Philadelphia Social Rides - 2016

With warm weather approaching people will be turning to thoughts of love. The love of bicycling. For those of you who are looking for way to socialize and ride your bikes there many options available in Philadelphia.

Social rides last 5 to 20 miles depending on the ride, at a pace that allows for a wide range of bikes and fitness levels. Social rides usually have a “no drop” policy, that ensures that everyone who is in the ride makes it to the finish. Ensuring that no one gets lost or left behind to a flat tire or mechanical breakdown. These rides provide a final destination where you can socialize and have something to drink and eat.

The list below breaks down the Social Rides currently available in Philadelphia by daytime and nighttime rides.

Daytime Rides

Philadelphia Open Ride - https://www.facebook.com/phillyopenride/

On of two new fledging social rides in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Open Ride is the creation of Pope Ride organizer Alexandria Schneider. She lead off her first ride with a fall leaf tour of Philadelphia complete with a picnic with the best view of Philadelphia, the Belmont Plateau. In December there was a Toys for Tots ride that I hope will become an annual tradition. Ms. Schneider appears to have some new rides lined up for the spring and we look forward to seeing what they are.

Norman’s Irregular Bike Rides - https://www.facebook.com/groups/517736488374969/

Norman’s Irregular Bike Rides is the other addition to the Philadelphia Social Ride scene. In the fall it held the Day of the Donut, a tour of Philadelphia’s best donut shops. With warm spring weather on the way we are sure there will be more rides to come.

Women Bike PHL - https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenbikephl/

Founded by Katie Monroe of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Women Bike PHL is a private Facebook page for women cyclists with over 2100 members. It is a forum to ask for advice about all things cycling and to promote the rides they host. The goal of Women Bike PHL is to inspire more women to ride a bike and support and encourage them along the way

Take Your Time Bike Ride - http://tinyurl.com/pnlu3tj

Departing from Rittenhouse Square on the second Tuesday of every month around 6pm. These rides always finish a different destination each ride. Starting in April and ending in October these rides alternate between coed and women only.

Philly Kidical Mass http://tinyurl.com/oan2vp3

Kidical Mass Philadelphia is part of nationwide movement seeking to promote family friendly bike rides and bring awareness in our cities that kids are traffic too. Riding as a group Philly Kidical Mass provides safety in numbers by using routes that incorporate bike lanes and low traffic streets that are 1 to 4 miles long. Kidical Mass rides often end at local playgrounds giving you the opportunity to socialize while your children play with new friends.

Cranksgiving Philadelphia http://tinyurl.com/pf2hgvc

Held in November close to Thanksgiving. Each rider has to purchase food from a shopping list at predesignated supermarkets and then arrive at a final destination. All of the food is donated to Philabundance. For those of you who want to race there are prizes for top finishers in several categories and a special award for the individual who brings the most food. In 2014 Cranksgiving Philadelphia had 100 participants who brought 1200 pounds of food and $700 in cash. The final destination is Tattooed Mom’s on South St and they double the amount of food brought in.

Philadelphia Tweed Ride http://tinyurl.com/mxkt492

Held in the fall around November, the Philadelphia Tweed Ride is the dressiest social ride in town. Attracting 100 riders on average the Philadelphia Tweed Ride dress code asks its participants to dress in clothing from 1900 to 1920 England. The attire ranges from vintage clothing to vintage inspired, with bikes to match. Winding its way through Philadelphia this ride becomes a parade of its own. Complete with a stop for a picnic, post ride drinks and awards, the Philadelphia Tweed Ride is the ride of the social season.

Nighttime Rides

Philly Full Moon Bike Ride http://tinyurl.com/n9vfype

Come howl at the moon with the Philly Full Moon Bike Ride. Held on the full moon of every month this ride departs from the Philadelphia Art Museum in the evening. Well attended, the Full Moon ride makes sure that no one gets lost or is left behind, and finishes at a local bar for drinks. Rides are held year round so dress for the weather and bring lights.

Philadelphia Bike Ride - https://www.facebook.com/phillybikeride/

With rides falling on either the third Friday or Saturday of the month. Philadelphia Bike Ride tours through different sections of Philadelphia.

