Portland’s Tweed Ride started in 2010. This was the year a lot of Tweed Rides around the world started up, as the original London Tweed Run happened the year before. There was a lot of enthusiasm in 2010, and the crew of ride leaders for that one did a good job in 2011. Then they burned out, and handed the keys over to a gaggle of new folk, including myself. Several more people came in after that, but by 2023, I was the last man standing. Everyone had moved on, yet I remained.
And that initial enthusiasm petered out over the years–where we had 150 or so in 2010, we only had a dozen last year. While I can take some solace in the fact that few of those Tweed Rides from the Class of 2010 remain, and participation in these rides overall is down, it does nothing for my enthusiasm level. I was burned out. I faced a dilemma: I didn’t want the ride to die off, but I didn’t want to keep on doing it for the sake of doing it. I hoped that there would be someone who would want to take up the reins.
Thankfully, there was. I ran into Jason at a Bike Happy Hour a few months ago, and asked if the ride needed any help. Hell yeah, it does! Basically, I let him take over the planning. I stepped back into an advisory role, offering advice and encouragement. Hell, I didn’t even do a pre-ride.
I showed up a little before 3 on Sunday April 21st at the ride’s start point, Brooklyn Park. Jason was there, but there was a very slow trickle of riders for the first half hour. At least last year we had two excuses for low turnout: it was Easter and it was a steady light rain the whole day. But today was a mix of sun and clouds and a high in the low 60’s. It was good weather, though maybe not ideal Tweed weather, which to me is 55F and mostly cloudy. Thankfully people showed up, including a reporter for The Oregonian. We had somewhere between 40 and 50 people, the best turnout since maybe 2017.
And since I wasn’t leading the ride, I could enjoy it more. I stayed in the back, riding “sweep”, which is making sure there’s no one left behind. (This was a good position for me to be in, since I had a vague idea of where we were going.) We had a lovely mid-point picnic stop at Overlook Park and then the remainder of the ride headed downtown for a bit, then to inner SE where Jason would take a few folks to swing dancing.
I am happy that there was a good showing and that Jason did a good job. I am happy to give the keys to Tweed over to him. And I’m very happy that the last ride I was involved in turned out so well. But it marks the end of an era for me. I’ve been involved in Portland’s Tweed Ride for a dozen years when it was part of my life. Now I’ll just be a participant. It’s a bittersweet moment, but life goes on.
Urban Adventure League 
What recommendations would you have for someone (me) who would like to start, if not tweed rides, at least no-drop, all-steel, no singletrack rides?
-Figure out an effective way to promote your ride. Flyers, Instagram, listservs, blogs. It’s good to have a healthy mix of electronic and physical.
-Find a start location that’s relatively easy to find. Starting near transit, like a light rail station, is a plus.
-Lay out what the ride is like both in the promotional materials and when you start the ride. What is the speed? Use real-world terms, not coded language like “party pace”. Not a loop? State that.
-If it’s a no-drop ride, find someone to ride sweep.
-If it’s a no-drop ride, make sure you stop frequently so people can catch up, drink water, have a little break.
-Be a leader, lay out ground rules. Do not shy away from putting bad actors in their place, or removing problematic riders.
-Be cognizant of the “vibe” or feeling of the group. Do people seem to be getting tired or less interested? You can always end the ride earlier.
-Be flexible. You might have a great route planned out, but when you ride it, it’s not as great as thought. Rerouting on the fly is OK, especially in the face of circumstances, obstacles, and encroaching nightfall.
-And unless you know a route by the back of your hand, or the routing is more improvisational, always test out the route beforehand, preferably at the same time/day you’d lead it.
This is great info, and more even than I thought I’d get. Thank you!
You are welcome, Tony!
Shift has another good resource here: https://www.shift2bikes.org/pages/lead-a-ride/
And it’s a shame that Mpls Bike Love is basically defunct. That seemed to be a great place to promote Twin Cities-based rides, and I don’t think there’s anything else like it. I talked more about that here:
Good morning, on the tweed day I did pull over my tweed pullover and did my typical 20 mile tour about. Thanks for the inspiration.
You are welcome, Don!