Next Ride: New Year's Day!

We've received many calls and letters asking when the next ride will be, so we've put one together for New Year's Day, meeting at approximately 11:00 in the morning in East Portal Park; beforehand, Rick Mahan has graciously offered to open up One Speed for libations (the kitchen will be closed) before the ride, and we'll go from there to the meeting spot.

Instead of dressing in full regalia, let's consider this a Tweed Lite ride--more of a meeting of like-minded folks as opposed to a gathering of the Tweed Clan (the next big ride for the fully Tweeded will be in early Spring.) However, if the urge strikes, don't let me discourage you from dressing up if you wish to!

The ride will take us from our starting point to CSUS, across the bicycle/pedestrian bridge, along the bike path to Discovery Park, through Old Town--we'll grab something to eat then--and up through Capitol Mall to finish up (and yes, Tony, I'll see if the Shady Lady will be open!) Lol!

Like before, we ask that everyone be open to last-minute changes (check back on the site often, or click on the RSS feed) with regards to the route or to the weather. Everyone who left their e-mail address at the Ride will be receiving a note in the next couple of days.

Let me know if you have any questions, and we wish everyone the merriest of holidays.

Rick and Erin

And one more item from the media...

Yesterday's Washington Post had this wonderful article on Tweed Rides!

Hey! All The Cool Kids ARE Doing It!

From today's All Things Considered on NPR

Awesome! (Sadly, we weren't mentioned....but it's still great!)

Also, some of you have shown me this article from a week ago in the New York Times

Just Thought You'd Like To Know...

We received this last night, and thought it so lovely that we needed to share it with everybody:


Dear Tweed riders

So, Sunday mornings I usually take my 86 year old mother out to Sunday Bruch.

It gets her out of the Senior Center and we have always fun talking about her “crazy old sisters” back in Kansas .

Afterwards we usually take a bit of a driver around mid town and East Sac, mostly to check out the gardens, and this time of year, to see the changing colors of the trees.

This past Sunday was really something special for my mom.

While driving down the T street parkway (the “Elmhust” neighborhood),we drive past what seems like an entire Diaspora of tweed clad cyclists on vintage bikes, all waving, laughing, having fun and making the entire scene a 1920’s time warp in a beautiful old neighborhood.

My mother is totally enchanted, and she leans out the window and blows kisses at every cyclist we pass, she was beaming like a 6 year old.

When she got home, she called her sisters in Kansas to tell them all how great it is to live in California

You not only had a great time yourself, but you made one blue hair octogenarian feel like a kid again.

Bully for you all.

Now, put me on your mailing list so that I can join the fun the next time you go for a “Tweed Ride.”


Yep, we're on to something good here--and I'll be thrilled if he can take his mother with us next time.
Rick

Success!

Wow, that was something, wasn't it?

Erin and I were thrilled by the turnout, and, by the end of the day (we went back to One Speed for pizza, naturally), we were beaming with how well it went.

We received a great number of thanks for organizing the ride, but you should all congratulate yourselves for making this happen. It was your participation, your smiles, and your costumes, too, that made this event the success it was. You were wonderful! Thank you all.

We'll be sending out an email in the next few days (after we recover!) to let everybody know they're in the loop for future rides or events. Until then, we can all communicate with each other via our Facebook page; also, please post your pictures or videos of the ride on our Flickr page (also reachable via the "photographs" link in the header.) If you didn't get a chance to write down your e-mail address during the ride, just send us a note, and we'll add you to the list.

Once again, I'd like to personally thank our sponsors for doing such a wonderful job of getting us fed, quenching our thirst, and supplying us with goodies. Please continue to support them during the year (because that way we can get invited back!) :-))

Take care, and we'll be in touch with you all very soon.

Rick and Erin

See You Sunday!

Instead of thanking people after the ride, I thought it'd be better to let riders know who had a hand in making this happen; since we're all sure it'll be a wonderful, fun-filled day, make sure to give a hug to these folks and say thanks:

First, and most importantly, my partner in life, Erin; honestly, folks, this ride is all about her looking at the San Francisco ride and saying, "why don't we do that here?" Any good that comes from this is because of her; anything less is on me.

My dear friends, Alan, John, Rick and Brad, who listen to me drone on about things that usually don't matter, and then will gently offer wonderful advice about how to fix it anyway. Thanks, guys.

Ed Cox from the City of Sacramento--we're so lucky to have a true believer in a position that matters.

Our sponsors--in no particular order--that make this a truly movable feast: Old Soul Coffee, who will make sure we're properly caffeinated in the morning; One Speed restaurant, for a delicious breakfast; the Bonn Lair, for a place to toast each other for our good taste in transportation; Revolution Wines, for a chance to sample the goodness that comes from the soil of Northern California; Hot Italian, who saved us from a food-free afternoon; and the Rubicon Brewery, which, as most locals know, is the best place in Sacramento to end one of these things! Also, for prizes (besides from the restaurants), there's Rivendell Bicycle Works, EcoVelo, The Bicycle Business, and City Cycles. Oh, and if anyone needs lights, the last two will offer a discount on lighting systems--please make sure that you're seen going home.

See you Sunday, and let's have a wonderful day--we deserve it!

Rick

The Last-Minute Checklist

With our weather woes put to rest, it seems time to get official about this, don't you think?

Over here we are earnestly readying costumes, collecting the cache of prizes (truly excellent things in store), and trying to quell our nervous anticipation.

Under these circumstances, I am notorious for forgetting usually the one thing I wanted most to bring. So I thought a checklist of sorts would be in order -- perhaps useful only to me, but maybe there are few items here you will want to consider packing in your bike bag of choice. (Forgive me if any of this seems painfully obvious.)

• a lock
• bike lights (with well-charged batteries)
• water (in addition to any other variety of thirst quencher you may be planning to bring)
• and enough pocket money for breakfast, pints, and a taste of Revolution wines

If I were a proper boy scout, I would also throw in:

• a fully charged cell phone, and
• a basic tire repair kit.

Also, consider bringing a camera (or several, for you shutterbugs out there). We've started a flickr group for this tweeded adventure, and it would be lovely to look back on the event from a variety of perspectives.

And -- oh, I can't fight it -- my internal mom is forcing me to say: spend some time these next days and give your bicycle a good once over. Make sure your tires are pumped, your chain is tight (and lubed!), and your bike is generally in good working order. (You'll thank me when you're older!) I understand the Bicycle Kitchen is an excellent place for this kind of check-up, particularly if the task seems a bit daunting to complete on your own.

Alright, that is all. I'm through channeling parents and schoolmarms.

Now I'm just giddy for this all to start. See you Sunday!