BROOKINGS — Cyclists are invited to show off their bikes at the second annual Back Alley Bicycle Show — July 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the alley behind Bluestem Bicycles in downtown Brookings.

“It’s about showing whatever bike you have love for,” Casey McCormick from Bluestem Bicycles said. “That’s kind of what we’re emphasizing — do you love your bike? Is it special in some way? Then come show it to us and to the world. And maybe you’ll get a prize or a trophy.”

The event is free to both exhibitors and spectators.

“There’s a lot of creative people in town that like to mess with their bikes, and they might not realize that there’s other people out there,” McCormick said. “But we see them all the time — because they come in, they want parts, they have questions, they come and show us their projects. And so we’re going to try to get them in to show each other their bikes and some of the things they’re working on.”

The public is welcome to visit and cast votes for the People’s Choice trophy.

“Having your bike parked out there and talking about it — some of that’s part of what the ‘best bike’ will be, too. You know, expressing what you like about your bike,” McCormick said. “Whether it’s rusty, whether it’s got a good paint job or not — and sometimes what people really like are those nicks and those scratches and the battle scars. It tells kind of the story of the use of the bikes.”

He said they see some pretty impressive custom jobs as well.

“Those fancy paint jobs — they’re expensive, and they don’t really put those on bikes anymore. So it’s kind of nice to see them,” McCormick said. “There’s been a lot of amazing paint jobs on the bikes that people have brought in. Or just hand-built bikes from around the United States in general. And then there’s some really cool, retro BMX stuff.”

In addition to the People’s Choice trophy, there will also be a Best in Show Trophy — plus prizes ranging from a lowrider stretch bike frame, to handlebars, to T-shirts.

“There’s something fun about the practicality of a bike,” McCormick said. “You can use it to go get groceries, but it can also look silly and be fun, you know. So you can make that grocery run a little bit different — make more adventure with a bike.”

The bike show is an expansion of a free, monthly art and music show hosted by Bluestem Bicycles.

“The second Saturday of every month, we have an art show, and we clear all of the bikes out of the floor, and the back area becomes a stage,” McCormick said. “The bike show is just kind of an extra extension of that.”

Local bands perform a free show in the evening.

“They range from very experienced to very new performers in general,” McCormick said. “In the day, we’ll have a bike show. And every Saturday we have a bike ride. So it’s actually going to be kind of a big day for us — from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. will be the bike show, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. will be our Saturday cruise, and then 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. will be a rather big show. I think there’s five people playing.”

The bands performing this month are — P. Skunk, Paranoia, Freddie Rasch, Chimpanzee, and NxPxC. This months’ art display comes from local artists Catherine Jones and Savannah Vincent.

McCormick says whether you love bikes, art or music — the show is free and open to all.

“I think a lot of people are doing things. They’re just not sharing what they’re doing so much. So, there’s a lot more people similar to them out there than I think they realize. And that’s one of the things we realized when we opened the shop — there’s just a lot of creative and fun people,” McCormick said. “There’s a whole scope of what people like to do. So we’re trying to get them all together — from young to old. Bikes kind of encompass all aspects of age and people and use.”

Email Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.