Tomorrow (June 30) is The Downer Classic Pro Criterium Bike Race.

It's time to announce our July events via email. But as I was running late, today's newsletter focused on tomorrow's bicycle race, tickets for Chris Cleave, and our book club contest for Robert Goolrick. Here's the info about the bike race.

Tomorrow is the Downer Classic Pro Criterium. If you love bike races, you won't want to miss it. If you love parking a block from our store, you might want to delay your trip until Sunday.

Streets begin closing at 8 am and will stay closed until 10 pm. If you do want to park, my suggestion is to head south and west. There are a good number of spots around Eastcastle, and even more closer to Maryland Avenue Montessori School. The buses are also rerouted. But if you're walking here, you should have no problem.

Looking for some kid-friendly fun? The Downer Classic has it. There's a kids' activity area sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal (my apologies to all--I originally wrote Lutheran) and Church in the City. A scavenger hunt will send you all over the shopping district, and let me say that we have excellent swag this year. And finally, there are kids' races too.

Registration for both the kids' races and the hunt begin at 10:30, and I should note two changes. Firstly, we will not be adding heats--when the age range hits capacity, it's full. But secondly, the prizes this year are Boswell gift cards, which some kids might like better than last year's prize (gift cards to a chain that is currently advertising cheap alcoholic drinks on billboards around town.)

This race is a big deal, the crown jewel in the Tour of America's Dairyland series, with stops in eleven different cities. We've got a dasher board scheduled for our event with Chris Cleave. You know that his new book is about the world of competitive cycling? Well, it's also about a girl with leukemia, which is why The Pablove Foundation is sponsoring it. Oh, I should just link to the email newsletter.