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Green Fondo Event Info

Green Fondo Weekend: May 17-19, 2024

If you have any urgent questions before the event, please email [email protected]. 

The Ride Guide: PDF format

In this post:

Join our event WhatsApp Group

Please join the event’s official WhatsApp group, so that you can receive timely communications from our team during the event. 

Join at this link or scan the QR code below with your mobile device.

Day 1, Friday – When and where to meet

Our event starts on Friday, May 17th at the Walker Creek Ranch in Petaluma (Google Map). Please do not arrive before 5:00 PM as we will not be available to assist you until then. 

Between 5:00 – 7:00 PM, you can check in, park, set up camp, or get settled into your lodging. Please carpool as parking is limited at the ranch.

A couple more notes to keep in mind for Friday:

  • Registration officially opens at 5:00 PM. From 5-7 pm, our staff will help check you in, take your bike off your hands, hand out prizes, and let you know your lodging assignments or tent camping options, if applicable.
  • Remember — we will not be serving a full dinner on Friday night, so please eat beforehand or bring your own snacks/meal!

**If you are arriving Saturday morning, we will have registration open from 6-8 am. Please check the schedule in the Ride Guide for the timing of your route safety talk and departure time. 

Extracurriculars to look forward to

I know you’re all looking forward to the riding, but we have more! Here’s what you can look forward to on Saturday afternoon/evening:

4:00 – 5:00 pm: Recovery yoga

4:00 – 5:00 pm: Bike mechanic workshop with Jamaica

4:00 – 6:00 pm: Live music from DJ Shooey (plus beer, wine, n/a beverages, and dancing)

6:00 – 7:30 pm: Dinner in the dining hall

7:30 – 8:30 pm: A Solar-themed Evening Program with Wei-Tai Kwok and Sachu Constantine!

Download the Ride With GPS routes ahead of time

Rather than physically marking the routes, we will be navigating using the Ride With GPS mobile app. Please download the files to your phone or GPS device before the event while you have good internet!

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Download the Ride with GPS app on your phone.

2. Open the app, click the Home button on the bottom left corner, then click the Open Shortcut button or the green shortcut button (depending on the type of account you have).

3. Type in the code “GFNC” (no quotation marks), and hit submit. Then click Download to download all routes for the week. Once these are downloaded, they should be available for navigation even out of cell service or if you have data turned off to preserve battery life.

If you’d like to upload these routes directly to your GPS device, please email me and I will send you links to export the files in whatever format you need.

If you don’t have your own handlebar mount for your phone, we will have some loaners that you can borrow for the weekend. Please bring a backup battery and some way to charge your phone so you don’t run out of juice while out on the road.

Check the Forecast

The weather so far is looking quite lovely. That said, as we all know too well, spring weather can be quite unpredictable! We recommend bringing layers so you can be prepared for fluctuating temperatures and foggy mornings. 

Here are some important things to bring:

  • Sunscreen, sun-protective layer, sunglasses, and a hat
  • Warmer lightweight layers that you can shed later in the day as temps warm up
  • If you’re tent camping…bring a rain fly and a footprint/tarp for underneath your tent
  • If you’re in the shared bunkhouse-style rooms, bring your own sleeping bag/pillow/towels — there will NOT be any linens provided. Semi-private rooms do have linens included.
  • Bring your own reusable mug/cup for camp — we’re making an effort to minimize our waste as much as possible.

Don’t forget, you can find the full packing list for our trip at the very end of the ride guide, so if you haven’t already started referencing that, make sure you’re keeping an eye on it as you pack.

Fundraising on the ride is easy

During the event, share an update with your network letting them know about your ride! 

I’m sure you’ll be taking awesome photos and sharing them on social media, so why not make those updates another opportunity to plug your fundraising? Thank your donors for their support, and mention there is still time to donate if they haven’t yet. Tag us on social media or use the hashtag #climateride. Share a few photos with your contacts in a follow-up email. And be sure to include a link to your fundraising, either in your posts or in your bio.

You can continue fundraising until June 1st. Remember, 100% of these hard-earned donations are going to empower grassroots organizations who are doing incredible work to save our planet. Good stuff!

Add your photos to our Google Photos album (and win a prize?!)

Join our Google Photos album for Green Fondo Northern California. We’ll be running a photo contest after the ride, and five lucky winners will get outfitted with even more Climate Ride shwag!

Please share your best pics of people, scenery, wildlife, volunteers, leaders, and  snacks. It will be so fun to share your memories with the rest of the group. 

What an amazing group of people showing up for our planet, we thank each of you for taking part! Thanks to all of your amazing fundraising efforts, we’ve already raised $225,191! We’re cookin’ with heat now, so let’s get psyched for what will certainly be an epic weekend!

Our guidelines for creating a fun ride for everyone

Here are some thoughts, with love, from our CR team.

And in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any last-minute questions. 

Ready, set, le’ts roll!