WHO: John Greenfield, author of Bars Across America: Drinking and Biking from Coast to Coast (Pint Size Press, 2010), pintsizepress.info.

WHAT: A free book reading/signing and mini concert of songs about cycling and taverns on guitar, with complimentary beer generously donated by Goose Island Beer Co., gooseisland.com.

WHERE: The Book Cellar, 4736 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, bookcellarinc.com.

WHEN: Friday, July 22, 7-8 pm.

HOW: An RSVP by phone (773-293-2665) or e-mail (words@bookcellarinc.com) is requested. More info about Bars Across America below.

 

More info about Bars Across America below.

 

“There are a lot of good beers and good people in little-known watering holes between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. John Greenfield can vouch for that.” – New City

 

“As John spins his yarn across the U.S. via roads, paths and pubs, you’ll wish at some point you’d gone along.” – Dave “Mr. Bike” Glowacz, author of Urban Bikers’ Tips and Tricks

In Bars Across America, longtime Chicago bicycle and beer advocate John Greenfield tells the story of his 5,000-mile bike journey from Astoria, OR, to Portland, ME, stopping to check out 48 taverns along the way. Every other day or so he would take a break from the hot pedaling, duck into a watering hole, jot down notes about the décor, and get the skinny from the local barflies.

He stopped at the Silver Dollar Saloon at the bottom of a canyon in Idaho, and Kerouac’s favorite dive in Denver. In Paxton, NE, Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse, filled with stuffed African wildlife, was a welcome oasis. He joined thousands on the rowdy RAGBRAI ride across Iowa, then led a pub roll to celebrate the striping of new bike lanes on Chicago’s Milwaukee Avenue. After experiencing a Parrothead party on the Canadian Riviera, he reached the ocean at Revere, MA, and celebrated at the Shipwreck Lounge, sadly destined for the wrecking ball.

Along the way Greenfield met other scruffy cyclists, cowboys, carnies and lonely ex-cons. Part travelogue, part guidebook, part ode to the vanishing community tap, Bars Across America is the story of one man’s two-wheeled trek in search of the perfect pint.