Biketopia 2025: A Night of Community, Celebration, and Biking
What a night! We’re still buzzing from the energy and excitement of Biketopia 2025. It was incredible to see over 300 of you come together to celebrate and support better biking in the East Bay.
The evening was a huge success, and it’s all thanks to our amazing community. The beautiful weather and stunning venue at Preservation Park created the perfect backdrop for a night of connection and fun.
Highlights of the Night
Fundraising and Auction: Thanks to your incredible generosity, we raised thousands of dollars to fuel our work. We were blown away by the more than 150 fantastic silent auction items that were donated by local businesses. Every guest who placed bids and took home an item helped us reach our goal.
Special Guest Speaker: A huge highlight was hearing from Liam O’Donoghue, host of the “East Bay Yesterday” podcast. He shared fascinating stories about the history of Preservation Park and Oakland’s own beloved author, Jack London, who found freedom and inspiration on his bicycle. Liam read an excerpt from London’s semi-autographical book Martin Eden, where he writes about how much beauty he finds in the grasses of the Oakland hills when he rides his bike.
Pop-Up Bike Lanes: Our advocacy team showcased our pop-up bike lane materials, sparking great conversations about how temporary solutions can help us envision permanent, safer streets for everyone.
“Name That Bike Part” Game: One of the most talked-about activities of the night was our tricky “Name That Bike Part” game. Did you know what a cotter pin, quill stem, or star nut looked like? Turns out, a few of our guests really did! It was a fun challenge that had everyone stumped and laughing.
Delicious Food and Drink: Market Hall catered a delicious spread that kept everyone well-fed throughout the evening. Drake’s Brewing and Beaune Imports kept the drinks flowing at our bar— we loved seeing many using their limited-edition Biketopia glasses for unlimited pours!
A Huge Thank You
An event like this would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of many people.
A special shout-out to our incredible staff who spent weeks preparing every thoughtful detail. We want to especially acknowledge our colleagues Caitlin & Amanda, who masterminded so much of the evenings success.
And to the dozens of volunteers who made the night seamless—from decorating the venue to serving food and running the bike valet—you make our work possible.
Of course, the event was fueled by sponsors who believe in our work and trust our vision, and our Board who rallies to help us reach our goals.
The support from all of our members means the world to us. Together, we are making the East Bay a better, safer place to bike. We can’t wait to see you all at next year’s event!
Together We’ve Made a Difference
As our Co-Executive Directors Jill, Justin, and Rebecca touched on last night, we have accomplished so much with your support:
♦ On Bike to Wherever Day this year we saw the biggest turnout since before the pandemic, with over 12,000 riders at 132 energizer stations across 30 cities.
♦ Our bike valet program has become a vital community resource, offering free and secure bike parking. We’ve parked over 3,700 bikes since we restarted the program, including at every Oakland Ballers and Roots home game this year.
♦ Our bike education program continues to grow, teaching essential skills and building confidence in over 28,000 participants since 2011. Last year, we brought back Spanish language classes, and this year, we hired 3 Cantonese-speaking instructors, ensuring our classes are accessible and tailored for the diversity of the East Bay.
♦ Oakland currently has 8 protected bikeways under construction simultaneously. This marks a record number of protected bikeways in progress at the same time in the East Bay. Additional protected facilities are also under construction in cities across the East Bay, including Alameda, Fremont, El Cerrito, Hayward, Ashland, and Pleasant Hill.
While we celebrate the many wins, we acknowledge that there is still so much work to be done. We need to continue advocating for projects in communities that haven’t yet received investment in safe infrastructure. We need to transform unsafe streets into people-first streets. Together, we will make it safe to bike in every East Bay city.
Official event photography is by the wonderful Olivia Smartt! See her full photo gallery and download images on her website. Less official member-submitted photos are mixed in at the end 🙂Â
The auction is closed now, but peek at the gems we had this year!
Thank You to Our Event Sponsors
Brisa Development Partners • Ellen Shershow Photography • Fehr & Peers Kittelson & Associates • Lime • Nelson\Nygaard • Paceline Law • PlaceWorks • Rad Power Bikes • Signature Development Group • Strava • The Zinn Law Firm • Aburaya • Arkin Tilt Architects • Resources for Community Development