Tweed Run

The poster from the first ever tweed run.
Bike in Tweed Stockholm, 2013
In 2013, the ride went through Fitzrovia to Marylebone.

The Tweed Run is a group bicycle ride through the centre of London, in which the cyclists are expected to dress in 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."

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 the 24th of 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 are limited to 500 (due to health and safety rules) and due to high and popular demand a ticket ballot system has been in place.

Later tweed rides

Since the Tweed Run, various cities have copied the format, including Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester,[4] United Kingdom;[5] Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Alpena, Michigan; Athens, Georgia; Bloomington, Indiana; Boston; Chicago; Chico, California; Columbus, Ohio; Curitiba; Dallas, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; 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; 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.

See also

References

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