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The 2014 NEOCycle was a high-flying event.

(Kristel Hartshorn, NEOMG)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The second annual NEOCycle bike, music and lifestyle festival will roll into Cleveland Sept. 11-13 on the shores of Lake Erie.

Last year's inaugural festival drew over 2,700 registered riders and 10,000 total festival attendees, and organizers say the 2015 event will be even bigger.

Races include the Velodrome, Edgewater Cyclocross and a Night Ride sponsored by Cuyahoga Community College.

But NEOCycle is far more than just a sporting event. It's also shaping up to be one of the year's premier outdoor music festivals.

Underground Detroit rockers Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. will headline the NEOCycle music fest on Saturday, Sept. 12. They'll be joined on Saturday and Sunday by Northeast Ohio natives the Speedbumps and the Modern Electric and nearly 20 other acts across the two-stage, two-day event at Edgewater Park.

Other bands performing include Marcus Alan Ward, Revolution Brass Band, Seafair, Maura Rogers & The Bellows, Brent Kirby & His Luck, Syrup, Morgan McCaskey, Shawn & Shelby and Tim Moon. More bands will still be added, say organizers.

The music fest will anchor The Hub at Edgewater Park. The Hub is free to the public and will feature food trucks; a build-out from Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park; Thriller BMX shows; stand-up paddleboard races and demos; a kids' zone; and a beer garden.

"NEOCycle is primed for huge growth in its second year and the Music Fest is an important part of the festival," said David Gilbert, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission president and CEO. "NEOCycle was created to highlight and promote Cleveland's vibrant and growing bicycling culture and stimulate significant economic activity, and the music fest is just one feature that makes the event the country's most unique cycling event."

Says NEOCycle producer Julius Kwolek: "We're coming at it from two ways. We wanted to do this really cool music fest on the shores of Lake Erie, but we also want to tie it in with the cycling. So we want music that is universally liked and diverse. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is just so fun and upbeat and danceable and Modern Electric is universally loved. We wanted high energy ... but also universally fun."

"This is a really unique event," he adds. "We're the only place in the country to do an urban cycling event."

Kwolek is especially excited about the Saturday night headlining show. "You've got that night ride with hundreds of people downtown and they're coming back and will see the headliners. The energy will be off the hook."

The NEOCycle music fest and Hub are free. Cycling events have fees. To register, and for a full schedule of music and sporting events, see http://www.neocycle.org/.