The Climate Center is a beneficiary of Climate Ride, a nonprofit that organizes active events to raise money for the planet. This year, we are fundraising for our work by participating in the Green Fondo Northern California cycling event. Read our stories about why we ride!
Laurie-Ann, Administrative Manager:
Having just celebrated my twelfth anniversary working for The Climate Center, I’m passionate about the work we do to create a more livable planet for my daughter, all children, and all living beings. That passion and my love of cycling drew me to the Climate Ride.
My favorite reason to be on my bike is to run errands or go places. When my daughter was little, I loved taking her to storytime at the library in the bike trailer. When she was older, I took her to school on a cargo bike. Anytime I didn’t have to get in a car was a win for me and I felt I was creating a better world for her.
But I had never been a road cyclist and never ridden more than ten miles in a day when I signed up for my first Climate Ride in 2019. I was inspired by a board member of The Climate Center who had ridden along the coast of California and was enthusiastic about the experience. So, I borrowed a bike and trained and trained on the beautiful backroads of Sonoma County. And then I rode 350 miles over five days from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo on the California Coastal Climate Ride and raised thousands of dollars for The Climate Center. I was proud of my accomplishment and I fell in love with cycling for a cause with like-minded people.
Fast forward to 2026 and I signed up for what will be my fourth Climate Ride: the Green Fondo from May 15-17. I’m training again along the beautiful backroads of Sonoma County. I’m looking forward to camping at Walker Creek Ranch with The Climate Center team and am excited to be cycling with 100 other folks who care about the climate crisis and two-wheel transportation.
My goal for this Climate Ride is to raise $5,000 for The Climate Center. So far, 45 friends have donated $4,732. I’m so close to my goal! Will you support The Climate Center and help me reach my goal?
Gabe, Foundation Relations Manager:
Even as a teenager growing up in car-centric Los Angeles, I loved to cycle. I was lucky to grow up near the beach bike path in Santa Monica, which I would frequently ride to visit friends in Venice Beach, occasionally adventuring together through the poor patchwork of bike paths deeper into the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.
Since moving to the Bay Area a decade ago, I have always commuted by bike and BART, grateful for the jolt of exercise to start and finish my workday, and would occasionally go on longer road rides throughout the East Bay. Cycling has shown me so many beautiful corners of the place I live, which I would not have discovered any other way. Few things fix a bad mood more quickly and profoundly than hopping on my bike to feel the blood pumping through my legs and the wind in my hair.
These days, I try to get around and run errands as much as possible by bike. It brings me a deep sense of satisfaction to use a form of transportation that helps me stay fit, gets me outside in the sun, doesn’t pollute, and doesn’t cost any money to run. My bike makes me feel free, both in my body and from the fossil fuel culture that’s poisoning our atmosphere and plunging our world into frightening new climate realities.
The 2026 Climate Ride Green Fondo will be the first organized ride I’ve ever done and the longest I’ve ever ridden. Training for this ride has gotten me outside with my friends so much over the last few months, exploring new corners of the Bay Area and enjoying the incredible place we live. I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt before. I am so grateful for this ride and it hasn’t even happened yet! I am also so grateful to work at an organization that offers me the opportunity to bring a hobby I love into the workplace while tackling the climate crisis.
It’s an honor to fundraise on behalf of The Climate Center for this ride — if you are moved by addressing climate change, green transportation, or simply spending active time outside with loved ones, I hope you’ll consider donating to my fundraiser.
Laurie-Ann Barbour
Administrative Executive Assistant
