A ride by any other name…

Some folks have inquired about the name of the ride this year. As we have stated, last year’s ride was named, at least in part, in honor of an obscure brand of woolen fabric woven in the small township of Shannon, in County Clare, Ireland. So people are naturally wondering, what about the name this year, ‘¡El Dapper Dan Dash Dos!’ ??? And what’s up with that upside-down exclamation point? Well, obviously, we are honoring the Mexican version of the now-obsolete computer operating system from Microsoft.

It’s just as simple as that.

Breathing room

Now that we have officially re-scheduled this thing for Sunday, February 27, 2011, we find ourselves with a bit more time in which to provide additional tidbits of advice. I daresay I shall not waste a moment on the type of drivel populating other blogs of this nature.

Recalling last year’s Dapper Dan Dash/Shannon Tweed Ride, I remember a particularly useful piece of equipment. You see, my own bicycle is not outfitted as a touring bike; it has no racks, no panniers, no bungeed-milk-cartons, no carrying capacity of any kind (save for the odd water bottle cage and pipe rest, that is). If your bike is similarly situated, a shoulder bag, haversack, or musette comes in awful handy on a ride such as this.

Well, you may ask, what kind of bag would be appropriate for this ride? I would say that any one of the now de rigueur messenger-type bags most likely would suffice. In choosing one of these items, one must consider one’s overall image, however. Take, for example, the offerings of a particular outfit from the Bay Area of California, known as “Chrome.” Sure, their bags are in with the hipster crowd, what with the seat-belt-buckle that looks like it came off of a circa-1974 MoPar product:

seat-belt-buckle-style buckle

The colors of such products are a bit garish, and they are likely to clash with a fine muted tweed:

A bit on the bright side

On the other hand, the product of another Bay Area company with the unfortunate name Rickshaw Bags, particularly those with a herringbone pattern, fit in a bit more with our theme:

Rickshaw Messenger bag and Talmud cover

Here’s a closer look at Rickshaw’s fine woolen fabric:

Those of you with more of a “buy-local” philosophical outlook might care to peruse the products of a bespoke bag-maker, Psychlist Subversive.

In any event, we’d love for papa to have a brand new bag when he’s out riding with us.

*Full disclosure: Dapper Dan receives no (ahem) compensation for mentioning certain brands in this correspondence. Should anyone feel the need to provide recompense, I will gladly accept samples of your current line.

No, not now…

We won’t be riding today. We have re-scheduled the event for Sunday, February 27, 2011. This gives you a bit more time to assemble your outfits. I’m expecting some pretty spectacular gear, so go to it!

Pull up, pull up, pull up…

Since we’ve got a bit of planning going into this thing, we can’t wait until the last minute to decide whether should we stay or should we go, so we are POSTPONING the ride for this Sunday. We are planning to reschedule the ride for Sunday, February 27, 2011. While it may not be as cold by then, hopefully it will be a bit less wet. Apologies all around if you were planning on showing up, and we beseech you to consider coming next month.

– your humble correspondent

Watch this space…

O.k., so the local weather-folks have upgraded their forcasts for Sunday… rain chances, 70%, possible thunder-storms…

Now I know some of you folks are just waiting for the opportunity to sport your new Brooks rain cape. There are others among us whom are perhaps of a more civilised bent, who aren’t used to being outdoors in the bare elements. We may, therefore, be postponing the ride, in favor of more favorable weather. Perhaps we should just go ahead and re-schedule for 02/27/2011, so we can all show up over at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show…

In any event, stay tuned for further details…

Weather update, v.2

Those dang weatherforecasters… boy, that’s hard to say [type] with a straight face…
So as of this writing, the experts are saying isolated T-storms, 30% chance of rain, a low of a mere 46 degrees.
While a little drizzle never hurt anyone, and tweed will certainly stand up to a bit of precipitation, if we start getting lightning, we’ll have to get everybody out of the pool…

We never thought about having rain contingency plans. We remember last year’s ride, having had a record cold front come in over the weekend, temperatures were predicted to be in the low ‘teens. And then at ride time, we had just about the most perfect weather a bloke could hope for.

All this is to say that we’re still on. See you on Sunday.

A bit of a meteorological update

Sincere apologies to followers of this humble little site… I fear I have not provided the frequent updates regarding the upcoming event to which you have become accustomed.

In any event, it feels like we finally have some winter around here, though I can do without the drizzle – just enough to make things slippery, but not a beneficial amount of moisture. I say go ahead and rain for a couple of days, then clear up.

We do have some cooler temperatures on the way. Things are supposed to get below freezing for a bit, then warm up for this weekend. Alas, we won’t be having the record-breaking cold front as we had last year, but with any luck, that 30% chance of rain for this coming Sunday will yield perfect conditions for the ride.

The tweed will come in handy, after all. Lube up your chains, inflate your tyres to the proper pressure, check your brakes. Do go visit the establishment of our gracious sponsor, The Peddler Bike Shop, for necessary adjustments to your vehicle. And when visiting that particular merchant, please be advised that the sign out front which states “Surly” is not intended to be a description of the temperament of the associates working inside. Rather, I have found them to be quite cheery chaps.