2012 Philly Cranksgiving - The results

Cranksgiving was back in 2012 bigger and better than ever. More riders, improved routing, and plenty of donations. This year Tattooed Mom's stepped up by matching the total amount of money spent by riders purchasing donated food. What makes Philly Cranksgiving unique is not the event itself; it’s the people who organize it. This ride is not planned by a for-profit or a non for-profit which have the resources and funding to make this type of event run smoothly. But by two individuals who commit their own time and energy outside of their normal schedules. CJ and Gary took some time to answer some questions about this years ride.

1. With 46 riders, how many pounds of food were collected. (not including the amount Tattooed Mom's added)?

CJ: We actually had 62/63 starters, so I am hoping that most of those people finished and added their donations, and just didn't hand in a manifest. But when the day was over, we had 798lbs!

Gary: CJ is correct, we had 62 riders sign up and most of them were recorded as finished and I'm pretty sure the rest trickled in after the time limit.  We ended up collecting just shy of 800lbs of food.  In addition to the food, we had $1250 in donations ($1,000 of which came from Tattooed Moms in place of their food matching).  The cash donations were just as significant of a help, and according to Philabundance, were able to assist in feeding well over 2,000 people!

2. What was the time for the 1st place rider?

CJ: The first and second place riders (a couple) had actually gotten to Tattooed Mom a second or two before I did, around 1:30. Gary and I were trying to decide when to leave Whole Foods at 10th and South for the finish....he decided to stay for stragglers while I headed down to Tattooed Mom. Glad I left when I did! We started at maybe 12:05 or 12:10, so their time was around 1:20 or so?

Gary: I totally forgot to keep track of time, but around an hour and a half finishing time seemed about right.  We tried to mix things up by adding a mandatory 3rd stop on the manifest, where we introduced a mystery stop to keep riders on their toes.

3. This year you moved the starting point out of Center City; did this help avoid any issues with the Philadelphia Marathon?

CJ: I don't know explicitly if it helped or not, but since the riders were starting further from the Marathon course, I suppose it gave us more of a time 'buffer' between the Marathon and our event. I know last year we had some people not being able to take the Spring Garden bridge; not sure if it was the same case this year or not. The scene at the finish was too hectic to mingle and get race reports, hah. In any case, I did like our Penn Treaty start more because it gave us a bit more room to have everyone hang around and chat while waiting for manifests, and not be in anyone's way or raise any suspicion. I couldn't imagine 60+ people standing around LOVE right across from City Hall, where we started last year.

Gary: The marathon was certainly a part of the decision to move the starting point, however the minimal interference we had last year also played into the decision.  Mostly, it was that we were expecting a significantly larger crowd this year with the increased promotion and awareness, and having the extra room for people to hang out before the race certainly helped.

4. When are you are not working non-stop on Cranksgiving, what do you do for fun and work?

CJ: Fun: road rides in the suburbs, DIY basement shows, poker with high school friends, and drinking bottomless coffee at Grindcore House.
Not Fun: I'm a second-year Master's student at Towson University, in Towson, MD. Experimental Psychology. Graduating in May, hoping to be able to get into bicycle transportation research. Until then, it's a lot of driving back and forth just so I can ride my bike and see my girlfriend/friends/family.

Gary: Outside of the wonderful world of Cranksgiving, I lead a fairly busy life (at least I think so...).  During the week, I work a 9-5 as a web designer/developer for a company just outside of Philadelphia.  I'm also an avid cyclist, racing cyclocross on the weekends, riding (as much as possible) otherwise, and riding around the city!  

More info (results/summary/photos) are/will be available on our website (www.cranksgivingphilly.com)