Posted By Colin on May 22, 2009

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

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.

There are more numerous amazing guides to ingenious bicycle adaptions on the Bikes section of Instructables. From a turn signal cycling jacket to how to build a bamboo bicycle to building your own fancy flower pattern twisted spoke wheels.

Posted By Colin on May 19, 2009

Our fine Canadian neighbors to the north are breaking out their dapper duds for their very own Edmonton Tweed Ride!

This is admittedly not the first Canadian Tweed Ride — that honor goes to the  First Daffodil Tweed Ride and Picnic in Vancouver, British Columbia; however, it is the first in Alberta. I can only hope this means the Tweed movement is spreading eastward and we shall soon see Tweed appearing in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, Labrador and Newfoundland! Then if the dapper is strong we can hope to see Tweed migrate north to the lovely expanses of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut!

Edmonton Tweed Ride

May 24th

Start 6:30pm at the University of Alberta in the “quad“

This will be a social ride with a bit of style. The proper attire for this ride will of course be expected. We will be taking a leisurely ride through the city and will be stopping for mid-ride fortitude and cheer.

There will be Contests for:

• Most dapper chap
• Most dashing dame
• Award for most civilized behavior on the day

For more info visit A Lost Home’s Blog

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Note: The herald shown above is borrowed from the excellent folks from the Royal Heraldry of Canada

Posted By Colin on May 14, 2009

To all the fine people pedaling to work today, I salute you! And to any who missed out on this fine day for lack of a two wheeled steed, it’s not too late for every day is a fine day to ride a bike!

If you need any more convincing to buy a bike I suggest you watch the following charming animation…

Why only 4 shillings a week! I’m nearly tempted to buy a second bicycle for myself!

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Hope to see some of you at the SFBC’s Bike to Work Day After Party and Fashion Show
6-10pm, Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell st (at Franklin).
Celebrate the day at SFBC’s Bike Away From Work Party and Fashion Show at Rickshaw stop and party down with fellow cyclists. Plus the parking’s a breeze!

Posted By Colin on May 12, 2009

We are pleased to announce the first East Bay Tweed Ride — or eastTweed as the snappy eastTweeds are calling it! Our previous Tweed Rides had quite the showing of charming lads and lasses from the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, and we sincerely hope to meet more dapper eastTweeds!

East Bay Tweed Ride, June 4th

6:30 pm – Sally Forth from Mosswood Park in Oakland

7:00 pm – Meetup with SF Tweed at MacArthur BART

End Point – Trappist, Belgian & Specialty Beer Bar

It of course goes without saying that there will be the most dashing of cyclists. As in past rides, we have more fun and games up our sleeves which shall be announced as we get closer to the date. I am certain that it will be a grand old time!

Whether you live here or there, I sincerely hope you do join us as we explore the wonders of the East Bay — in Tweed!

* During the Greeting and Salutation contests two people will step forward and greet each other like they both now each other but haven’t seen one another for a while. For an example of this I recommend watching this Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch from Beyond the Fridge. Both the Greeting and Salutation contests are elimination challenges which means the lesser greeter gets kicked off and a new challenger steps forward.

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The East Bay Tweed Ride is being organized by the lovely and talented eastTweeds: Morley Roarly, Josie Pokiedot, and Nan Eastep, of B.Spoke Tailer. We at SF Tweed are ever grateful that these fine lasses have stepped forward to help make the first East Bay Tweed Ride an adventure to remember!

Posted By Colin on May 8, 2009

While I do disapprove of the rather uncouth pith helmet, I have to say this Elemental chap can lay down quite a corpulent song. I mean how could one pass up a song about tea?

Cup of Brown Joy

If this music suits your fancy, you should take a spin on over to check out their album Rebel WIthout Applause.

Much thanks to Laughing Squid for bringing this Tea-based music to my attention.

Posted By Colin on May 8, 2009

Due to the overwhelming success of the last Winston’s Tweed Ride, it seems our Windy City brethren are planning another outing! So if you find yourself in Chicago I highly encourage you to jacket up and ride along with this fine wheel-men and wheel-ladies.

