out&about

In October

10.02-10.11

Ten Days Of Bicycle Love

FREE October brings us Cyclesomatic, a 10-day festival celebrating all things bike. The festival will feature several organized rides, including one at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 2 between Eno’s in the Bishop Arts District and City Hall. Council members Delia Jasso and Angela Hunt are expected to strap on helmets and lead the ride. There’s also a night ride, a ride to the Texas Theater for a screening of “Beer Wars” and beer tastings, and a game of bike polo. New events are being announced every week. The idea for Cyclesomatic came from the success of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and the new Oak Cliff Bicycle Co., says Andrea Roberts, one of the festival’s organizers. “We had the Tyler Street block party a few months ago, and that was a big success,” she says. “So we thought ‘let’s just do a big festival.’” More information is available at bikefriendlyoc.wordpress.com.

—RACHEl STONE

10.04 sRv motoRcycle paRade $20-$25 Stevie Ray Vaughn would have turned 55 Oct. 3, and he already has been gone for more than 19 years. This year’s motorcycle ride honoring the legendary blues man, who grew up in Oak Cliff, starts at 11:15 a.m. at Hooters in the West End and runs to Cowboys Dancehall in Arlington. All proceeds go to the Stevie Ray Vaughn Memorial Scholarship Fund. More information is available at srvrideandconcert.org.

10.10-10.11

URban stReet baZ aaR fRee

The Make Studio is behind this Bishop Arts District event, which this year is featuring 60 vendors selling handmade stuff like handbags, jewelry, clothes, home goods and art. urbanstreetbazaar.com

10.31.09 HalloWeen costUme paRade fRee

The Jefferson Boulevard Task Force that City Council member Delia Jasso organized to breathe life into our historic boulevard is hosting a Halloween festival. The party, from 2-5 p.m. will include pumpkin painting and other family friendly stuff. The costume parade starts at 3:30 p.m. outside the Texas Theater, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd.

Coffee Connection

ANyONE wHO LI vE s IN DALLA s probably has eaten at Café Brazil a time or two. But true fans of the funky diner, which opened an Oak Cliff location last year, follow Café Brazil on Twitter. They are friends with it on Facebook. And the café pays them back with specials and coupons just for their “friends” and “followers.” Online social networking “is an easy way to communicate with our customers,” says the Dallas-based restaurant chain’s CEO, Brant Wood. “We’ve been around for 17 years, so we have a pretty big fan base.” Café Brazil installed WiFi in all of its stores about four years ago and has always offered it for free. It made sense, Wood says, because Café Brazil is the kind of place where people come to linger over a cup of Snickerdoo coffee and have a plate of crepes or French toast. “We’ve never been a big push-to-turn-tables kind of place,” he says. “It’s come in, hang out, stay a while.”

—Rachel Stone