Events: Doylestown Bike Works Cranksgiving Ride 2021

(2021) For nine years Doylestown Bike Works has collected 80,000 pounds of food for the Bucks County Housing Group, which assists families in the area. With the pandemic leading to job loss and uncertainty, coupled with a Cranksgiving hiatus, this year’s event holds a deeper meaning. Come line up Sunday November 14 at 9am near Central Bucks West to do the neighborly thing.

Cranksgiving is a national group ride ambition where cyclists can follow one of two routes to local grocery stores and purchase food and toiletries for those in need. Participating locations welcome local cyclists by conveniently leaving bins outside for cyclists to lay off their purchases. Off to the next shop, riders don’t have to haul the goods like in the early days. It’s more of a fundraiser and less high speed hijinx. Cranksgiving is a cycling cause for good.

What is collected gets hauled in a donated van from Fred Beans dealerships, the primary sponsor of the DBW cycling team. Every couple of years the truck has gotten bigger to accommodate the generosity of the local cycling scene. One memory that sticks out from our last Cranksgiving was the miles-long receipt being rolled up by Team Ox, one of the biggest fundraising teams in cycling. With enthusiasm like that, the community can only benefit. 

Once the event has returned, participants can enjoy their hard work with food donated by Lee’s Hoagie Shack as well as the ever-present cycling-friendly Backyard Beans Coffee. Rest assured the Garmin dance will take place, riders comparing average speed and/ or climbing and having a laugh over the discrepancies. 

And if one is still on the fence, the event is totally free to the first 300 participants. The money saved on registration can be forwarded to the grocery bills of the locations visited. With a long course of 27 miles and a family-friendly short course of ten miles, there is potential for each participant to push the total food collected to more than 100,000 pounds. This is definitely the year for 50 tons. 

Doylestown Bike Works Cranksgiving 2021 Registration and event information can be found here.