Philly Bike Party http://tinyurl.com/ot2l67t

Come dance the night away with the Philly Bike Party. The Philly Bike Party rides are usually on the third Saturday of the month and is 6 to 8 miles long. Along the way the ride makes several stops to socialize and dance.

Lets Go Ride a Bike

With warm weather approaching people will be turning to thoughts of love. The love of bicycling. For those of you who are looking for way to socialize and ride your bikes there many options available in Philadelphia.

Take Your Time Bike Ride - http://tinyurl.com/pnlu3tj

Departing from Rittenhouse Square on the second Tuesday of every month around 6pm. These rides always include a different destination each ride. Starting in April and ending in October these rides alternate between coed and women only.

Philly Full Moon Bike Ride http://tinyurl.com/n9vfype

Come howl at the moon with the Philly Full Moon Bike Ride. Held on the full moon of every month this ride departs from the Philadelphia Art Museum in the evening. Well attended, with a no drop policy this ride ends up at a local bar for drinks. Rides are held year round so dress for the weather and bring lights.

Philly Bike Party http://tinyurl.com/ot2l67t

Come dance the night away with the Philly Bike Party. The Philly Bike Party rides are usually on the third Saturday of the month and is 6 to 8 miles long. Along the way the ride makes several stops to socialize and dance.

Philly Kidical Mass http://tinyurl.com/oan2vp3

Kidical Mass Philadelphia is part of nationwide movement seeking to promote family friendly bike rides and bring awareness in our cities that kids are traffic too. Riding as a group Philly Kidical Mass provides safety in numbers by using routes that incorporate bike lanes and low traffic streets that are 1 to 4 miles long. These rides often end at local playgrounds giving you the opportunity to socialize while your children play with new friends.

Cranksgiving Philadelphia http://tinyurl.com/pf2hgvc

Held in November close to Thanksgiving. Each rider has to purchase food from a shopping list at predesignated supermarkets and then arrive at a final destination. All of the food is donated to Philabundance. For those of you who want to race there are prizes for top finishers in several categories and a special award for the individual who brings the most food. In 2014 Cranksgiving Philadelphia had 100 participants who brought 1200 pounds of food and $700 in cash.

Philadelphia Tweed Ride http://tinyurl.com/mxkt492

Held in the fall around November, the Philadelphia Tweed Ride is the dressiest social ride in town. Attracting 100 riders on average the Philadelphia Tweed Ride dress code asks its participants to dress in clothing from 1900 to 1920 England. The attire ranges from vintage clothing to vintage inspired, with bikes to match. Winding its way through Philadelphia this ride becomes a parade of its own. Complete with a stop for a picnic,  post ride drinks and awards the Philadelphia Tweed Ride is the ride of the social season.

Bilenky Junkyard Cross http://tinyurl.com/nxb8cma

The Bilenky Junkyard Cross closes out the social riding cycling season. Held in December in the junkyard abutting Bilenky Cycle Works, the Bilenky Junkyard Cross has one of the most unique courses around. Utilizing  items found in the junkyard you can expect to climb over cars, weave through auto parts and tires, and splash through puddles of unknown fluids. Each year the merry elves at Bilenky Cycle Works add their own course modifications. Pits made from sofa cushions or leaves and seesaws.

2012 Philadelphia Social Rides

With much of the major riding season over until the spring its time to take a look back at some of the highlights and lowlights of the past year. While there are plenty of alley cats, charity rides, races there are some that stand out more than others.

The most questionable ride that happens is the Philadelphia Naked Bike Ride, PNBR. While the ride has grown since its inception whether it achieves any of it broad based and nebulous goals remains highly questionable. The only people who benefit from the PNBR are the owners of the nearby bars at the Piazza at Schmiddts where the ride ends and after parties are held.

There are rides that are building a sense of community through good deeds and others through good fun.  Examples of rides built through good fun include the Bilenky Junk Yard Cross is an unsanctioned cyclocross where nothing about the course or the participants are regulation. It draws a very eclectic group of participants and spectators for a day of friendly competition.

