Cranksgiving started in New York City in 1999 but didn’t arrive in San Jose until this holiday season.
Cranksgiving made its way to the South Bay this year.
Started in New York City in 1999, Cranksgiving is a pop-up event that is part bike race, part scavenger hunt, part help for the needy. It has been such a success, it has spread to dozens other cities since its debut but not to San Jose. Until this year thanks to a recent transplant to the Bay Area from New England.
"I was at that point where I wanted to kind of get up and move and try something new," said Erin Docry who arrived in February.
Dorcy had participated in a Cranksgiving event in Boston and loved the randomness, the camaraderie, and the spirit of the day. When she discovered there wasn't one already organized in San Jose, Dorcy saw an opening to start it.
"I just kind of walked up and said 'Hey I have this idea I wanna do this,'" Dorcy said. "The number of people that were just like 'I wanna do it too or what can I do to help you?' That's what, that makes me just so happy."
Dorcy spent months spreading word among the South Bay cycling community and making arrangements for the event which was held this past Sunday in San Jose.
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65 riders gathered at Cahalan Park to begin their journey. Each was handed a "manifest," a list of stores they needed to visit and items The Second Harvest Food Bank (the event's beneficiary) needed.
Prizes were then given to the fastest riders, as well as those who gathered the most donations for the food bank, when they arrived at the finish line at Hub's Coffee.
In all, enough food was gathered to provide more than 700 meals for those in need.
Dorcy has heard from organizers of Cranksgiving events in other cities that as words spreads about the event to expect participation to grow "exponentially" in future years. She says it would not surprise her.
"It's so cool to see in this area there's so much passion behind it."
