Cranksgiving early bird registration closes Friday!

video by Corey Jennings

Cranksgiving is an annual event that takes place in cities across the country, and it’s all about having fun and giving back. In Baltimore, this scavenger hunt/bike race/food drive sends teams of riders across the city to collect food items to benefit Moveable Feast and the Franciscan Center. Basically, it's all about collecting food for people and riding bikes with friends, new and old. This is Bikemore’s 5th Annual Cranksgiving!

Where is the food being donated? 

This year, we’re continuing to work with two partner organizations. Moveable Feast fosters a community that cares for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by preparing and delivering nutritious meals and groceries and providing nutritional counseling and other services. The Franciscan Center is Bikemore’s neighbor, and provides emergency assistance and supportive outreach to persons who are economically disadvantaged, including community meals and pantry bags, job readiness training, healthcare, transportation assistance and much more. 

How can I register? 

The best way to register is online before the event.

• October 28 - November 8 | Early bird online registration
  This is the only way to purchase a Cranksgiving t-shirt!

• November 8 - November 22 | Online registration
  Makes check in at event way quicker!

• November 23 | On site registration

  If you forget to register online or convince a friend last-minute to join, don’t worry — they can register on-site on the day of the ride.

If you have a team in mind already, make sure to mark your teammates names on your registration form. Or, sign up as a free agent and meet some new friends to ride with at the event.

How much does it cost to participate? 

By design, Cranksgiving is and will always be a free event — meaning Bikemore will never charge registration cost to participate. We do ask that each person on a team bring $10-15 to help purchase food items on the list. But how much you are able to spend is entirely up to you! 

What should I bring?

• Working bike (if you have one)

• Toolkit for repairing your or your teammates bikes (if you have one) 

• Bag to carry purchases (backpacks, panniers, baskets — whatever you have!) 

• $10-15 for purchasing food items we will donate

• Bike lock for stopping at grocery stores

Don’t have a bike?

Don’t worry! RecnParks will be partnering with us and will be lending bikes at the event. To make sure we have a bike for you, register online and note on your form that you need to borrow a bike.

How far is the ride? Is there a set route?

We provide a list of specific grocery stores, and it’s up to each team to strategize and come up with a route. If you go to all the stops, your team might ride 15-20 miles, but many teams don’t make it to all the stops. And there are a lot of fun ways to get extra points that mean it’s not just the fastest teams that win!

Who can ride? 

Anyone that can ride a bike - Cranksgiving is all about having fun! Of course, winning teams in their respective categories will be winning some sweet prizes from our sponsors (see below). We’ll also have special team categories for Youth/Family for teams with a rider under the age of 16, and a WTF category for women, trans, femme and non-binary teams. 

What do you win?

Thanks to our prize sponsors, you could win prizes from any of these local companies!

I’m still confused. Who should I contact? 

Check out the full FAQ here, and feel free to drop a line with Danielle, our Director of Community Partnerships at danielle@bikemore.net. 

See you at Cranksgiving! Keep up with our social media to get updates on what fun prizes to expect (in case you or a friend needs the extra motivation to participate and win ;)).

Nov 1st - 10th: Neighborhood Lights demonstrate neighbor led placemaking

When you think about how to make streets safer for all the people who use them, you might think about a bike lane or a crosswalk, or the speed that cars travel. While these undoubtedly make streets safer for people who bike and walk, it’s aspects like lighting, trees and plants, artwork, reflections of the culture of neighbors — these are the things that really bring life to streets, the things that make people enjoy their time in public space, encourage people to hang out and develop relationships with their neighbors. These are the things that build stronger, connected neighborhoods.

As part of BOPA’s Light City festival, they award grants to install light installations in neighborhoods throughout Baltimore through their Neighborhood Lights program. And there are two we supported that we’re particularly excited about — check them out November 1st though 10th!

Oliver Light, Oliver Bright

We first met Celena Owens when she was recommended to come on our study trip to Memphis. She is very active in her Oliver neighborhood, and helps take care of and improve neighborhood green spaces and play spaces through the Oliver Beautification Alliance (OBA). The Oliver Light, Oliver Bright project is lighting up three greenspaces in the community to encourage neighbors as well as visitors to explore Oliver in a different way, and to create welcoming and activated community spaces for neighbors to use in the evenings.

We were excited to be able to support Oliver Beautification Alliance’s Neighborhood Lights Grant by being their fiscal sponsor.

>> Read more about Oliver and their Neighborhood Lights project here.

Arches & Access in Reservoir Hill

For the past few years we have been partnering with Graham Coreil-Allen, Reservoir Hill Improvement Council, and neighbors on a variety of community art and traffic calming projects in Reservoir Hill, including a footprint crosswalk project and way finding for the Big Jump. Graham, along with Courtney Conner Bettle, Jessy DeSantis, Graham Coreil-Allen, and Kate Jennings, Reservoir Hill Improvement Council, TAP Druid Hill, and the Rawlings Conservatory developed the Arches and Access Neighborhood Lights project as a continuation of their neighborhood work to make it easier and safer for neighbors to access Druid Hill Park. The Arches and Access project will illuminate and activate the landmark Druid Hill Park Gate at Madison Avenue with colorful lights, as well as a community parade, and public walking tour.

>> Read more about the Arches and Access Neighborhood Lights project.

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Click here to find out where the rest of the Neighborhood Lights installations are, and make a bike ride out of it!

Halloween Weekend Bike Events!

We are blown away by the number of bike events in Baltimore this weekend — the best demonstration of Baltimore’s thriving and busy bike community! Whether you’re looking to ride the streets with hundreds of riders, want to help make Baltimore a safer place to bike, or are looking for new friends to ride with, we hope to see you out there!