The Philly Tweed ride is also a great example of good fun builds a community. The Philadelphia Tweed Ride is a vintage themed bicycle ride where the participants dress in early 1900's style clothing and take a leisurely ride through Philadelphia with a stop for a picnic lunch and dinner. Attracting over 100 participants per year of all ages this ride gives participants a chance to exercise their creative abilities as well as create the opportunity to dress up for a unique social setting.

While Philadelphia has its share of charity bicycle rides most of them are century rides run by a non for-profit that have the resources and the staff to execute such an undertaking. There are two rides that I am aware of, that have been created through the hard work of individuals who make time outside of work, school, and other commitments to plan these rides.

Philly Cranksgiving is an alley cat race where participants navigate to a series of grocery stores to purchase items from a list that are brought to a final destination. Organized by two local residents, Gary and CJ,  all of the proceeds go to Philabundance a food bank that helps Philadelphians in need. The 2012 ride raised 800 pounds of food and $1200.00, $1000.00 of which was donated by Tattooed Mom's matching the amount spent by the riders who donated food. This helped feed 2000 residents of Philadelphia.

There was a new addition this year, Gears for Gifts. An organized bicycle ride with the proceeds going to Toys for Tots. Traditionally motorcycle and car clubs holds rides of this nature so it’s always refreshing to see a new twist on an existing concept. I can only hope that this ride becomes an annual event and may some day rival the Midnight Ridazz All City Ride.

I'm looking forward to 2013 to see how many of these rides will cotinue to grow and evolve. As well as what new rides will develop.

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)   

Philadelphia Bicycle Weekend - 2012

Here in the hallowed halls of the Philadelphia Bicycle Journal we are pleased to announce that Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18 will officially be the 2012 Philadelphia Bicycle Weekend. Why, because we said so. This weekend will have something for everyone.

For those of you who are looking for a social ride and with the opportunity to dress up there is the Philadelphia Tweed Ride on Saturday, November 17. A leisurely ride through Philadelphia with over 100 bicyclists all them dressed in clothing dating from the 1890's to the 1920's.  Not sure if you have the proper clothing, look through some of the pictures found here you may already have items in your closet that will work. If not a quick trip to a thrift shop or consignment store will have you properly outfitted.

For those of you who want to challenge yourself at a competitive level on Sunday, November 18 there is the Philly Cranksgiving Ride. Departing from Penn Treaty Park you will be navigating to a series of predetermined supermarkets. At each market you will purchase an item of food from a list supplied and then bring everything to a final destination, Tattooed Mom's on South St. The proceeds are donated to Philabundance and this year Tattooed Mom's will match all donations.

With the weather predicted to be in the 50's it should be perfect bicycling weather.

Philly Cranksgiving 2012

The Second Annual Philly Cranksgiving Ride is coming to Philadelphia Sunday, November 18. Part bike race, part charity food drive Cranksgiving requires riders to navigate to a series of predetermined supermarkets and buying an item of food from a list. With all of the proceeds donated to Philabundance. This year Gary and CJ took sometime out from their hectic planning schedule to answer a few questions about this years plans.

Last year with temperatures in the 60's, what secret ritual do you have planned to ensure similar weather?

    CJ: Maybe if we get everything done super last-minute like last year, everything will work out! Of course, we'll try to get everything done earlier, and it'll be 40 degrees out. Just our luck. Short answer: we're rollin' the dice.

    Gary: Last minute planning seemed to be the trick.  We're doing a lot more work ahead of schedule this year, but I'm sure we'll be rushing to do something last minute.  Hopefully we'll be lucky again this year!

    For people who want to ride instead of race is there a time limit to complete the route?

    CJ: We'll probably cap it at 2-3 hours, or have some sort of "If you want to be considered for prizes, your manifest must be in by...". It's kinda tough because a slower rider may end up being Most Charitable, so that's something we kinda have to figure out. But, we definitely don't want to discourage anyone from riding and having fun, especially because food is food and every item helps out Philabundance.

    Gary: Last year we had a prize for most charitable and it was very well received (With the winner donating 10 Additional Items!).  This year, we're trying to place more emphasis on prizes for charitability.  2-3 hours seems about right for time limit, but if you show up a few minutes after the limit with an entire thanksgiving feast, we might be able to work something out.

    How many miles can participants expect to ride?

