East Bay Tweed Riders photo by flickrawwwr

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…

Joe P. dashing as always, by Greg Hefner

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

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]

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.

Seattle Tweed Ride (photo by ericshalit / www.tubulocity.com)

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.

Tweed Ride PDX by Kit Crenshaw

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

One would think any film with the word bike in the title would be innocent. But no the lot who crafted this moving picture are beyond immoral! I’ve never seen so many bicycles and bicyclists so tied up and violated! People ridden like bicycles and bicycles ridden like people!

My friends and I were so shocked by it all that we must have been overcome by paralysis—that is the only excuse I can offer why we did not run from such a debauched assault of our senses.

The film is playing one last time in the East Bay, 9pm tonight at the Roll Up Bike Shop in Oakland. The price is $8, and is of course a 21+ event. I urge all decent people to stay away for you may walk away never looking at a set of handlebars the same way again!

For those who doubt me what follows is the trailer for this movie. I warn you ladies and gentlemen, the trailer is nearly as explicit as the movie.

]]> http://sftweed.com/20091117-washington-dc-tweed-ride/feed/ 2 http://sftweed.com/20091026-chap-hop/ http://sftweed.com/20091026-chap-hop/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:21:52 +0000 Colin http://sftweed.com/?p=403 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”

If you like this I also recommend the amazing Teacore rappers Elemental.

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)

SF Tweed Olympics

• Umbrella jousting!
• Pipe lighting relay!
• Cucumber sandwich discus!
• Mustache Tug of War!
• and more!

Prizes donated by Minnehaha Bag Co. and others!

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!

SFBC Bike-in Movie Night: Rad

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!

Brainwash Bike-In/Walk-In Movie Festival

July 31 &  August 1, 9pm : 1960 Mandela @ 18th (American Steel building)
For more information check out the Brainwash Movie Program

California Academy of Sciences’ Nightlife Series,
with pedal-powered sound system!

Aug 6, 6–11pm : California Academy of Sciences

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.

The Chap Olympiad is brought to you by The Chap Magazine, which is a fine and dandy magazine devoted to… you guessed it Chaps!

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.

More information at totheendofthenight.com.]]> http://sftweed.com/20090606-come-and-play-journey-to-the-end-of-the-night/feed/ 0 http://sftweed.com/20090605-more-australian-tweed-canberra-tweed-ride-june-6th/ http://sftweed.com/20090605-more-australian-tweed-canberra-tweed-ride-june-6th/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:51:21 +0000 Colin http://sftweed.com/?p=320 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.

The tour meets at the Gorman House Markets near the coffee van at 11.30am for departure at 12 noon. A map of the route is available on Bikely.

Cheerio!

…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.

photo by puck.ananta

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.

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.

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)

The Grand Prize!

Minnehaha Canvas Shoulder Bag

A fabulous Canvas Shoulder Bag donated graciously by the Minnehaha Bag Co..

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.

Royal Heraldry of Canada

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

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!

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!

East Bay Tweed Ride, June 4th (photo by Bryan Kiechle)

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

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.

Winston's DMZV Tweed Ride, Sept 12th

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!!!

Winston's Tweed Ride, photo by Da' Square Wheelman

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!