Tweed Run

The Tweed Run is a group bicycle living history ride through the centre of London, in which the cyclists are expected to dress in retro style traditional British cycling attire, particularly tweed plus four suits. Any bicycle is acceptable on the Tweed Run, but classic vintage bicycles are encouraged. Some effort to recreate the spirit of a bygone era is always appreciated.[1] The ride dubs itself "A Metropolitan Cycle Ride With a Bit of Style."

The poster from the first ever tweed run.

Inspirations

Among the inspirations for the Tweed Run was Jack Thurston's now disbanded Tweed Cycling Club, and several vintage attire-themed rides which were held in the north of England in the 1990s.

First Tweed Run

Although previous cycling clubs have hosted vintage-themed rides before, the very first Tweed Run was held on 24 January 2009,[2] and organised via London Fixed Gear and Single Speed, an online cycling forum. The second run was held on 10 April 2010, for 500 registered riders.[3]

Since then the Tweed Run has become an annual event with major sponsors. Participants were limited to 500 (due to health and safety rules) but by 2018 the numbers had increased to 1000 and due to high and popular demand a ticket ballot system had been in place but are now sold on a first come first served basis often selling out very quickly.

Later tweed rides

Following the Tweed Run, various places have copied the format, including Stanford Le Hope, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester,[4] United Kingdom;[5] Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Alpena, Michigan; Fort Worth, Texas; Athens, Georgia; Bloomington, Indiana; Boston; Chicago; Chico, California; Columbus, Ohio; Curitiba; Des Moines, Iowa; Quad Cities ;Durango, Colorado; Flagstaff, Arizona; Sanford and St Petersburg, Florida, Fremantle, Western Australia; Helsinki; Lexington, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; Minneapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Moscow; Paris; Pescara, Italy; Philadelphia; Portsmouth, N.H.; Riga, Latvia; Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California; San Francisco; São Paulo; St. Petersburg, Russia; Sydney; Tokyo; Toronto; Traverse City, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; Oakland, CA;[6] Oldenburg, Osnabrück 2015 Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany; Chihuahua, Mexico; Calgary, Alberta; Victoria, British Columbia; Windsor, Ontario; Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Stockholm and Malmö, Sweden; Spetses, Greece; Portland, Oregon; Kharkiv, Ukraine.[7] Many of these rides take place annually. Some are charity events, like the Malmö Tweed Ride.[8]

Rugby Ralph Lauren sponsored a fall version of The Tweed Run in London on 26 November 2011 and the first New York Tweed Run on 15 October of the same year. The first Tweed Rides in the United States took place in San Francisco in February 2009, Boston in October 2009, Philadelphia on 7 November 2009, Sacramento on 8 November 2009, and in Washington, D.C. on 15 November 2009.

See also

References
  1. Cyclelicious (27 January 2009), A critical mass of well dressed cyclists, www.cyclelicio.us, archived from the original on 22 January 2010
  2. "On your bike for Rugby Ralph Lauren's first London Tweed Run", The Daily Telegraph, 23 November 2011
  3. Sparkes, Matthew (13 April 2010). "Doctor Who does nothing for tweed that cyclists haven't planned for months". The Guardian. London.
  4. "www.tweedride.co.uk". Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  5. "Are you all Dutch?" – Brum’s Big Vintage Cycle ride pedals confusion. The Birmingham Press.com, 11 June 2013.
  6. "East Bay Tweed Ride" Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine https://www.ebbc.org Archived 9 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 8 August 2013.
  7. 24tv.ua. "У Харкові відбувся ретро-заїзд на велосипедах - Телеканал новин 24". Телеканал новин 24 (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  8. http://www.tweedride.se/
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