25 Years of the Oakland Bike Patrol
BTCEB led a successful effort to stop a ban on mountain biking in Joaquin Miller Park — our beloved JMP — in 2000. The following year, in 2001, BTCEB and the Oakland Police Department established the Oakland Bike Patrol (OBP) to address community concerns and promote better relations amongst all users of the park. OBP was given the mission to Educate, Assist, and Inform:
Educate: Bike Patrollers help all trail users, speak with park users about trail etiquette, park rules, and supply directions as they are familiar with all of the trails in the park.
Assist: Bike Patrollers are trained in first aid and CPR, carry some first aid equipment, and — when called upon — can provide first aid and help direct Oakland first responders.
Inform: Bike Patrollers report trail issues and maintenance needs in the park to the city and the BTCEB trail stewards of JMP, and also tackle smaller issues as needed, clearing trails throughout the year of countless fallen trees and branches.
25 years later the Oakland Bike Patrol is still going strong. In 2025 the group:
- contributed nearly 300 volunteer hours of time spent patrolling the trails in Joaquin Miller Park and Dimond Canyon
- assisted and helped to direct first responders — in this case, the Oakland Fire Department and an ambulance — to the site of an injured rider on Orchard trail
- cleared multiple large and broken deadfalls of Monterey Pines off Sequoia-Bayview trail.
If you’d like to learn more about OBP or join our crew of on-trail volunteers and MTB advocates, check out oaklandbikepatrol.com or give OBP a shout at info@oaklandbikepatrol.com.
Michael Kowalewski, Oakland Bike Patrol
Jon Adams, Director-at-Large
