FCBC Newsletter: November 2026

The days are short, the air has finally cooled off, and the Valley’s best riding weather is here. This month is mostly about you, and how you’ll help steer this organization in 2027. Nominations for the Board close at Monday’s meeting, and I’d love to see a pile of names come in before then. We also have a full stretch of riding ahead: our observance of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, and then in December, the Christmas Tree Lane ride and the results of our election. Let’s go!

In this month’s newsletter:

• Nominations for the 2027 Board close Monday, November 9, and you can nominate yourself
• World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims: Saturday, November 14 at Woodward Park
• Where things stand with Measure S and Measure D, and why our work continues either way
• Coffee Outside is back: Saturday, December 5, 11:00 AM at Broadway Parque
• Christmas Tree Lane and the results of our Board election, both on Sunday, December 13

Nominations close Monday. Who’s stepping up for 2027?

Here’s the whole ask in one breath: our Board election is open for nominations, and they close at our meeting this Monday, November 9. If you’ve been waiting for a sign, consider this it. Nominate yourself, nominate a friend, nominate the person you always end up riding next to. All it takes is a current FCBC membership and a willingness to show up.

Yes, you really can nominate yourself. Plenty of great board members started with somebody deciding they’d like to be one. That’s Edie’s line, and she’s right: members can nominate potential board members, including themselves, so please don’t wait.

I want to be honest about why this matters so much this year. We have two seats sitting empty right now: our Chair, open since June, and a Member at Large seat, open since October. That’s a real gap for a volunteer-run organization, and the people who can close it are the people reading this. You don’t need to have done it before. You need some energy, a little time, and opinions about what Fresno County’s streets should look like. You probably already have that last one.

Here’s how the calendar works:

• Nominations close Monday, November 9 at our Board meeting. Earlier is better.
• The online ballot opens Tuesday, November 10 and closes Saturday, December 12 at 8:00 PM.
• Results are announced Sunday, December 13 at our in-person December member meeting.
• New terms begin January 1, 2027.

A few details worth knowing. You can nominate yourself or someone else, as long as that person is a current FCBC member in good standing. There are no write-ins, so nominations are how names get on the ballot, which means the ballot will only be as good as what we receive by Monday. A member may also run for more than one seat.

Our Elections Committee, Edie Smith, Tony Molina, and Thor Smith, is handling the process.

The seats up this year are Chair, Vice Chair, Past Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Coordinator, and three Members at Large. Whoever fills them will shape our rides, events, and advocacy for the whole year. That’s a lot of influence over a really good thing, so come be part of it.

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims: Saturday, November 14

Every year, the world pauses to remember the people killed and seriously injured in traffic crashes, to hold their families and first responders in our thoughts, and to commit to the changes that prevent these losses. It began with the road-safety charity RoadPeace in 1993 and was adopted by the United Nations in 2005. This year the international observance falls on Sunday, November 15.

Our local observance is one day early: Saturday, November 14, 11:00 AM, at the Park Gazebo Shelter at Woodward Park. We moved it to a Saturday, and out to the park, on purpose. It makes room for more of our community and more of our local leaders to stand with us. This is our fifth year partnering with the City of Fresno’s Active Transportation Advisory Committee.

The centerpiece is a “Ride/Walk for Your Life,” a ceremonial-pace ride of about two miles, open to every skill level, with a trail walk for anyone who’d rather be on foot. Come ride, come walk, come stand with neighbors who believe these streets can be safer. Full details are on fresnobike.org.

Measure S: still being counted, and still worth watching

On Tuesday, Fresno County voted on Measure S, the Transportation Improvement Act. As of this writing, it’s not the final word. Preliminary results show it behind, with roughly 112,000 ballots still to be counted and the next update expected Thursday. We’re not calling it, and nobody else should either. Stay posted.

What was on the table matters, so here’s what it would do. Measure S would renew the county’s transportation funding before Measure C expires on June 30, 2027. That’s about $7.4 billion over 30 years, with mandatory funding for bicycle infrastructure, design standards, 120+ miles of bike paths and protected lanes, and 150+ Safe Routes to School projects. It had the backing of eleven of the county’s fifteen mayors, ten city councils, and both Fresno and Central Unified school districts.

