Your patronage to that establishment is appreciated.

Last year, it was just about perfect, 40 degrees Farenheit at ride time with bright, sunny skies.

This year, it was about twice that – 80 degrees, overcast, 30-mph winds, and a bit of a mist in the morning. I daresay one of the most inhospitable environs for a tweed ride yet experienced.

Yet, we still had some intrepid souls show up. Not quite everyone who SAID they were coming, but still, we had fun.

Thanks for coming out.

The folks at The Peddler Bike Shop have requested that the start time for this ride be moved up to 11:00 a.m. In fact, unbeknownst to your humble correspondent, they have been informing all of their shop patrons of the change in schedule (even though the 2:00 p.m. start time has been plastered on these here interwebs for some time now).

I guess the guys that have to work today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) want to ensure that they will be able to catch a bit of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show after our ride on Sunday. Well, I guess we need to accomodate our patrons.

So, meet up at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge at 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning. You got that?

We meet up at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge this coming Sunday, 02/27/2011 at 2:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. – see above. We won’t tarry long (after the initial photographic opportunities), so please be on time. Most likely, we will be traveling north, so as to utilize the recently-completed leg of the bridge across El Calle Cesar Chavez. Generally, we will make our way up to the south steps of the Capitol Building, for the obligatory throw-your-hat-in-the-air photo, then stop at a pub or two for fortifications. We may head back south on the bicycle boulevard (and marvel at its magnificence), and then head east for a spell. We will eventually end up at the west side of the Austin Convention Center, hopefully no later than 4:00 p.m., so that we can catch the tail end of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS).

Which brings up my next point. For those of you intending to attend the bike show (and if you are interested in bike bling, you are well-advised to attend), you might want to go to the show before our ride. The hours on Sunday are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., so presuming you don’t spend the entire night on Saturday out carousing and you are able to arise at some point before the crack of noon, you should have ample opportunity to peruse the wares available at the show before joining us at the bridge. Also, please be advised that online registration for the show ends tomorrow at midnight. That’s Wednesday, Feb-yew-airy 23, twenty-eleven, at 24:00 hrs. You may still be able to register at the door, but admission may be a bit steeper.

Again, the weather looks as if it will not be so cooperative come Sunday, but this time, we’re pushing on.

We hope to see you there.

Now, we certainly don’t expect everyone to rush out and purchase a brand-new set of cream-colored tyres…

Schwalbe Fat Franks, if I'm not mistaken

…there are numerous other ways in which one may accessorize one’s ride. One of the most obvious areas for dressing up one’s particular vehicle is the top tube:

A snappy argyle

Yes, the top-tube-pad comes to us from the BMX world, where it had formerly been required equipment, considered as necessary to ensure survival of the species. More recently the top tube cover has been hijacked by the hipster/fixie (“fixter?”) crowd.

The top tube pad/cover is now available in a variety of styles/colors/patterns/textures.

Note the faux-houndstooth pattern near the centre

The more enterprising types can even make their own top tube cover:

A bit hirsute, perhaps?

Perhaps a more traditional area of adornment would be the custom head-badge:

headbadge-in-the-making

There are a number of folks who now offer custom-made head-badges in any number of styles. True artists making, in effect, pieces of bike jewelry.

Some of these can be quite pricey…

One craftsperson is making a piece particularly befitting our theme. The “bike mustache” would immediately identify the rider as a tweed ride patron…

The 'stache for your steed

Time to spruce up. We’ll see you in a week.

Let me assure you that we use the finest bulk teas in our tea urn. We use a slow-steep method, in which the tea is brewed in the urn continuously as we are out riding. At the time we arrive at the shop, the tea is warm, ready to be served. And, while I am not personally opposed to such procedures, we do not use the tea bagging method in brewing our tea.

Last year, the few true Brits who were in attendance pronounced our tea to be “a proper cup.” You can’t get a finer endorsement than that.

It’s just as simple as that.

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.

– your humble correspondent