Bill Oetinger was born and raised in Portland and attended the University of Oregon, where he majored in Journalism. He has lived most of his adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been cycling for all of that adult life, rolling out—so far—well over 250,000 miles.

For over 20 years, he was the Ride Director and Newsletter Editor for the Santa Rosa Cycling Club, one of the larger bike clubs in Northern California. In that capacity, he planned and coordinated thousands of rides around the Bay Area. Further afield, he has organized many tours for the club and for his friends, adding up to over 250 stages scattered throughout California and Oregon, as well as in other states and abroad. Many of those tours are collected here.

Bill has been writing a monthly column at BikeCal.com since 1999, ranging across the full spectrum of bike topics, from touring to racing to advocacy. All of his past columns are archived at the site.

From 1992 through 2019, Bill was either Chair or Co-chair of the prestigious Terrible Two Double Century, one of the most challenging one-day rides in America. He has completed a number of double centuries and over 400 centuries. Long, hard rides aside, he is happiest knocking off a 60-mile tour stage with his friends.

Bill lives with his wife Kathy on a rural acre outside the little town of Sebastopol in Sonoma County, 60 miles north of the Golden Gate. When not busy with his various cycling endeavors, he has worked as a commercial illustrator and plays around as a backyard putterer and an occasional artistic doodler. For a look at his art portfolios, click here.