Some opponents were upfront about their objection: they didn’t want it funding bike lanes. Honestly, that tells you exactly why this work still needs us. Bike lanes, sidewalks, and bus stops aren’t frills to trim. They’re the whole point. They’re how a kid gets to school without a car in the driveway, how a nurse gets to a shift after the last bus, how a neighbor gets groceries in August heat or January fog. Safe routes for people on bikes, on foot, and on the bus aren’t a niche interest. They’re the most affordable, most joyful way we have to move people around this county. Cars just aren’t that fun. We’d rather ride our bikes.

Measure D, the City of Fresno’s own half-cent tax, is passing. It’s a city-only measure that can fund roads, transit, and public safety, and it was designed as the city’s fallback if Measure S hadn’t qualified. It’s useful, but it doesn’t reach beyond the city limits. So whatever happens with S, the case for countywide funding that puts walking, biking, and transit on equal footing isn’t going away, and neither are we.

Watch for the updated totals. We’ll share what we learn.

Coffee Outside is back: Saturday, December 5, 11:00 AM at Broadway Parque

Coffee Outside returns, and I’m excited about this one. We had a small gathering in October, and this is the next one. The plan is simple and good: Saturday, December 5 at 11:00 AM.

We’ll be at Broadway Parque, located at 940 N Broadway St, Fresno, CA 93728 — at the corner of N. Broadway Street and E. Elizabeth Street in the Tower District. Bring your cup of coffee, or your whole mobile brewing setup if you’re one of those people, and join us for a morning ride and conversation. Easy pace, great company, no agenda except the one you bring.

If you’ve never been, come anyway. Nobody will judge you for grabbing a coffee from a shop on the way. I’ve done that too.

Christmas Tree Lane: Sunday, December 13 (and yes, that’s Fig Garden)

This is the one I’m most excited about. On Sunday, December 13, we ride Christmas Tree Lane, rolling out from Gazebo Gardens with a crowd of bikes, lights, and ridiculous holiday cheer. Plenty of you came out last year, and it was a blast. If you’ve never done it on a bike, this is your year.

A quick public service announcement: Christmas Tree Lane is in Fig Garden, not Clovis. I know, it gets people every year. Come find us at Gazebo Gardens and you’ll be in exactly the right place.

Rain cancels the ride, but not our December member meeting, which happens rain or shine. More details to come as we finalize the plan.

Sunday, December 13 is also our in-person December member meeting, where we’ll announce the results of the Board election. Ride with us, then help us welcome the 2027 Board.

Dia de Muertos at Van Ness Village: bike valet, quick bike repair help… and a lot of candy!

Earlier this month, Edie and Jeremy spent the day at the Dia de Muertos block party in Van Ness Village. They ran bike valet, did basic repairs and adjustments for people passing through, and handed out Halloween candy. They had an absolute blast. It was a great reminder of the simplest thing we do: show up where our neighbors are, make it easy to arrive by bike, and fix the little things that stand between someone and a great ride.

If that sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday, it is. Come volunteer with us sometime.

Coming up

• Monday, November 9: General Membership & Board Meeting. The General Membership meeting is at 6:30 PM and the Board meeting follows at 7:00 PM, both via Zoom. The membership meeting is your chance to talk with the Board before the official business begins. Nominations for the 2027 Board close at this meeting. Register for the event on fresnobike.org and we’ll send you the link.
• Saturday, November 14: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. 11:00 AM, Park Gazebo Shelter at Woodward Park. Ride, walk, remember.
• Saturday, December 5: Coffee Outside, 11:00 AM at Broadway Parque, 940 N Broadway St, Fresno, CA 93728.
• Sunday, December 13: Christmas Tree Lane ride from Gazebo Gardens (Fig Garden!), plus our in-person December member meeting and election results. Rain cancels the ride.

A heads-up: there’s no Board meeting in December. Our next Board meeting after November 9 will be in January, with the new Board seated.

Our Bike Station pop-up was out at Van Ness Village this month. Dates, times, and details for what’s happened recently and what’s coming up are all on fresnobike.org. Bookmark it.

Membership

If you’re not yet a member of FCBC, or you need to renew, visit https://fresnobike.org/join. Membership is what makes you eligible to nominate, to run, and to vote, and it’s the reason we can keep doing all of this for free.

Happy riding, and keep those lights on now that the sun clocks out before dinner. See you Monday!