SPOKES 2012 will be a special treat for area bicycling enthusiasts.

By Cathleen Twardzik

Do riding a bicycle and attending bike-related activities strike your fancy? On September 8, a new event, which is entitled SPOKES 2012, will occur in Union Square.

The Somerville Police Department will be present, talking and handing out bicycle information, as well as registering residents’ bicycles, which may prove to be a good idea, to attempt to prevent bikes from being stolen in the future.

SPOKES 2012 will feature free bike maintenance workshops, bicycle goods, information about bike activism and awareness and bike art, among additional activities.  Bicycle advocacy groups, all of which will be present at SPOKES, will include Green Streets Somerville, MassBike, and Livable Streets.

“The Somerville Arts Council has tossed around the idea for organizing a bike festival for a couple of years. With burgeoning community interest in bicycling and the city’s enhanced biking infrastructure, we thought it would be a perfect time to celebrate bicycle culture in Somerville,” said Jacy Edelman, Somerville Arts Council Board Member and Co-Organizer of SPOKES 2012. The most essential portion of SPOKES “will be having local bicycle shops represented,” said Edelman.

The Somerville Bicycle Committee will lead a group of 40 riders, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., in what is entitled “Tasting Tour of Somerville: A Benefit Bike Ride for The Welcome Project.” It will be a fundraising ride through the streets of Somerville.

“Cyclists will enjoy a leisurely ride through the squares of Somerville, sampling a smattering of local cuisine along the way. Confirmed stops are Cantina La Mexicana, Union Square; Maya Sol, East Somerville; Wang’s Fast Food, Magoun Square; Sound Bites, Ball Square; and Amelia’s Kitchen, Teele Square. The ride will begin and end in Union Square Plaza,” said Edelman.

One can participate in free bicycle repair and maintenance workshops from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., which will feature participation by Ace Wheelworks, Bike Boom, Paramount, and Broadway Bicycles. Be sure to explore vendors’ fare, and view interesting items during that same time frame.

After that, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., view a free bike-in movie screening of  Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Dinner and snacks will be sold by Lefty’s Silver Food Cart, Culinary Cruisers and the TAZA Chococycle. Attendees are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket.

At 9 p.m., S.C.U.L. from Somerville invites civilian bike craft to participate in a post-event night ride around the city. Their “missions are typically accompanied by loud funk music via [a] bicycle sound-system, a high-hanging disco ball rig and frequent impromptu dance parties.”

The ride will include music.  At that time, enjoy, “The lovely sounds of Banditas. Sweet harmonies stab through fuzzed-out distortion and linger over dead silence, rumble drums on horseback, specks charging over distant hills, sometimes sparse, sometimes spoken, sometimes belted, black tears rolling down their cheeks, mascara-stained, moon faces, broken by heartache. [The band’s] songs [are] inspired by notorious women, murder ballads, cowboy daddies, boys and summers.”  Banditas consists of Hayley Thompson-King, vocals and guitar, Molly Maltezos, harmonies and Candace Clement, drums.

Activities and safety information or awareness will be available at this event for children. The Somerville Arts Council will run a Bling Your Bike, station at which people may “decorate/enhance their bike with all kinds of shiny or sparkly crafts, “Do A Art,” a local arts education program, will run a bike parts printing workshop, and Pedal Power Photography will offer “bicycle portraits,” she said.

Kids, as well as adults, may explore a walking/biking puzzle map, which was put together by Groundworks Somerville.

In the future, additional interactive workshops, as well as a bicycle beer garden may take place during SPOKES.

ArtsUnion, as well as the Somerville Arts Council are sponsoring SPOKES 2012.

Interested individuals may view the event page at http://www.facebook.com/events/448226095198600/.

You may send an email to jacy.edelman1@gmail.com to sign up as a vendor or to receive additional information, as well as to R.S.V.P. to buy a ticket for a bike ride, which costs $30 per person. Your email should include the full names of all of the riders whom would like to attend. The proceeds will go to The Welcome Project in Somerville. Each rider will obtain a free YUM Card. For more information, visit http://www.yumsomerville.org/.