Thursday, October 23

Maintenance & Mingle with Bike & Brunch
6 PM – 8 PM
Capital Lounge, 1531-33 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21217

Friday, October 24

Baltimore Bike Party: Halloween Ride
6:30 PM – 11:30 PM
Ride leaves from St. Mary's Park, 600 N Paca St at 7pm, ends at Monument City Brewing

Saturday, October 25

Pump Track Opening Celebration
12 PM – 2 PM
Easterwood Park

Open Hours: Bikemore and Accessible Art
2 PM – 4 PM
Baltimore Museum of Art

Halloween AlleyRat Race and After Party
5:30 PM – 12 AM
Ride leaves from 100 E 23rd St, Baltimore

Sunday, October 26

Women/Trans/Femme Coffee + Snack Bike Ride
10 AM – 1 PM
Ride leaves from Wyman Park Dell

Black People Ride Bikes: Sunday Rideout
1:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Ride leaves from St. Mary’s Park

And you can always submit your events here for us to add to the calendar and promote!

Take Action This Sunday: Memorial Ride for Wayne Richardson

Photo by Corey Jennings

Two months ago we stood beside Michael Hughes' family and placed ghost bike in his memory, pictured above. This Sunday, we will again be standing alongside a grieving family. 

Wayne Richardson Memorial Ride + Ghost Bike Dedication
Sunday, September 15th
Meet at the Washington Monument at 12pm

On July 30th, Wayne Richardson was killed after being struck from behind by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike near the 2600 block of East Madison. We connected with Wayne's family and learned that he was retired from the Army Reserve, he served as an usher and sang in the choir at his church, and cared deeply for those around him, often taking in friends and family and helping them get on their feet.

Every single person that is killed on our streets has a story, has value just by way of being a human being. But when hit and runs are a frequent  occurrence and when civic leaders don't stand up for safer streets — it sends a message that people who travel our streets by bike or on foot don't deserve dignity. That we don’t deserve safety.  

Join us this Sunday to stand up against this message and demonstrate that, like all victims of traffic violence, Wayne deserved better. We'll be riding from the Washington Monument to Madison and Kenwood where Wayne was killed to place a ghost bike in his memory. This will be a slow 2.5 mile ride mostly on the Monument Street protected bike lane. 

It’s time to show up in force. We need to come together to show leadership that we're human, that when we prioritize cars over the safety of people on our streets — this is the outcome. We lose people who meant something to someone, people like Wayne.

>> Click here to find more details about the ride and invite your friends and neighbors.

Reflecting on Bikemore IRL

All smiles after our mechanic Josh got this bike up and running!

Liz joined Runners4Justice on a Streetscape Run along new infrastructure in Hamilton. (Photo: Runners4Justice)

Our new Mobile Bike Shop Coordinator Menelik helped make sure her bike fit properly after we made repairs.

Bikemore has always had a strong voice on social media. It is an important way for us to drive direct action, to shape discourse, and to promote our programs and events that build community. When it comes to bikes and bike advocacy if you spend too much time on social media, the online chatter can get pretty noisy and even contentious. Bikemore IRL (in real life) was a way for us to turn down the volume and see what else there is to hear. We were curious what our work would look like if we went offline and instead focused on creating more opportunities to meet people in person. 

It is an exciting time for Bikemore. We have added two new staff and adopted our three year strategic plan that has us growing exponentially. It was a really good time to ask ourselves “who do we want to be when we grow up?”. Social media has been integral in growing our base of supporters. But if we are going to meet our mission of safe streets for all, we needed to listen and connect to people that represent all of Baltimore, people we were not reaching on social media. 

Social media only tells a partial story. And if that’s the only one you read you would think that no one in the whole city wants a bike lane, or a trail, or a safer cross walk that might take out a parking space in their neighborhood. But when you go to a community meeting or a block party and you start asking people what would they change about their street, we have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t want cars to drive slower through their neighborhood. When you start by listening to the values people hold, and then work together to develop potential solutions to uphold them, that is good advocacy. 

Throughout August we served coffee along bike lanes, fixed bikes at our Mobile Bike Shop, and talked to dozens of people about how to create streets that are for people, not just cars. From Edmondson Village to Lake Montebello to Druid Hill Park the message was clear. Bikes are fun and people want more safe places to ride. People want places to walk to in their neighborhood, they want to feel safe crossing the street. They want to be able to ride the bus to work without wondering if they will get there on time. They want to go to parks and events that are currently inaccessible unless you are in a car. They want what Bikemore works to build. They want a City for People.

We know that in every neighborhood in the City there is someone ready to fight for safer streets, equitable development, and improved public transit. We are ready to pour everything we have into making that happen. But in order to be successful we need as many people as we can working toward that common goal. Bringing people together will take more than likes and shares. It will require we form meaningful relationships with people across the entire city. The type of relationships that can only be made in real life. 

Photo: @md_ave_cycletrack

What’s next?

During Bikemore IRL we learned a lot, we forged new connections and partnerships by being present, and we reflected on how we communicate and for what purpose — all of which will be helping to inform our work in the coming months. We’re now back on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram providing our regular updates on what we’re working on and how you can get involved, but we’ll view it with more direction and purpose.

We also decided to revamp a monthly get together we used to host called Bike Leaders Breakfast. Bike Leaders Breakfast started because we realized there were people working on a variety of bike programming and advocacy throughout the city, but it felt like we weren’t connecting. We invited those folks over for breakfast and started to share resources and ideas more freely. Now we’re revamping the monthly breakfast and inviting all to join. So mark your calendars for the first Friday of the month. This month will be at our office at 2209 Maryland Ave, in the future check our calendar for the location.