The Dead Ride: A Crank-Set Rides Tradition

Jerry Layne, a yearly participant of The Dead Ride

Every year, Crank-Set Rides hosts a ridiculous Zombie-themed event called The Dead Ride. Picture it: hundreds of cyclists on bikes... dressed as the undead. Drooling, moaning, peeling skin off their arms and picking bones out of their teeth.

This is the season to get in the spirit of zombies and mix it up with riding in Cleveland's amazing fall weather. The ride started in 2010, at Cranky's Pub on W25, where Crank-Set also hosted an Alley-Cat race to accompany it. The riders get their makeup done, ride around town, stop at various localities to terrorize the city a bit, and then end with a great after party. It truly is a unique event.

In recent years, The Dead Ride has been hosted at Lincoln Park Pub, to help accommodate the hundreds of participants on their large back patio. The site of this is most definitely a memory to keep. Usually a dozen makeup artists will dress your wounds (with more blood) and send you off on your most interesting evening.

Raffle tickets will be handed out upon registration, and additional tickets can be purchased to up your chances of winning a helmet, lock, light or even a bike. I think that some of the riders favorite parts of the rides is when we ride through a cemetery, such as the Erie Cemetery downtown near Progressive Field, or when we get caught up in the W25 traffic and the bar-goers can witness the monstrosity that has taken to the streets.

This year we aim to shake up any guests as we arrive at Happy Dog to refuel. Each year the number of zombies has risen and we hope to reach quite a larger hoard year by year. The zombies of the fourth Dead Ride will end at Rustbelt Welding. Rustbelt has been a great friend of Crank-Set Rides from the beginning, donating their labor to build bike racks from the money raised through various rides. This year they will host the after-party with bands and a beer tent.

Cleveland cyclists repeatedly say that The Dead Ride is their favorite ride of the year. As a host, along with my mastermind/zombie enthusiast wife Lindsey Krivenki, we can honestly say that this is our favorite ride too. We welcome you to all join us on October 19th for The Dead Ride IV and experience what Crank-Set Rides and amazing friends have helped put together as one of your favorite nights of the year.

Dan Krivenki

Crank-Set Rides is a community-driven bicycle organization that raises biking awareness through mass themed bike rides. Through donation and sponsorships, we install custom bike racks, give away helmets, and offer an amazing collection of prizes to our participants. We are fueled by hundreds of passionate bicyclists and plan to add more to that number. In 2010, Crank-Set Rides broke ground in Cleveland and is now spreading nationally to cities like Columbus, Minneapolis, Austin and Chicago! Our end goal is to introduce new people to the bike scene. The more people on bikes creates a demand. That demand is answered with government funding to install paths, lanes, and racks to our cities. Today, Crank-Set Rides is in it’s third year of operation. We have already tripled in attendees, spread to four other cities, and have placed thousands of dollars of helmets and bike racks on our streets. Please continue to join us for our future rides! We look forward to having you. To RSVP to any of our events please refer to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cranksetrides

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Volume 1, Issue 8, Posted 11:39 AM, 10.06.2013