Let’s Play 20 Questions!

Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola in Bicycle Thieves

1. Should I ride in this Saturday's Alpena Tweed Ride?

Yes!

2. Does it start at 4:00 in front of the Blue Phoenix?

Yes!

3. Will the ride be fun?

Yes!

4. Will I REALLY look good in Tweed (or something similar)?

Heck Yes!

5. Will the other riders be friendly?

Yes!

6. Will people who didn’t go feel jealous that they didn’t ride and I did?

Yes!

7.  Wait, are you just going to answer “yes” to every silly question!

Yes!

8. Do you think we can stop this post 12 questions early?

.....Yes ….

T-Minus Five Days

Ok... We have less than a week for the Tweed Ride!

Brigitte Bardot in And God Created Woman

Remember, It's a ride in Style!

Bing Crosby

Alpena News

Alpena pair organizing inaugural tweed ride

Grab a Poster!

Apparently there are may be some problem with printing the Flyers. We dropped off a bunch at Blue Phoenix Books. So please feel free to stop by and pick one up to post around town! We would like to get as much publicity as possible.

Old Ads

We at the Alpena Tweed Ride love old advertisements. Not only are they great primary documents of sweet rides, but like those still produced today, they often contain examples of trendy clothing!

Here are some cool ads to wet your whistle!

 

Riding Safely

It is our hope that The Alpena Tweed Ride will be a SAFE and FUN ride for all involved. Since we are just a group of cyclists riding together, and not an organized ride, we do not have the power or desire to require participants to follow any sort of minimum safety standard.

Yet we do have a few suggestions. First, have a bicycle that is in good riding condition, and that you are used to riding. If you have not been in the saddle (fancy bike name for the seat) for a while, you might want to take it for a spin beforehand to make sure everything still works.  Second, make sure you are comfortable in whatever you are wearing. We hope everyone dresses up in some spiffy duds, but it is probably a bad idea to show up with a new pair of shoes, or try to wear a dress for the first time while riding. Even if you don’t want to ride around in your full getup, you might want to make sure you are comfortable with all the parts.

Lastly, there is the question about helmets and other safety equipment. The City of Alpena does not require the use of safety equipment. In fact to quote the City of Alpena News Release dated June 20, 2011 “Common sense and common courtesy go a long way. Use of safety equipment like bike helmets is encouraged.” You know your skill level, and comfort with risk better than we do. Keeping those in mind, and please use any safety feature in accordance to these personal comfort levels.

Three Speeds of Fun

Another style of bike that is both historic and has been gaining renewed popularity over the last decade or so is the internal geared hub bicycle. These dependable and long lived hubs have no exposed parts and are pretty much maintenance free. Their short coming is that they don't offer as many gearing options as the more common derailleur gear bikes such as a 10 speed. Many modern utility and “city” bikes offer 7 and 8 gear hubs, but the classic version is the English-three Speed exemplified by the Sturmey-Archer hub that has been around since the early 1900’s.

One place to see great classic three-speeds is the Old Three-Speed Gallery. Amongst the beautiful bicycles featured there is the 1959 Robin Hood Sport pictured above. While it might not be the highest priced or rarest bike they show, it does bear a striking resemblance to my own 1959 Centaur Sport pictured below. So I love it!

I guess with only about 50 miles between Nottingham and Coventry, the makers of their Robin Hood and my Centaur (the respective homes of each manufactures) must have had the same inspiration that year. (These cities were the heart of the bicycle
industry of England, and the world, for generations.)
 

Another place to find a plethora of information about the venerable old three-speed is on the page of the late Sheldon Brown. Sheldon (and those who now maintain the page) have a treasure trove of information about makers, models, age, and maintenance of these great machines.