Posted By Colin on March 29, 2010

Last Saturday was a beautiful day for a ride! The sun was out and citizens of Berkeley all waved graciously as the East Bay Tweed Ride traversed the streets in style. The marvelous Corpus Callosum once again played for us, but this time they actually played while we rode! Thanks to the ingenuity of Rubin Starset, each member of the band was pulled along the route with their instruments either in a trailer or on the back of a tandem. It was quite the feat and I thank the band and every bicyclist who wore out their legs towing a musician to make it happen!

Cesar Chavez Park, with it’s amazing view of the bay, turned out to be just the spot for a picnic and concert. We also had a contest for the most graceful mount and dismount of their steed with prizes graciously donated by Nan Eastep of B. Spoke Tailor. Nan donated two wonderful recycled tweed tube top covers and a lovely pair of tweed fingerless gloves. Local to the Bay Area, B. Spoke Tailor is well known for their fitted and fashionable bicycle wear and I encourage everyone to follow them on B. Spoke Tailor facebook page and come to one of their fittings.

We ended our day at the Albatross Pub, Berkeley’s Oldest Pub, which was the perfect spot to wind down after the fun filled day. Who can argue with a pint of beer, darts, popcorn and such well dressed company.

The SF Tweed photo pool has been filling up with some wonderful photos from the ride. We have also due to popular request created a SF Tweed Facebook Fan Page.

But really don’t take our word for it. Listen to Joe P., one of our most dedicated and dashing riders who sent us this lovely letter…

What a Wonderful Ride That Was!

I had a wonderful time! It was so good to see old friends as well as all the riders from SF make it over to Berkeley, starting not one mile from my house. The seaside was beautiful in the warm afternoon, bridges and sailboats in the distance. And the rolling musicians of Corpus Callosum were the perfect touch (The toy piano was especially charming). Waltzing to the band mere feet from the palisades below at the end of our great promenade could not be topped but only by a visit to the Albatross pub with the most stellar company.

Ah, so far away it seems when looking back from the rain filled morning presently; I say let the rains come and have their time, that we may have ours come April!

Joe P.

Thank you for the letter Joe. It is always such a pleasure to see your smiling face on the rides!

Till next time tweeders, Cheers!

p.s. Our next ride will be in San Francisco and should be in late April. Stay tuned through either this website (rss), our Jaunty Mailer, Twitter, or Facebook

Posted By Colin on March 20, 2010

East Bay Tweed Spring Ride

March 27th, 2 pm

2 pm — Sally forth from Ohlone Park (near North Berkeley Bart)

Midpoint — Cesar Chavez Park (games, contests, and a special performance)

End (5-6 pmish) — Albatross Pub (libations & darts!)

[facebook event page]

Spring is the air and the rain has let up, so it’s time to dust off your smoking pipes and take your tweed out of mothballs! Put that dapper cap on your head, oil your chain, and get ready to pedal with panache!

Join us for the first SF Tweed Ride of 2010, this ride will take place in the lovely town of Berkeley, CA. The ride will be anywhere from 6-8 miles with a break midway through. We have plenty of enjoyment planned for you all including games, contests, and a special performance by the wondrous Corpus Callosum! As always, the tweed ride will end at an establishment that offers libations and cheer.

Photo of the J.D. as the fabulous Twettle, the Tweed Beetle by the excellent photographer juicyrai

Update: We will be flyering the Critical Mass on Friday Mar 26th. If you’d like to help you can print your own flyers to hand out: East Bay Spring Tweed Ride March Flyer-6up [pdf]

Posted By Colin on March 12, 2010

Save the date, Saturday, Mar 27th, 2pm for SF Tweed returns! This time with EasTweed ride starting near the North Berkeley BART station at Deleware and Sacramento at the
Ohlone Park. Stay tuned for more details!

It’s been a while since the last SF Tweed ride—but we sure ended last year with a bang didn’t we with the SF Tweed Olympics! I’m looking forward to the fine tweediness that 2010 will bring.

In fact, it does seem that we here in the dapper Bay Area have already been shown up by a number of cities across the country. This past February has seen most excellent Tweed Rides in both Seattle and Vancouver! Riding Pretty has an excellent writeup on both of the rides: February Tweed Rides – Seattle, Vancouver, and more. Also find out more at Seattle Tweed.

The fine folks of Sacramento Tweed had their very own Sacramento New Year’s Day Tweed Ride. And most excitingly already have their second Sacramento Tweed Ride planned for March 28th! I’m sure the dapper will be turned to 11 as most recently, the most talented designer Nan Eastep from B.Spoke Tailor was in Sacramento for a fabulous tweed tailoring event at Hot Italian. Eco Velo has a great writeup with photos from the Pizza & Tweed event.

Also back in January, Portland had their 1st Annual Portland Tweed Ride. I highly recommend you hoist your eyes upon the lovely photos from the PDX Tweed Ride. Also check out the video from the PDX ride!

More Tweed Rides are also upcoming around the world:

• SF Tweed Ride March 27th
• Sacramento Tweed Ride planned for March 28th
• The 1st Annual Kansas City Tweed Ride is scheduled April 3rd.
• April 10th is the great London Tweed Run!
• Memphis Tweed Ride, Memphis TN, March 17th
• Coral Gables Tweed Ride, Coral Gables FL, March 20th
• Los Angeles Tweed Ride, Los Angeles, CA, March 27th
• Big Apple Tweed Ride, NY, NY, Spring 2010