Happy Cranksgiving!

cranksgiving-roanokeGrab your bike and get ready for a holiday scavenger hunt of epic proportions.

The Roanoke Cranksgiving Alley Cat Race will lead cyclists though checkpoints throughout the city to collect non-perishable food item donations and race back to the finish for plenty of cool prizes. The top men and women finishers will get some awesome prizes from sponsors such as East Coasters Bike Shop, RunAbout Sports, Sweet Donkey Coffee, Parkway Brewing, Soaring Ridge, State Bicycle Co., Seagull Bags, Ass Savers, Handup Gloves and Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op.

The race will raise money and collect food donations for Feeding America Southwest Virginia. (And it’s just in time for the holidays.)

If you are not sure how an alley cat race works, it’s pretty simple. The informal race allows riders to chart their own course and hit specific checkpoints. You can visit the checkpoints in any order you choose and the goal is to collect items from each point and return to the finish line first. There may be a few twists and turns along the route and you can go as fast (or slow) as you want.

Go grab your bike and backpack and pedal on down to Highland Park on Saturday. It’ll be hard to find this much fun for a good cause anywhere else.

Roanoke Cranksgiving Alley Cat Race

  • When: Saturday, Nov. 21 at noon
  • Where: Highland Park, 641 Walnut Ave.
  • RSVP: On Facebook