Riding with Turkeys - Cranksgiving 2010

It was Friday night, freezing rain came down at first and then the huge snow flakes started hitting the ground. Roads were slick, cars were off in the ditches and my traction control was engaging like crazy. Will there be a Cranksgiving tomorrow? Cranksgiving blog said pretty much rain or snow and we're still riding. As much as I hate riding in the cold temps, you gotta do what you gotta do!

 

Wait for me! Had some trouble getting tires switched out, ended up riding the full suspension instead

The list of 10 items to get from various stores 

Dave, this is a race. Get on your bike. 

No pre-race butterflies this time 

I missed last year's event for whatever reason and I really wanted to participate in this fun event. Convinced Aaron to go and the MNR gang would be there also. Aaron texted me super early Saturday after his donut run, said he's still in but it is windy and cold. Great, with such crappy weather conditions I was waiting for that facebook update to say postponed. Never happened, well I guess it's time to layer up and throw the fenders on the bike!

Lots of waiting for stoplights. Paul and Brian bundled up

Where there's a helpful smile...Aaron at HyVee 

Dave with the bottles of shampoo at Shopko. So fresh and so clean clean 

The watchmen were along the bike rack 

 

 

I was dressed like a bike ninja, got some funny stares in the stores (pic borrowed from Stratomatica's blog) 

Let's just say that I'm glad I went. Only 35 riders this time around, down from last year's count. That's okay, giving a little is better than nothing. But as it tured out, more than 1200 lbs of food was brought in by riders and people donating to the event, also at least $1000 in donated money was collected for the Food Bank. How awesome is that?

Mini cyclocross event at 84th and Center

 

Dave with the crate full of groceries

 

Glad the sun was out, but that north wind was brutal heading back

The seven of us formed an alliance to stick together. Dave N, Paul, Brian H, Aaron, Dennis, Chris (Dave's bro) and myself hopped on our mt bikes and rolled down the Big Papio trail. I'm glad that the veterans were with Aaron and I, because there was actually strategy to all of this. Yes it was a race, but we didn't care. We were out to get the mileage in for the day. The key was to get the light stuff first and make the heavier items on the list as part of your last stop. Makes sense and I'm glad we did this because the wind coming back from Shopko/HyVee at 84th and Center was brutal! Yes, we rode out from Bike Masters on Fort Street out to Center in 40 degree temps with a very chilly wind. Logged in about 20 miles with the ride from home to Bike Masters included. Oh yeah, we had groceries on our backs! This time, instead of crossing paths with the huge turkeys on the singletrack trail, Dave and Chris bought the turkeys from Target. They struggled at first getting those back to the shop (it was rather comical actually), but they managed. Good work guys!

Bundle up boy! 

Aaron and his trademark wave 

Martin Bixby made it home with a new bike they raffled off. Lucky! There was hot soup of various sorts to help our bodies warm back up. Good times, great ride, great friends. Afterwards, we enjoyed a cold one on a cold day at Paul's. Thanks for the fun event. Looking forward to 2011!

The fenders are a must for winter riding 

This boy luvs to shop! Especially for a good cause

That's a big turkey!

 Brothers Dave and Chris, turkeys strapped to bikes and ready to roll out

 Two and a half hours later we made it back to Bike Masters. What a long haul!

 Checking in

Lucky man Martin wins the bike

 We made a pitstop to check it out. Freaking chaos in there. Clerks didn't even have time to restock shelves, they were just opening boxes and handing items to customers. Important thing we noticed? No cold beer. No deal!

Cashier lines ran almost to the back of the store 

Reminder of Friday night's storm. I80 right there.