A series of minimum-exertion, maximum-elegance bicycle outings for ladies and gentlemen who find plastic helmets, ‘mountain bikes’ and gaudy Lycra distasteful and intimidating!
Informal rides with opportunities for tea and buns, beer and chips, etc., along the way as well as picnics and sea-bathing for the adventurous, participants are those whose dress is dignified and stylish, urbane rather than urban. Pipe-smokers are particularly welcome!
An indecently-dressed rider attracts the opprobrium of spectators
Introduction
What it's all about
“Elegance over exertion, style over speed” – The Tweed Cycling Club
The purpose of the Tweed Run is of course to restore style and panache to the pursuit of bicycling which has in recent years fallen prey to an unpleasant, plastic-helmeted, sweat-stained vulgarity, so much so that many bicycles manufactured nowadays have dispensed with mudguards; the intention is one of making the rider look as dirty and ridiculous as possible. Garish Lycra, knobbly knees and bilious-coloured 'Martian brain' helmets complete the humiliation.
Naturally the spirit of the event is 'Tweed' (as popularised by The Chap magazine in 1999) though in summer the actual cycling outfit might well be light wool or linen should sun and warm zephyrs be in evidence. The watchwords are elegance and dignity though of course conviviality and jollity ought to play a big part in the proceedings.
All effort is made to devise a route to avoid collar-wrinkling perspiration, undignified gasping and heart-imperilling exertion!
This is not a race or a distance-covering exercise of interest only to the sort of deviants who are morbidly enthusiastic about sweating; riders can stop as often as they like to admire the views, take photographs or slip into a poetic reverie. As the jaunting company will include women, children and senior citizens there will be plenty of opportunities to visit lavatories for the adjustment of tie-knots, the straightening of stocking seams and the the waxing of windswept moustaches (in case anyone is worried on that score).
The original Tweed Run took place in London in 2009 and since then the runs have taken place in over fifty cities around the world. Rather than wait for someone else to organise one in our city, we decided to grasp the nettle and do it ourselves before such a good idea was hi-jacked by snobbish sprocket spods with poor diction, stubbled faces and dirty fingernails.
Kinematographs
A splendid videokinomatograph of the Fourteenth Liverpolitan Tweed Run made by Mr. Nick Hubble of the Manchester Tweed Ride can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ZEQ34Yeew There is a videokinematograph using pictures from the earlier Liverpolitan Tweed Runs here: http://youtu.be/hPPvPpaqUiM
There is a very short videokinematograph of our fourth run With the Wind at our Rear here: http://youtu.be/L-t3Zgdy8SU
Archive
There is a Chap Magazine article from 2007 about theTweed Cycling Club that inspired The Liverpolitan Tweed Run: https://sites.google.com/site/liverpolitantweed/home/origins-and-miscellany
Further information
For information on individual jaunts, see below and click to your heart's content!