    CJ: We're shooting for 15-20 miles total. We definitely want a laid-back vibe with a ride that most people should be able to do in a couple of hours, but still give the option for a short, fast 'race' should people choose to ride hard.

    What are you doing this year to promote Cranksgiving Philadelphia?

    CJ: For starters, Gary set us up with a spiffy new website! In addition, we already have a Facebook event up with more people "Attending" than last year's event. We've got a couple of sponsors already and I'm trying to bug Gary into drafting flyers and other promo stuff that we can put in bike shops as well as on the web. We are hoping that earlier (and better) promotion will get us many more riders than last year. In addition, word-of-mouth from last year's participants should help us get Cranksgiving Philly bigger and better each year.

    Gary: Word of mouth is playing a pretty big role again this year.  We made sure to set up promotional material (with the website www.CranksgivingPhilly.com and FaceBook event page) early to make sure we get the word out there.  That, in combination with people who were excited about it last year, has already given us a good idea that about the potential increase in participants.  We'll be amping up promotion the closer it gets to the event, so expect flyers, Facebook updates, tweets, highway billboards, skywriting... ok maybe not the last two...   All in all, after last year, we're really excited to see what this year's event holds.

Cranksgiving Philadelphia 2012 is coming

Back again for another year its the 2^nd Annual Cranksgiving Ride, a mix of a bicycle racing, a trip to the supermaket, and street navigation. First held in New York City in 1999 by a group of bicycle messengers it has spread throughout America as other people have planned their own.

Cranksgiving requires participants to navigate from a starting point at Love Park to a series of designated supermarkets, you buy a food item from a shopping list and bring them to a final checkpoint at Tattooed Moms. All of the food collected is donated to a local food bank, in Philadelphia all of the food collected goes to Philabundace.

All you need is a bicycle, a lock, a backpack or messenger bag, and $15.00 to buy groceries with. You may need a map if you're not to familiar with Philadelphia or bring a a partner who is. There is no entry fee. In 2011 with 13 riders Cranksgiving Philadelphiag collected close to 200 pounds of food, from the look of their Facebook page they should easily double the amount collected.

Last year the organizers answered some questions about what inspired them to create the Cranksgiving Philadelphia and what they learned. Use this link to find out more about them and Cranksgiving.

Post Cranksgiving Interview

After holding the first Cranksgiving in Philadelphia, Gary and CJ took the time to answer some questions about how and why they created this event, what they have learned and plans for the 2012 Cranksgiving. 

1) What was your inspiration for creating a Cranksgiving Ride in Philadelphia?

Gary: Our introduction to Cranksgiving was in York, PA in 2007 while CJ was attending Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. Since both of us have an interest in cycling, he told me about the race, and so we went out and did it! It turns out this race was the first one being run in York. It was actually started by Tone, a former messenger from New York City who had moved to York and brought the tradition, running in New York City since 1999, with him! After having so much fun doing the race out in York for the past 4 years, and with CJ no longer going to school in Lancaster, we decided to bring the race to a common ground, Philadelphia. Unfortunately, hunger is a problem in many major metropolitan areas around the world, with Philly being one of them. The city is very lucky to have a great advocacy group like Philabundance, which made us proud to be able to support them with Cranksgiving!

CJ: I remember a lot of posts on various bike blogs around Thanksgiving about this bike race, "Cranksgiving". I found the national site (www.cranksgiving.org), and found out that York was having one! Since I went to school only about a half hour away, it seemed like a no-brainer to participate. I called up Gary, since we had gotten into cycling together, and he made the drive down. We had a lot of fun, and met the organizer, Tone, an ex-NYC messenger that had started the whole Cranksgiving tradition in New York in 1999. Turns out he had moved to York, PA earlier that year to settle down, but couldn't resist bringing Cranksgiving with him. That was back in 2007. Since then, every year, we had made the drive over to York to participate. And every year, Gary says, "We should really start one in Philly next year!" I bugged him about it a lot this year, because honestly, I didn't want to make the 2 hour drive to York. What better way to get around that than to have our own ride? No, but really....We definitely wanted to spread the Cranksgiving spirit. Tone had provided us with a lot of pointers and suggestions from his 10+ years of organizing Cranksgivings, so it actually seemed like a very do-able thing. I encourage anyone who is thinking about starting one in their own city to DO IT!

