Marin Bikes Blog

The day started just like any other December Saturday. Cold and cloudy morning skies looked down at an empty parking lot. As time progressed bike riders flowed in off the surrounding streets and sidewalks one by one; slowly circling to keep warm. From a quick glance the scene could have looked like any other Saturday gathering of bike riders, but upon a second look the riders looked a bit different. Instead of a group of flashy carbon road bikes or high tech full suspension bikes, riders were mounted on a wide array of two wheeled transport. Hybrids, tattered fixed gears, muddy mountain bikes, long replaced road bikes and a few bikes that looked to be re-enlisted for duty after being retired to hang in the garage were all thrown into the chain-driven mix. Among the hodge podge of bike and rider was one common sight. Storage. Racks, messenger bags, back packs and milk crates; all present with empty cargo holds for yet to be declared items that would  be carried by human power.

The gathering of riders was for the first annual Crank for the Bank food drive. Held in conjunction with Marin Bikes, Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Murphy Mack of Gestalt Haus, Marin County’s favorite bike-centric beer and brat haven and to benefit the Marin County Food Bank,  Crank for the Bank gathered riders from around the San Francisco Bay to help those in need of food.

The idea is simple: get riders together, provide a list of area grocery stores and items needed to purchase from each store. To make things fun throw in some friendly competition. Make it back to the finish in the fastest time, receive a prize. Make it back to the finish with the greatest volume of food, get a REALLY COOL prize!

Riders were left to decide their strategy on linking the stores together and carry the requested food, which ranged from cans of tuna to 64 ounce jugs of juice. Getting to the store closest to you may be quicker, but if you had to pick up a half gallon of juice you would pay dearly carrying the extra heft while riding to the other stores! Top prize, a Marin Inverness, went to a local rider who hauled back an amazing 222lbs in one trip, handily winning the Cargo Category. In the Speed race, Marin Bikes staffer Alex Wise came in first, choosing to ride a Stelvio to stay ahead of the other riders in the competition.

In the end the riders who came out were treated to generous prizes and more importantly, a great day of riding with others in the name of charity, hauling in a total of 747 pounds of food by bike. A big thanks goes out to Murphy Mack and Tom Boss at MCBC for organizing the event, the generous local businesses that contributed and most importantly all the riders who took time from their holiday schedules to pedal for such a great cause.

If you want to be involved in the next event stay tuned; Crank for the Bank will be back!