Almost time ...

We're about 10 days out from Cranksgiving Omaha 2010. So far the weather looks good, the sponsors are lined up and excitement is high.

What we're looking for right now is volunteers to make some soup. We traditionally have a beer/cheese soup and chili. For chili, you can make your own recipe - we'll dump it all together. For the beer/cheese, we'll send the recipe and dump it all together.

You'd need to make a double batch of whatever you choose. And you can certainly choose - we just need five people for each kind of soup.

Interested? Drop Rafal a line - rafald1 at yahoo.com

The fund drive

Last year, Cranksgiving Omaha raised more than $650 in cash donations to the food bank. Through special pricing, programs and grants, each dollar donated to the food bank can buy $9 worth of food.

That means our $650 was worth more than $5,800 in food. And that's on top of the 1,800-plus pounds of food collected in the race.

Though the fortunes of many have improved since last year, there's still an overwhelming need for donations. We can beat last year's totals. We can do more. This year, we're aiming for a $1,000 cash donation and 2,500 pounds of food delivered. We can do it. You can help.

So, we'll start it like this: We (Bryan and Chris) just submitted our $50 donation through this link.

When you submit your information, you'll have a chance to add comments. In that spot, put "Cranksgiving Omaha."

Let's do more. Let's fill the truck.

Out in the wild

Cranking it up

Hey Cranksgiving types: Don't be concerned by the lack of activity on this blog. We're getting things lined up and fired up for Cranksgiving 2010. We'll have more news here in a few weeks — stay tuned!

And, in other super-exciting bonus news: We're raffling off this bike. More information to come!

Cranksgiving 2009: A new record

Looking at the weather forecast for the next week, I think we lucked out for Cranksgiving this year. We had highs in the mid-50s and a bit of a north wind, but the sun was out from time to time. That's after a bit of snow last year and temps in the low 40s.

Here's a look at the numbers for this year (the totals may be amended a bit on Monday).

54 riders (50 last year)
1,828 pounds of food (1,263 last year)
$658 in cash donations ($20 last year, maybe?)

All in all, it was a great day for the Omaha Food Bank. We had a nice cross-section of riders -- young and old, experienced and new -- and a great vibe at Bike Masters. Best of all, at least for the volunteers, everybody came in the door with a smile on their face.

Well, except for Kaelly Simpson. She rolled her ankle attempting to ... I'm not sure what she was attempting, but it was in the parking lot right after the Le Mans start. She ended up with an ankle sprain, soup delivery and a pair of new socks. Get better soon, Kaelly!

Here's Larry Wilson (on the left) checking in. Larry was second in the men's geared division. Scott Tarry won it -- that's his blue jacket to the right.

Martin Bixby, a three-year Cranksgiving veteran, knows how this whole thing works. He came ready to go with a tape dispenser to secure items to the outside of his bag.

The results:

Men's Geared
1. Scott Tarry
2. Larry Wilson
3. Matt Farnham

Men's SS/Fixed
1. Mike Douglas (back to back titles)
2. Eric Brunt (won in 2007)
3. Rafal Doloto (podium all three years)

Women's Geared
1. Suzanne Wilson (third overall, and won in 2007)
2. Anne Savery
3. Roxy Feagan (second last year)

Women's SS/Fixed
1. Karen Douglas

Trailer
1. Ryan Feagan (he was pretty psyched to finish higher on his respective podium than Roxy)

This year, along with the regular sponsor prizes -- everybody left with something, once again -- we had a drawing for a Chrome Citizen messenger bag. To be eligible, riders had to complete the list and bring back a turkey. Imagine your bag stuffed to capacity, then attempting to negotiate a turkey. Ouch.

The winner, of course, was Martin Bixby. The guy who proved he needed no extra bags now has an extra bag. Congrats!

Thanks is owed to our hosting shop, Bike Masters. Also, thank you to our sponsors (including cookie sponsor Eileen's Cookies. Yeah, that's right -- we have a cookie sponsor) and our volunteers. Cranksgiving can't happen without a very wide group of people willing to sacrifice their time for a great cause.

So, once again, thank you.

Next year: November 13, 2010. See you then.

Last-minute info

Cranksgiving Omaha 2009 is tomorrow - noon - Bike Masters (129th/Fort).

Registration starts at 11:15, shopping list distributed at 11:50. You need to be signed up by 11:45. If you're not, you're probably going to be stressed out (and possibly late).

It looks like the weather is going to cooperate after all - high in the mid-50s and sunny. Might be a bit breezy, but it's been like that for a couple of weeks now. We should have a great day.

Leave comments or email me if you have last-minute questions: bredemske at gmail.com

A challenge

Well, we're just a few days away from Cranksgiving Omaha 2009. The weather is looking solid, the donations are rolling in, the food is being accounted for.

As I've mentioned previously, one of the greatest ways to help the Food Bank is with a cash donation. Thanks to grants and various programs, the Food Bank can turn a $1 donation into $10 worth of food.

For an even bigger impact, imagine what $50 can do. At our house, we've set aside $50 to donate on Saturday, and we're challenging others to do the same. We know times are tight, but a little help from the more fortunate can go a long way for the less fortunate.

So far, we have four others who have stepped up. Who's next? You can donate online here or in person on Saturday. If you can't make it on Saturday, please consider a cash donation, especially since it's so easy. Be sure to put "Cranksgiving" in the "special instructions" space on the online form.

Thank you - see you Saturday.