#Cranksgiving 2016

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Events: Cranksgiving 2017 powered by Doylestown Bike Works

Growth, for the lack of a better word, is good. The 2016 Cranksgiving hauled in 7,000 pounds of food during Doylestown’s edition of the donation group ride benefitting the Bucks County Housing Group Food Pantry. This year, with 25% more preregistered riders, there were aspirations of overcoming last year’s total. (As of posting time, the numbers have not been completed. We will update it as soon as we know it.) That’s why the sixth annual Cranksgiving powered by Doylestown Bike Works was a display for growth.

 Consider six years ago when riders informally rode the fundraiser with food stowed on his/ her person for the entire route. Rumor has it riders could choose the order of the grocery stores. This limited the donations to how much one rider could carry. The donation totals were born of sweat and pedal pushing along with a bit of machismo. Now riders casually stroll out of a grocery store on a carefully laid out route. Instead of carrying the items, riders place their freshly purchased goods in the arms of volunteers watching and waiting. The volunteers keep an eye on the dozens of bikes with blinking lights in exchange for items to be donated. Riders were asked to keep their donations within the items listed on the cue sheet.

I plopped my contribution into the cart proud to see how much the cycling community was coming through. Large boxes of diapers took up the first shopping cart ready for collection. Canned foods and other non-perishable items were listed to refill the Food Pantry. Growth was evident again when Doylestown Bike Works parked their rental truck at the first stop. The need to rent a moving truck to collect the food from all three stops is a remarkable sign of production.

 The ride departed with temperatures in the twenties. That did not deter the participants considering last year’s event was held in slightly warmer conditions. That is, these hardy riders shirked at the fact that it was a bit colder than some would classify as comfortable. The two or three climbs in the early portion of the long route helped in warming everyone up.

 With two more stops located near the start/ finish line, riders filled more carts and baskets to benefit the Bucks County Housing Group Food Pantry. This is the portion of the ride when the event is strung out. There are fewer cyclists seen. Acme Grocery Store gave Cranksgiving participants their own checkout lane to keep people together.

As riders returned from both the short and long course, a massive black military food truck produced by Mission BBQ greeted them. Participants were given a complimentary meal to warm them up after donating goods. The Doylestown Bike Works tent stayed on site at the event start/ finish until well after noon. If any hint is given that next year’s event will increase the amount of donations it can be found in the numbers. More people equal more wallets to open for donations. If we can create a pun toward the negative connotation quote from Wall Street about greed, it can be positive to state that growth, for a donation event for those struggling during the giving season is a good thing.

[nofomoartworld]

3,000 Polaroids and Two Years Later, an Instant Photographer Looks Back

The Coney Island finish of the all-night Warriors Bicycle Fun Ride, 7/3/16. All images courtesy the artist

When he began to take group portraits using the revival Polaroid film made by The Impossible Project, New York-based photographer Nick McManus combined his interest in shooting his friends with a penchant for controlling large numbers of people. The challenge of using relatively untested reformulated films and of working under extreme lighting conditions with sometimes very inebriated strangers became an obsession. Over the last two years, he has taken over three thousand portraits, a selection of which will be on display at the Ace Hotel in New York in January for a show titled Where’s My Polaroid?

“Documentary work was my focus in film school,” McManus tells The Creators Project. “To be able to pursue it in a way that can be shared enjoyably and instantly makes taking these portraits really worthwhile.”

One-year anniversary of the Tender Trap in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, featuring owners Darryl Nau and Ryan Virag (first and second from bottom right), 4/2/16. 

In order to shoot as much as he does, McManus relies on skills gained from former gigs in bike messaging, movie driving, and documentary producing. He cites Halloween in 2015 as an example, which fell on a Saturday and was the end of daylight saving time, giving him an extra hour. “Using the live music and nightclub venue connections I'd accumulated over the years I was able to pre-arrange a steady shooting schedule that went till 11 AM the morning after. The total was 23 portraits in 21 locations in 19 hours.”

The unrelenting pace of the project allowed him to overcome the chemical and technological limitations of his medium. Early on, he worked around dim lighting at restaurants and bars “by composing folks as tight as possible and then having them stay still” while taking a long exposure. “Later on I started using [four] SLR flashes set to slave mode that I taped to a ping-pong paddle. “

The wedding of Camilo Salas and Callie Watts on their rooftop in Bed-Stuy, 8/5/16.

