2/3/4), Novice (Cat 5, new racers welcome), Collegiate, Women (combined and categorized) and Junior (age-appropriate distances). The 2026 Pro/1/2 races paid a $10,000 cash purse, split equally between the men’s and women’s fields. 2027 categories and fees will be posted with registration.

The weekend rewards all-rounders. You need the endurance and climbing to stay in contention on the Three Bears, then enough snap on tired legs to hold position through a crit the next day.

Training for the weekend

Day 1: repeated climbs

A hilly road race is decided by how much you have left on the last climb, not the first. That makes sustained power the priority: threshold intervals for the long efforts, VO2max intervals for the harder moments when the pace lifts on a climb, and plenty of endurance riding so that the late laps don’t empty the tank. Practise eating and drinking on the bike during long rides; a road race is long enough that fuelling matters.

Pacing the climbs matters as much as fitness. Look up the Papa Bear segment on Strava, enter its length and average gradient in the climb calculator, and see what your threshold power means in minutes and W/kg. Knowing how long an effort lasts makes it easier to judge whether you can follow a move or should ride your own pace.

Day 2: surges and the sprint

A criterium repeats short, very hard efforts out of every corner, then finishes with a sprint. Short repeated surges and sprint work prepare you for that, and group rides are the best place to get comfortable riding close to other riders. The workout builder includes a “Crit surges” example you can adjust and download as a FIT file.

Back to back

The hardest part of an omnium is the second day. Recovery between the two races — eating, rehydrating, an easy spin and sleep — does as much for your crit as any interval. In the weeks before, a harder ride followed by a shorter, sharper one the next day is a useful rehearsal. How recovery fits into a training plan covers the principle.

Preparing for your first race or a first Omnium? Coaches in the race’s community are listed on the Berkeley Omnium coaching and racer development page.

Watching the races

Both days are free to watch. The criterium is the easy one: stand at a corner to see the field brake, lean and sprint away, then move to the finish line for the last laps. The road race is spread over a long loop in the hills, so you see the riders once a lap and read the race from who is still together.

Juniors, collegiate, women and volunteers

Juniors. A portion of every entry fee goes to six East Bay NICA high school cycling teams: $21,000 in 2025 and $28,610 in 2026. The Berkeley Bicycle Club also runs a junior program. See junior cycling at the Berkeley Omnium and the Omnium’s community impact.

Collegiate racers. Collegiate racing joined the Omnium in 2026, giving Cal Cycling and other university programs a field at both races. See collegiate racing at the Berkeley Omnium.

Women. Women race both days, and in 2026 the Pro/1/2 purse was split equally between the women’s and men’s races. Proceeds also supported Women’s On Track, hosted by Eclipse Racing. See how the Omnium invests in women’s racing.

Clubs, teams and volunteers. Clubs fill the start lines and staff the course. Course marshals, registration, results and timing, follow cars and setup crews are volunteers, and most roles need no racing experience. Meet the teams of the Berkeley Omnium or volunteer at the Berkeley Omnium.