Winston’s DMZV Tweed Ride

Chicago, IL. September 12th 2009

Leaving from Bialystok Pub @1pm, we’ll make our way at a genteel, civilizing pace to the 89th Annual German-American Festival in Lincoln Square. And of course we’ll be stopping in some damn fine bars representing British allies during that unpleasantness in the 30s & 40s!

More info on Bicycle Diaries

As this Tweed Ride coincides with the German-American Festival I assume there will be plenty of fine beer and food. Also it goes without saying as proper gentlemen and ladies all should abide by DMZV — Don’t Mention Zee Var!!!

Posted By Colin on May 8, 2009

Those snazzy cycling fashionistas at Vélo Vogue have announced a Bike to Work Photo contest! While we at SF Tweed have a certain bias towards a particular fashion style, Vélo Vogue is more open: they have no shame in casting an eye — or two — on any stylish cyclist.

We at Vélo Vogue are very curious to see what our readers are wearing as they get on their bikes and head to the office, school, wherever you’re going. Each week, we’ll post our favorites. At the end of the month, we’ll ask our readers to take a poll to vote for their favorite cycle fashionista (American Idol style). Our winner will be treated to a défilé down Valencia to a taqueria of his/her choice, where s/he will treated to burrito and beer. Because cycling en vogue is global, this challenge is no way limited to San Franciscans! It simply means that if you’re our winner, you’ll have to travel for that burrito. ;-)

Sound enticing? Then don’t hesitate! Get dressed, hop on your bike and send us your pics at velovogue[at]gmail[dot]com or post them to our Vélo Vogue flickr group!

Posted By Colin on May 6, 2009

I thought I may pass on a word to all you dashing cyclists about the Disposable Film Festival Bike-In Movie Screening on Wednesday May 13th, 8pm-11pm at the parking lot across from the Good Hotel on 7th and Minna. I do believe it will be a lovely way to spend an evening — oh and don’t worry if you are counting your pences as it is free!

I myself learned of this wonderful screening from the excellent shutterfly cyclists of Velo Vogue. They of course will be in attendance with their cameras so look sharp!

DFF BIKE-IN MOVIE SCREENING!
Join us for some outdoor disposable film fun as we present the best of DFF!

Bring your own radio so you can listen in on the program (you know, just like at the drive in). And for some extra comfort bring something to sit on.

Immediately following the screening we’ll be moving inside for an awesome after party hosted by the SF Guardian!

And did we mention the event is FREE? So no ifs ands or buts – you gotta be there!

Where: The parking lot across from the Good Hotel on 7th St. @ Minna.

When: Wednesday May 13th, 8PM-11PM

Bike valet by SF Bike Coalition

More info on the Disposable Film Festival Events page

UPDATE: The CremeBruleeeCart will be at the Disposable Film Festival at 7:30pm serving up delicious… you guessed it Creme Brulee!

Posted By Colin on May 1, 2009

The second SF Tweed Ride was a rip roaring success!

I am still overwhelmed by how warm and wonderous the entire evening was. Dashing cyclists waving cheerio to all passersby as we rolled down Market and along the Embarcadero.

And nothing can compare to the magical feeling of seeing Corpus Callosum play at the end of the Maritime Park Pier as dusk settled around us and the San Francisco skyline began light up.

Once again, we ended our ride at the lovely Tosca Cafe, who warmed us up with their delicious hot choco and brandy.

The chaps were dapper and the lasses snappy, with the most dashing awarded by the gracious and talented Sheila Moon, who donated several chic — and amazingly comfy — wool cycling caps.

Thanks Sheila for sponsoring the SF Tweed contest! I must say it was a pleasure to have you along for the ride, and I’m more than happy to promote your made in San Francisco quality cycle fashion — truly any cyclist would be doing themselves a favor by casting an eye on SheilaMoon.com!

What’s next?

We already have plans ruminating for our next tweed outings: an East Bay Tweed Ride, a Sunday Tweed Picnic (most dapper kidlet contest!), and more! So sign up for the Jaunty Mailer and follow @sftweed on twitter

Also keep an eye on the SF Tweed website for more tweed highlights. Over the next coming days, we will be showcasing some of the amazing tweed cyclists, photographers, artists, and more. We also have an eye out for guest writers, so if you have any tweed and/or cycling expertise you’d like to share please contact us.

Cheerio!