On September 20, Riga will host the Riga Tweed Ride – one of the most elegant and anticipated events in Latvian cycling culture – during the European Mobility Week. Riga residents and visitors are invited to wear retro costumes, decorate their bicycles and enjoy the cityscape together on a unique ride through the streets of Riga.
The aim of the event is to promote cycling as a sustainable way of getting around the city, and it is organised in cooperation with Riga City Council as part of the European Mobility Week.
Founder of the Latvian Old-Time Bicycle Club and the author of the idea of the Latvian Tweed Ride Toms Ērenpreiss says that this year those cyclists who seldom use bicycles in their everyday life or have not biked on the streets of Riga for a long time are especially welcome because with the support from the police the route will include the most important streets of Riga: Brīvības, Pulkveža Brieža, Pērnavas, Avotu, etc. "With the Tweed Ride we are trying to encourage more and more people to use the bicycle as their main means of transport in the city streets", says Toms Ērenpreiss.
The Tweed Ride has also become a charity campaign with a slogan “No childhood without a bicycle”, and, to start off the Tweed Ride, in cooperation with Žanis Lipke Memorial, the House of Courage, special charity bike workshops for children from SOS villages will take place on September 13 and 14, where children together with specialists will carefully repair 15 bicycles, which will then be left for the children. The aim is to organise these workshops more often.
The route will start and finish in the Kimmel Quarter, at 2 Bruņinieku Street. Starting at 14.00, participants are invited to gather in the "Kimmel Quarter", where various activities will take place: registration of participants, entertainment activities, the Ērenpreiss bicycle workshop will allow you to make small improvements to your bike, the Road Traffic Safety Directorate stand will allow you to register your bike, and SwingDance.lv will entertain the participants with dancing.
At 16.00 the start signal to the Tweed Ride will be given, the route of the ride will lead from Stabu Street at the beginning past Ģertrūde Church, along Brīvibas Street to the Freedom Monument, then to Old Riga, Doma Square, past the National Theatre to Skanstes neighbourhood, then past the Great Cemetery to Grīziņkalns, then to Avotu Street and along Bruņinieku Street back to "Kimmel Kvartāls".
The ride is scheduled to end at 17.30, followed by the award ceremony for the brightest and most colourful participants and a concert by the band "Keksi". The ride is open to anyone with any bicycle. Participation in the ride is free of charge.
There will be temporary traffic restrictions along the route during the Tweed Ride.