Dc Tweed Ride 2011: The Photos

The Tweed Ride was a huge success! I would guess that around 250-300 people participated (it was hard to tell, exactly--bikes take up a lot of space so you can't really clump people close enough together to see them all at once).



As you can see, I went with the brown booties. At the last minute I was able to make a top, and I felt brown went best with the overall outfit. They ended up working well and I really do love the style of these crazy shoes.





Here's the whole outfit, on a fun set provided by BicycleSpace for our rest stop there. The yellow top was my very last minute addition to the outfit--I found the perfect fabric at G Street on the $2.97/yd table on Saturday and made the top late Saturday afternoon. I made the cape three years ago, but never wear it because it is so motion restrictive and impractical. I was glad to give it another wear for the event! My mom gave me the kilt, a sturdy Pendleton wool from her younger days. The hat came from my trip to Ecuador, and the feather pad was found at Mood (had a quick trip to NYC for work last week; more on that at a later date).






Cidell was in the same cape, a pattern from BWOF 8-2008, in the shorter version. I just love her bright turquoise with hot pink lining! The feather fascinator in her hair is just the perfect touch, isn't it?



Everyone in the crowd was dressed to the nines! I am amazed by how much creativity people showed, and just how much tweed resides in the closets of DC. One clever thing several people did was to create "knickers" by wearing regular pants, pulling a pair of long argyle socks over the pants, and then blousing the fabric a little over the top of the sock. There were hats galore, which I just loved, and so many cute vintage bikes. The people-watching was superb!

Our route was so fun. We started at Meridian Hill Park, which is on a large hill (large by DC standards). While you had to get yourself up the hill, after the ride actually started much of it was a comfortable downhill or flat. We visited DC landmarks both famous and obscure. You may recognize this location--Lafayette Square in front of the White House.


We also stopped at the more obscure Titanic Memorial. I've visited this before because a friend of mine used to live near it, but it's Southeast Waterfront location has kept it a bit of a secret. It's a strange, ethereal monument, put up in gratitude by the women and children saved by the self-sacrificing men of the Titanic, who stayed on the ship to make more room on the lifeboats.

We ended at Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill, where Cidell and I were spotted by a kind blog reader. It's always so fun to meet people who actually read what you write!

All in all, a wonderful event and a nice day for it--a bit cool but not cold with no rain--you can't ask much more than that from mid-November! All the photos are here. A review of the top will be coming soon...