Opting for tweed over speed, local residents pedaled back in time for the 10th annual Corvallis Tweed Ride on Sunday morning.
Over 40 bicyclists donned their best vintage attire and congregated downtown for the “Tour de Trees,” a leisurely 12-mile tour of the city’s leafy monuments. The annual ride saw its highest attendance yet, exceeding its record of 29 participants in 2022.
The Corvallis Tweed Ride is a free, public bicycling event that aims to recreate “the spirit of a bygone era on a slow speed ride around town,” according to their website. Vintage clothes and bikes are encouraged, but not required.
This year, the route started downtown and led to the Oregon State University campus, Chintimini Park, Franklin Park, Washington Park and Central Park before stopping at Avery Park for a group picnic. After tea and lunch, tweed riders made one final stop in Willamette Park before ending the tour at Treebeerd’s Taphouse for an afterparty.
Cars slowed and stopped as drivers craned their necks to see the fashionable ensemble riding past. The gray, brown and plaid parade made numerous stops at historic trees such as the Yang Madrone, OSU’s Moon Tree from the Apollo 14 mission and OSU’s Hiroshima Peace Tree planted from seeds that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
Tweed Ride organizers Nelson Binggeli and Bridget Hayes explained the history of each tree with additional expertise from a local arborist in attendance. When planning this year’s ride, Binggeli and Hayes contacted OSU’s College of Forestry, the USDA Forest Service, Visit Corvallis and city and campus arborists for historical tree recommendations around the city.
Tweed rides became popularized after the first London Tweed Run in 2009, according to the Corvallis Tweed Ride website. The quirky concept soon spread to cities like Portland, which held its first tweed ride in 2010.
Binggeli and Hayes established the Corvallis Tweed Ride in 2015, inspired after participating in a tweed ride in Atlanta, Georgia in 2012. They found the experience to be charming–even in Atlanta traffic.
When the pair moved to Corvallis, they saw potential in the bike-friendly streets.
“Cycling should be for civilians,” Hayes said. “You can just wear whatever you want to wear and not have to be all in spandex and Day-Glo and trying to log exactly how many miles and how fast.”
Hayes described the Corvallis Tweed Ride as “a slow motion rolling party” where participants can see new things and no one gets left behind.
First-time tweed ride participant Lindsey Almarode said she broke her leg seven months ago and wanted to celebrate being better with a fun bike ride.
“Bicycling and tweed, it’s amazing,” said Kelly Holcomb, another first-time rider. “I don’t get an opportunity to dress up that much and so I was like, hey, I finally get to wear this giant skirt, so why not?”
Tweed riders Kelly Fitzpatrick and Kayla Mazhary-Clark said they most enjoyed getting dressed up, the long stretches under the trees and learning more about tree history.
“It makes people smile,” Hayes said. “That’s really the best thing”
In 2017, the Corvallis Tweed Ride was held in Albany. After participating that year, Oscar Hult, owner of the Natty Dresser haberdashery, decided to start the annual Albany Tweed Ride in 2018.
This year, the Albany Tweed Ride will take place on May 11 through the three downtown historic districts. The route will end at Deluxe Brewery for their annual vintage bicycle show.