2) How many people participated?

Gary: In our first year, we had about 15 people who participated. Next year (2012) we are hoping to more than double that!

3) How many pounds of food were donated?

Gary: We collected 167lbs of food. The manifest specified six different food items to be collected, and the winner of the "Most Charitable" prize brought in 10 extra items!

4) With the temperatures in the 60's it was like spring. What is your secret for having such good weather the day of the ride?

Gary: As far as weather, we could not have been more lucky. In years past in York, PA, temperatures had been in the low 30's, which was brutal! Hopefully next year mother nature is just as friendly to us as this year.

5) Was there anything that stood out during the ride?

Gary: The nicest thing about the day, other than the fact that we collected close to 200lbs of food, was how nice the weather was. Also, the Philadelphia Marathon was the same day and snaked around Center City, and we got lucky with the timing of that event and how it coincided with the start of ours. Fortunately, the amount of interference between the two was minimal. Although, some of our riders ended up not being able use certain routes because they were still blocked off. All part of the challenge!

6) What was the most challenging thing you had to do to plan this ride?

Gary: As with any event like this, the most challenging thing was promotion. Unfortunately, we got a bit of a late start getting things together, so that made getting the word out tough. Most of the other planning, such as arranging the stores and items to be purchased, as well as arranging sponsors and collecting the prizes, went fairly smoothly.

7) If you could change something for the 2012 Cranksgiving what would it be?

Gary: A couple of things really. First... start planning earlier! We definitely could have gotten the word out to more people, as well as collected more/better prizes for the participants. We also have been thinking about a few tweaks in the way we'll be running the race. Finally, after doing the race for the first year, we learned a lot about a number of logistical issues that come with running an event, and we definitely have a lot we can apply to next years event.

CJ: Promotion, promotion, promotion. I want everyone to know about it! Get organized earlier, make up all the materials sooner, contact more sponsors, and just make sure that more people come out.

8) What kind of assistance do you need for 2012 and how can people contact you to help?

Gary: Tell your friends! Obviously we have the internet at our disposal for promoting the event via Facebook, message boards, etc... but the best way to get the word out there is just to tell your friends! This race is great because it's very laid back, the format of the race is a lot of fun, it's a great way to get involved with your community, and it supports an awesome cause. All that being said, we look forward to seeing you out there next year!

CJ: Just participate! And tell everyone! Post it on your Facebook, your cycling blog, your Myspace (hah), anything. Really, the great thing about Cranksgiving is that there is minimal preparation compared to other races and rides. The only other thing that we could use help with is sponsorship. It's always nice to have stuff to give out to riders. Of course, prizes take a backseat to the real purpose of this ride, which is to benefit a charity and help those less fortunate. Doing a good deed should be an award in itself! But anyways, if anyone needs to get a hold of us, we can be reached at: philly@cranksgiving.net. Soon we'll have an updated website with results and photos and everything, as well as post info for next year as it gets closer, but until then, send us an email and we'll definitely get back to you!

Philly Cranksgiving - Sunday, November 20

Looking for a charity bicycle ride that doesn't involve pestering your friends, family, and coworkers for a donation or requires months of training. Then check out the 2011 Philly Cranksgiving, on Sunday November 20 at 11:30am. All you need to bring is a bicycle, a lock, a backpack or messenger bag, and $15.00 to make your purchases. Plus your knowledge of the streets of Philadelphia or a map. No entry fee required and all items will be donated to Philabundace.

Cranksgiving was first held in New York City in 1999. Each year it is held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving urban cyclists to socialize, compete, and enjoy themselves while also raising food for local soup kitchens or food pantries in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Since its beginnings it has been adopted by organizers in numerous cities in one form or another where all types of cyclists participate to have fun while benefiting a local charity.

Philly Cranksgiving requires you to navigate from Love Park to Tattooed Mom's on South St. You will be supplied with a manifest (shopping list) and purchase these items from check points (predesignated supermarkets), make sure to save the receipts as proof that you followed the route. The organizers have made a point that this is a ride and not a race, but there will be a reasonable time you must complete the course by.

Come and bring a friend, its a great ride and great test of your navigational skills.