2021: 980lbs
2022: 1,116lbs
2023: 1,798lbs
2024: 2,000lbs?!
Let’s ride the city and feed the folks who need it most.

Last year, 135 of you showed up for Cranksgiving and we stocked the shelves for Food Not Bombs and Provisions 139!

If you aren’t familiar with Food Not Bombs in Buffalo, they are an organization run entirely on volunteers with no budget. They take food donated directly to them, and cook up some delicious recipes, then go out onto the street and serve it directly to anyone who is hungry.

Provisions 139 is a pantry run by West Side Community Services that invites folks in need to shop there twice per month, with the number of people in their household determining the number of points they receive to shop with each time.

Cranksgiving is a nationwide event that cycling organizations like GObike organize around the country from October – December, and often benefit organizations just like these. We’ll ride bikes around the city to various grocery stores. Because you must also participate in the fun and games at check points, you or your team can choose the route you think is most efficient and compete to return back to the start first!

Cranksgiving’s priorities are:

1: Safety. Ride in accordance with NYS Traffic Law. Including especially riding on the right, in the road, with traffic.

2: Fun: Participants have the best time when they’re remembering this is for a great cause. You’re supporting our local economy when you buy groceries, and you’re supporting your neighbors when you feed them with what you’ve received.

3: Funny: We highly encourage you to come up with a ridiculous team name, and wear ridiculous team costumes. And win a prize for it!

All Prizes:
– Fastest Individual
– Fasted Team
– Heaviest Haul Individual
– Heaviest Haul Team
– Best Team Name
– Best Team Costumes

We’re excited to bring back Cranksgiving once again on Saturday November 2, 2024. If it’ raining that day, we’ll postpone to November 9, and that event will be rain or shine! If we postpone, you’ll know about it Friday 11/1 by 3PM.

Saturday, November 2 – Meet at Essex Street Arts Center
Gather 10AM
Ride Launch 11AM

This is NOT a fundraiser for GObike, so we don’t have a budget for the event. Please, come pre-caffeinated and ready to ride. Any beer and pizza we are able to procure for the after party has been donated, so all of it is limited.

Photo from our host, Lindsay DeDario.

We encourage everyone to ride their bike to the Arts Center. Do not park your car within the Arts Center. If you’re driving in, ou should find an abundance of parking on Rhode Island Street, Massachusetts Ave, and Richmond Ave. Please be sure not to block anyone’s driveway.

How does Cranksgiving Work??

10:00AM
Riders will gather at Essex Street Arts Center parking lot mid-block on Essex St (is a one-way from Massachusetts Ave). Please arrive by 10AM. Registration takes a while and we want to start right at 11:00.

10:00 – 11:00AM
Everyone participating as a individual or group must sign a waiver on-site. When your entire team has signed your team’s waiver, you will receive your manifest for the day’s fun in a sealed envelope.

10:59AM
GObike will address the crowd with safety instructions before all teams open their envelopes simultaneously to reveal:
– List of grocery stores from which to choose four
– Shopping list full of items FNB and Provisions 139 have expressed needs for
– Information about three different checkpoints spread throughout the city

11:00AM
LAUNCH! Everyone’s bikes will be on the opposite end of the parking lot, setting us up for a run/trot/walk Le Mans-style start.

RIDE:
Ride at your own risk on city streets. While teams are enticed to move quickly, this is NOT a race. It’s the choosing of an efficient route that will likely determine the winner.
You have a right to the road. You have a responsibility to ride in accordance with NYS and Buffalo laws (aka no riding on the sidewalk and riding with (not against) traffic).

-Choose 4 from an available 8 grocery stores.
-Hit all 3 checkpoints.
-Keep all of your receipts.

FINISH:
When you arrive at the finish Essex Street Arts Center, you’ll see Brendan who will mark your time. Aim for 1PM!
Full team must be present.
You’ll hand your receipts in as a batch and move on to Lindsay DeDario’s studio to get your donations weighed.

After that, we’ll hopefully have water and beer (donors TBD!) for the post party!
We’ll tally times, amounts spent, and total weight, and announce all category winners by 2PM (ideally). Party ends at 3PM sharp.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
Plenty of help is needed from Registration, to Checkpoints, to Weighing and Timing individuals at the finish.
You can help during, or help before/after and still ride.
Please sign up here.