A group of over 200 dandy lads and lasses participated in the first Washington DC Tweed Ride this past Monday. They even took a spin around the dashing White House. Photo credits to Cycle Jerk for this amazing photograph of tweed and capitol building.
Oh my! What dapper rapping! We must bring to your attention the amazing MC skills of Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer… Thirty years of hip-hop history. In five minutes. On the banjolele.
More Mr. B Gentlemen Rhymer ~ “Straight out of Surrey”
More Mr. B Gentlemen Rhymer ~ “Let Me Smoke My Pipe”
As promised, SF Tweed presents it’s first day ride, this Sunday, October 18th!
We sally forth at 1pm from the Civic Center Bart
Ride up the wiggle and onward to the Conservatory of Flowers
There we break for a lovely picnic so bring your picnic goodies, and bring your sporting spirit for the Tweed Olympics (in spirit with the Chap Olympiad)
As no tweed outing is proper without a bit of pedaling, we will be meeting up at Dolores Park at the Bell near 19th St at the far tennis courts at 18th and Church. for an slightly abridged tweed ride at 6:30 pm. From Dolores we will pedal off through the Mission with a quick stop for libations before we arrive at 8pm for the SFBC Bike-In Movie (Parking lot across from the Good Hotel, 112 Seventh Street, at Mission).
Note, due to the need to get to the movie on time there will be no scheduled BART meet up with East Tweeds. We still would love to see all our East Tweed cousins and encourage all to show up for libations and the movie!
UPDATE: we have changed the start location to the tennis courts because the Bay Area Derailleurs Bicycle Dance Troupe has asked the dapper SF Tweed riders to be extras in a short 10-15 minute filming session with their troupe!
Tweeds of Belleville
Wednesday Sept 16th
6:30 pm — Sally forth from Dolores Park at the Bell near 19th St at the far tennis courts at 18th and Church. 7:15 pm — Libations sojourn (location TBA) 7:55 pm — Arrive for Triplets of Belleville Bike-In Movie (Parking lot across from the Good Hotel, 112 Seventh Street, at Mission)
Tweeds of Belleville Whinnying Contest
In spirit of the cyclists in Triplets of Belleville, we will be hosting a Whinnying Contest.
With prizes for both first and second place, the top horse imitators will win a beautiful canvas bag graciously donated by Minnehaha Bag Co.
Whether you choose to use it as a bicycle bag or feed bag is up to you.
We know it’s been a while but we hope to see all our tweed friends at Tweeds of Belleville!
July 29, 8:00 pm : Held in the parking lot across from the Good Hotel, 112 7th Street @ Mission St
Don’t miss the first of the SFBC’s free summer bike-in movie series with your fellow bike lovers! We’ll be kicking off the series with the beloved BMX cult classic Rad, featuring the amazing and infamous bike dance scene with a young Lori Loughlin (best known for her role as Aunt Becky on Full House). Help us transform an ordinary parking lot in to a fabulous movie theater under the stars, complete with complimentary bike valet!
Next Thursday we’ll be pedal powering California Academy of Sciences’ Nightlife Series, including a 4-hour DJ set with Energy 92.7’s Jeff Stallings. He plays a style of danceable yet relaxed house music he calls “Chillhouse”. Should lend itself nicely to the creative, intelligent crowd and inspiring space.
Cal Academy has an awesome downstairs Aquarium Space with incredible creatures like Leafy Green Sea Dragon. Right by the 15′ tall aquarium is where we’ll have our second music stage, featuring Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper, Mafiosa Felice, and Jared May.
I have a confession to make… I have worn very little tweed the past couple months. I have instead been wearing that oh so gauche item of clothing called the t-shirt for it’s been an atypically sunny and warm summer in San Francisco—that is until this past week. The fog we know so well has returned with a gusto and the sun is once again something we remember from photographs.
The grey skies overhead have once again brought on my need for tweed! It’s been a long time coming but we know you want to ride again! The date has yet to be set but be certain that the plans have begun. More information will be forthcoming this week.
A pursuit across the city in 6 parts on the night of Saturday, June 20th 7PM.
Wear comfortable shoes, bring water.
The city spreads out before you. Rushing from point to point, lit by the slow strobe of fluorescent buses and dark streets. Stumbling into situations for a stranger's signature. Fleeing unknown pursuers, breathing hard, admiring the landscape and the multitude of worlds hidden in it. For one night, drop your relations, your work and leisure activities, and all your usual motives for movement and action, and let yourself be drawn by the attractions of the chase and the encounters you find there.
