USA Cycling awarded the distinction to the 140-member club, which beat four other clubs in its size class (more than 76 members) that applied.

"It's very exciting," club president Barry Gordon said. "Our club is very organized and very well run. It's nice to achieve national recognition from the agency that controls the major cycling events in the country."

The national organization has recognized the local club before. It was awarded Women's Club of the Year in its division in 2002 and Regional Club of the Year in 2000. The latest recognition is the top honor the club could receive.

"It's like winning Best Picture at the Oscars," Gordon said.

Lydia Bosch, results and rankings coordinator for USA Cycling, said clubs are evaluated using several criteria, including how well they encourage all ages and abilities, how they interact with the community and whether they use master members to encourage younger members to become involved and compete.

"Los Gatos promotes two large races—the club members are very involved in the details of promoting these races," Bosch wrote in an email to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. "The public is very involved in these races, and it's a great promotion for the sport of cycling."

Those races are the spring Cat's Hill Criterium and the summer Timpani Criterium. The former, named for the stretch of Nicholson Avenue notorious for its challenging 23-percent grade, is one of the oldest annual criteriums in the country at 31 years old.

It was the May 2003 Cat's Hill race that spurred club secretary Stephen Butler to join.

"At that point I wasn't affiliated with any club," Butler said. "I was just impressed with how well run of a race it was. As a club, they really seemed to have their act together."

Butler joined later that year. Having raced for other clubs and teams in his former home state of Illinois, he said the Los Gatos club is the friendliest one he has ever seen.

"They really care about the riders," he said. "They made me feel welcome right off the bat ... The team is very welcoming of all levels."

Gordon explained that other clubs have stiff membership requirements. Many try out prospective members with test rides and require participation in a certain number of competitive races. Others even expect incoming members to have sponsorships.

He said while plenty of Los Gatos club members do compete—riders have recently won national championships in track, mountain and road races—others simply enjoy participating in weekend fun rides or training with peers.

"It's not an intimidating kind of club," member David Puglia said. "A lot of other clubs have a lot of serious cyclists, they all probably race. They can be kind of cliquish."

Puglia joined about six or seven years ago, he said, when his then-14-year-old son became interested in competitive racing. A former rider himself, he decided that training with his son would be a good experience. Since then, he began competing again, and has made a number of new friends through the club.

"Cycling ... takes a lot of training time," he said. "When you're out on four- or five-hour rides, you get to know the people you're with."

Puglia, Gordon and Butler all live in Los Gatos, but the club has members from throughout the Bay Area and beyond. In fact, its membership extends nearly 2,500 miles, to Kutztown, Pa.-resident Ed Hayduk and his 14-year-old daughter, Colleen. After an extensive search for club that would work well for his daughter, Hayduk said he was most impressed by the Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club, which they joined in November 2003.

"Gordon ... spent a significant amount of time talking with me about the [pros and cons] of Colleen at age 14 becoming a member of LGBRC, a club so far away," Hayduk wrote in a letter to USA Cycling.

Gordon said the young rider now races for a national team, but still retains membership in the Los Gatos club.