820!

The final tally, according to the Food Bank's scale, was 820 pounds. Wow! Thanks again to everybody who rode or volunteered. I know I've said it a zillion times, but you guys made it happen -- I just lined up prizes and rules.

bryan

huge pic gallery here.

Pics/stats/thanks

Giving instructions -- we had 43 riders and 8 volunteers beside Chris and I. We had near-perfect numbers and near-perfect weather, with the only complaint being a stiff SE wind.

The LeMans start is underway. That's Eric Brunt out to a lead he never relinquished. And he was on a single-speed.

Some riders ran up the hill with their bikes, others went out through the parking lot.

Brady Murphy, left, checking in. Mike Munson is in the background. Munson had an advantage of sorts -- he went with me on a pre-race test about a month ago. He must have soaked up a few secrets.

From left, Brandon, Rod and Janna checking in a rider.

Our smallest volunteer enjoyed the soup cans the most.

Ryan and Roxy checking in with their loaded BOB trailer bag.

Sean Kennedy has nice technique.

The SS men's winners -- Eric Brunt in gold, Rafal Doloto in silver and Dale Rabideau in bronze.

Women's geared winners -- we had no SS riders -- Suzanne Wilson in gold (she was third overall), Stephanie Vandermeulen in silver and Julie Harris in bronze.

Men's geared -- Marco Vasquez in gold, Kevin Murray in silver and Mike Munson in bronze.

This is either Andres or Camilo Torres. He got a new Crumpler backpack to replace the flimsy little drawstring bag he used. Let me know which one of you it is, guys.

Bob Brindamour pulled his son Ben in a Burley. Each had their own bags of stuff. Bob got a Snickers cheesecake made by my mom for having the heaviest load.

Joe Savoie had a 25-pound bag of flour on his bars. It broke. He -- and his bike -- were covered.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Volunteers loading up the food. We had a LOT of it -- more than 700 pounds' worth.


Nicol Woody giving the high-wheeler a shot. It was a bit too big for her, though.

Thanks to everybody who helped out or rode or even sent a note of encouragement. Cranksgiving was a big success because of your contributions. The Omaha Food Bank will be getting a sizable donation on Monday, and a lot of people will benefit from your generousity.

Thanks to our sponsors: Bike Masters, Trek Store, Highgear, Olympia Cycle, Dave's Decks, Monster Energy Drink, Ergon USA, Twin Six and Bad Lasses. Everybody left with a prize because of their generousity. We look forward to having them back next year.

Thank you!

We had 770 pounds collected by Omaha Cranksgiving riders today. My hope was for 500. Wow.

I'll post a lot more tomorrow, including pics and a video of Janna riding the high-wheel bike at Bike Masters, but I do want to say thanks to all who rode, helped or sponsored. It was tiring and stressful for me, but worth it in the end. Thanks again.

Edit: Chris posted some pics here.

The current prize list

Water bottles:
27 total -- 7 from Twin Six, 6 from Trek/Highgear, 14 from Clif Shot

T-shirts:
10 total -- 7 from Twin Six, 3 from Bad Lasses

Socks:
12 pairs -- 6 from Twin Six, 6 from Trek/Highgear (in the bottles)

MTB grips
4 pairs -- GP1 from Ergon USA

Cheesecakes
2 -- from my mom. Heath Bar and Snickers

Red blinkies
1 -- from Olympia Cycle

Fenders
2 -- 1 Zefal mudgard from Bike Masters, 1 CKS mtb fender set from Olympia

Hats
1 -- Columbia cycling cap from Olympia

Pumps
1 -- Mini frame pump from Bike Masters

GU
1 box -- 24 pack of Vanilla from Bike Masters

Sunglasses
2 pairs -- Serfas sunglasses from Bike Masters

Recovery packs
3 total -- Three packages with Clif Shot recovery drinks and chews

Instant energy
4 -- 4 six-packs of Monster Energy Drink

Backpacks
1 -- A Crumpler backpack from Bike Masters, $130 retail. Very cool.