Eventually, switching to the Polaroid ProCam provided McManus with a wider angle and sharper exposure, but he still has to contend with the fickleness of the film. “After the photo ejects from the camera I slide it into a plastic envelope and shove it under my armpit on the inside of my shirt,” he explains. “Room temperature environments aren’t warm enough to fully develop during Impossible Project's half-hour development time.”

Square Design's Riverboat Casino-themed holiday party at their office in Gowanus, 12/17/16.

Many of his early portraits were taken at the Lower East Side's Con Artist Collective and Greenpoint's Tender Trap, where McManus had a standing invitation to visit and interact with diverse crowds that were friendly to his mission. He then cast a wider net, shooting at art openings, after-parties, charity, and corporate events and in public spaces.

Groups have numbered up to 300 subjects, including 130 at Square Design’s holiday party, which was also one of the largest interior shots McManus has done. He says he took the portrait “from a 10-step ladder that had to be moved twice for the three photos needed to complete the panorama. I had to quickly lay out an axis with my pocket change to keep my lens perspective correct as I worked my way from left to right.” In comparison, corralling a bunch of drunkards is easy. “Unruly crowds aren't a problem for me because I'm polite.”

The 2016 Cranksgiving Benefit Race and Fun Ride at Hudson Yards, 11/19/16.

McManus’ show at the Ace Hotel collects 720 of his portraits from 2016, including shots from former cultural landmarks such as Pearl River Mart, now closed Brooklyn venues, and even a shot of the VICE crew just kickin' it (below). The artist says, “There is other photographic work that I do but being a group portrait artist is something for me that will never end.”

Alex Chitty, Andy Capper, Mike and Bill Tucci of the band Unstoppable Death Machines, and Thomas Morton in front the Tender Trap in Greenpoint, 7/7/15.

Nick McManus’s show Where’s My Polaroid? will be on display at the Gallery at the Ace Hotel in New York from January 5 to 31, with an opening reception on January 21 at 8pm.

Related:

Now You Can Trade Polaroids with Jack White

Artists Take Polaroids of the Digital World

Polaroid’s History Gets Captured in Gorgeous Photo Book

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[geeketteonbicycle]

Saturday, December 3 at 1 PM - 5 PM EST 121 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237-2031, United States

Details

Welcome to Brooklyn's 1st Annual Cranksgiving! Cranksgiving is part bike ride, part food drive, and part scavenger hunt. It is a grassroots event that empowers the cycling community to give back to the neighborhoods we ride in and the city we love! You will navigate the streets of Central Brooklyn and the aisles of local grocery stores searching for specific food items. Make your way through the checkout lines and all the way to the finish line, where your food will be donated to Brooklyn-based charities supporting under-served families. The event is free but you will need $10-15 to buy food to donate. Cranksgiving helps feed THOUSANDS of less fortunate members of our community each year. Be the change you want to see! This ride is family-friendly. It is also CitiBike friendly (assuming you don't mind walking 10 minutes to pick up your first bike). Please share this event widely. Interested in being a sponsor or volunteering? Have questions about the ride? Please email BKbikeride@gmail.com for more information. Registration and ride kick off at Haven Cycles at 121 Knickerbocker (corner of Flushing) in Bushwick. 1pm - Registration 2pm - Ride 5pm - After party and awards at Starr Bar, 214 Starr St (btw Irving & Wyckoff) IT'S GONNA BE AMAZING! Our sponsors and donors: Haven Cycles Continuum Cycles/CC Cyclery Red Lantern Bikes 718 Cyclery Silk Road Cycles King Kog North Brooklyn Cycles Vessel Workshop Chrome Industries Tribe Bicycle Co. Breuckelen Distilling The Art of Cycling Crunch Fitness Hops & Hocks Bushwick Food Co-op CitiBike DOGSTAR Sacred Yoga Brooklyn Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies Noosa Tom's Lemon Coffee Cleverhood Vaya Bags Mer Bags Manhattan Portage Van Brunt Stillhouse and more to come.... Q: Why is it being held after Thanksgiving? A: So the ride doesn't conflict with the Manhattan and Bronx Cranskgiving rides. Also, while lots of people donate to food pantries in November, donations drop significantly immediately after Thanksgiving though need remains high.