Journey to the End of the Night is a free street game of epic proportion, presented across the city of Oakland. Players will try to make it through a series of checkpoints, while avoiding being caught by chasers, many of whom will be pursuing on bicycles. Those who fall will become chasers themselves, rising to pursue their former friends and allies.
If a nice ride in the park isn't your cup of tea, you may want to take interest in this street game. Nothing beats the rush of being corned in an ally way with 3 cyclist ready to take your beloved flag.
Not to be outdone by the Sydney counterparts, the fine folks in Canberra, Australia are having their very own Tweed Ride on June 6th.
Canberra Tweed Ride
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Canberra Tweed Ride is a short bicycle cruise of about 15km through the Civic and Inner North areas, with stops at numerous cafes and pubs along the way. Expect a leisurely pace.
Tweed Ride has no agenda except the rejection of modern cycling “style”, to wit: carbon fibre, lycra, goretex and the like. Cyclists are encouraged to dress in their finest vintage garb, if only to prevent the onset of chill from inclement weather. Prizes will be awarded for best outfit, bike and facial hair.
…Hello dapper folks of Melbourne we’re waiting on you! Oh and of course I’m sure there are folks in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Darwin, and all parts of Australia that look dashing on two wheels.
Nothing tickles me more than a man or woman with a flair for Do-It-Yourself ingenuity! Especially when this cleverness pertains to transforming the everyday bicycle into something extraordinary! This could be some as simple and practical as an umbrella attachment or more inventive…
Crafty Tweed Cyclery
On our last SF Tweed Ride, the dashing and talented Lanky Joe transformed his two wheeled steed into the epitome of Tweed Cycling by elegantly wrapping his bars and seat in tweed fabric. The tweed was crafted from an actual tweed jacket and in a jolt of creative genius he used the jacket pockets as miniature panniers. Then with the remaining he crafted matching fingerless gloves.
Obviously with this much fine workmanship Lanky Joe won hands down the contest for Most Stylish Pairing of Habiliment & Steed!
Amazing DIY Bicycle Accessorizing
Bicycle Garden Box, crafted by FriendOfHumanity
One of the most genius bicycle adaptions I have have laid my eyes on in ages is the Bicycle Window Box. What could be more refreshing then pedaling along with your very own green garden on your handlebars. Grow strawberries for a refreshing treat or grow fresh herbs to make every ride minty fresh. And it really is perfect for hosting your own a mobile garden party!
You can build your very own mobile garden by following the Bicycle Window Box guide on the Instructables site.
All this brings me to an announcement for our first online contest…
The SF Tweed Bicycle Ingenuity Contest
In celebration of the upcoming Maker Faire, we are pleased to announce the first SF Tweed online contest. For this contest we implore all you clever tweed cyclists to create a either a crafty bicycle adornment or amazing bicycle accessory akin to the examples shown above.
The Rules:
Your creation must be specifically bicycle related
Your creation must be appropriately tweedy/vintage/dapper (for ideas see below)
Your creation must have been made by you
Your creation can be something made specifically for this contest or can be something made recently (however it must have been built no earlier than April of this year)
Contestant must submit photos of themselves with their Creation to dapper (at) sftweed (dot) com
Contestant must also create a How To Build guide. This How To can either appear on Instructables.com or as a video on Vimeo/YouTube/etc.
Contest is open to anyone in the world (however, international winners must pay for shipping & handling for any prizes won)
Entrees must be submitted no later than Thursday June 25th 11:59pm
Entrees will be judged on ingenuity, craftmanship, and the presentation of the how to guide.
Examples of Tweedy Ingenuity
Feel free to use any of the following ideas or run with your own bit of cleverness
Tweed Wheel Covers
Bicycle Bag made from a Tweed Jacket
Tea Cup & Saucer Bicycle Holder (and teapot holder?)
Portable Fancy Wooden Mini Bar (cabinets and fold out bar top?)
Traveling Seamstress Stand (for making knickers on the fly)
Side By Side Tandem Bike (way more proper then staring at your tandem partner’s behind)
A simple canvas shoulder bag for commuting, running errands or as a basic briefcase. Cotton fabric is breathable for better comfort than synthetic messenger bags. The bag holds 15 liters worth of belongings with two small hanging inner pockets and key clip. It is built sturdy with leather reinforcements, a buckle system, and a lightly padded back and bottom to give some support and comfort while keeping a soft overall structure that conforms to the body.
There will also be runners up prizes to be announced at a later date.
International winners must pay for shipping & handling.