See you Saturday.

Plans have been finalized

Well, mostly finalized. I have some minor stuff to deal with, but we're ready to go.

Items of note
We could still use a few volunteers. We have 5 confirmed right now, but another 5 or more would be awesome. If you were planning on riding, keep those plans -- just bring a friend who wants to hang out in a bike shop for a few hours.

The poster was made by Ben Vankat, a coworker of mine at the newspaper. His work, along with Mallie, has made this site and event look great. Thank them both if you get the opportunity. They're probably tired of hearing it from me.

More prizes have arrived. We now have an awesome Crumpler backpack, two pairs of Serfas sunglasses, a 24-count box of GU, a Serfas mini-frame pump and a Zefal rear mudgard/fender. Oh, and a discount coupon for Shimano winter shoes. Also, Trek/Highear is tossing in six water bottles, each with a pair of socks inside. And, finally -- for now -- my mom will be making a cheesecake. Maybe two cheesecakes; I'm not sure. But they're good. And it'll be tasty after lugging groceries around NW Omaha.

Email me if you have questions or concerns, or if you want to help or donate. bredemske at hotmail dot com.

See you on the 10th.

Loot

In case helping the hungry wasn't enough incentive, here's a sampling of the prize drawing. Seven Twin Six water bottles, seven Twin Six shirts (one in each men's and women's size, all different), six pairs of Twin Six black team socks and four Ergon GP1 grips -- two large, two small. And our shop sponsors will be adding to the pile, so the odds of winning are pretty good. Total retail on this stuff is nearing 400 bucks.

Green is good. Ergon green is better.

Cranksgiving update

November 10 at noon -- Bike Masters in Omaha

We're about a month out, and things are coming together quite nicely. Prizes from very generous sponsors are on the way, and I gotta say they're very, very cool. So cool, in fact, I wish I could win 'em. I won't say what they are, exactly, but notice the addition of Twin Six and Ergon as sponsors on the right. You're gonna like what you see. And thanks to Mr. 24 and the T6 boys.

And, obviously, the site has been prettied up a bit. I must thank Mallie for that, because without her work (for free, no less), things would still be quite white and quite boring. So, many thanks to her. Plus, she scored some stuff from Bad Lasses, which is a pretty cool company for the ladies.

Local shops have also been kind to us, so check them out, too. They'll be tossing stuff onto the prize pile, as well.

Here are some answers to a few questions I've seen:
What's this gonna cost me?
Whatever you spend on the items on the list, that's it. There's no entry fee. The items will cost between 10 and 20 bucks, probably.

Can I use a BOB trailer?
Sure, go nuts. I'll give you a time bonus if you use it to bring back an actual turkey.

What if I want to ride a singlespeed or a fixie?
Good for you. We'll have four categories: ss/fixie men, ss/fixie women, geared men, geared women. And yes, there will be prizes for winners in each category.

Prizes? Like the Twin Six stuff?
Yeah, but that stuff will be won in a drawing. Everybody will get a fair, though random, shot at the goods.

And if it's cold?
Dress warm.

No, really cold!
Dress warmer.

What are we going to do afterward?
Hang out, give out prizes and eat. We'll have two or three kinds of soup and probably some sloppy joes. You're welcome to bring food to share with the masses as well. Just shoot me an email -- bredemske at hotmail dot com to let me know.

Can I donate something if I can't make the ride?
Sure -- send me an email and we'll talk about it.

How will this whole thing work?
You'll check in, preferably around 11:30 so we can get you signed in, then at about 11:50 you'll get your shopping list. At noon, you'll hop on your bike and ride. Whenever you get back, you'll check in and weigh your bag. After that, you're done. Grab some food. When everybody's back, we'll draw for prizes. Do feel free to hang out, too. Bike Masters has been kind enough to host us, so check their stuff out.

I think that's it -- email or post a comment if you have other questions. I'll try to get 'em answered pronto. And thanks for being a part of what could be a pretty cool event.