So here it is mid-January, and I’m planning for a comfy little bicycle ride in late March. Specifically, I’m planning the First Annual Pinellas County Tweed Ride on my 60th birthday, Saturday, March 26, 2011, and I would be absolutely honored to see you there. The ride will begin at 10 a.m. at Eagle Lake County Park on Keene Road in Largo, Florida. (The park has a parking lot designated for trail parking right in the middle of it. We’ll start there.) The ride will go from there, ten miles out to Safety Harbor, Florida, for a nice lunch at the classic Safety Harbor Spa.

And what, exactly, is a Tweed Ride? A Tweed Ride is a casual bicycle ride for owners of vintage English three-speed bicycles, and the proper cycling attire is required of all participants. I’m having a pair of pants altered to cycling knickers even as I type. They’ll be ready next Tuesday. I’ve a fine vest and cap, but I’m going to need just the right tie. And no, I am not joking. You’ve probably never seen me in a tie. Few people have. And now you will.

Why bother? Why got to all the trouble? Because we can. Because it looks like a truly wonderful way to spend the day. And because I don’t look nearly so clever in spandex. Mostly, I blame these guys: www.3speedtour.com. Have a good long look through that incredible web site. That is a two-day ride in Minnesota. Mine is but a short one-day ride in Florida, but you get the idea. If the whole world looked like that wonderful web site every day, I’d be a very happy man, indeed. I shall, in the meantime, settle for just one day of it: My Birthday. Would you like to go for a ride?

In a concession to the harsh reality of modern life, the ride will avoid roads entirely. We will utilize the sidewalks on Belleair Road to get us to Pinellas County’s Progress Energy Trail, take that to Clearwater’s Ream Wilson Trail and take that to Safety Harbor’s Bayshore Trail — which will take us right to the front door of the Safety Harbor Spa. Ahhhh.

In truth, the ride is equal parts theater and cycling. You must dress the part and play the part of the proper English cyclist between the wars. You may drop the accent if you hold tight to the decorum. It will be interesting to see who shows up. The ride has already generated some local interest, as March is Florida Bicycle Month. It all comes down to who has the bike and who has the clothes. And who’s willing to put in 20 miles on that bike, dressed like that.

I would be thrilled if this ride became an annual event, and it just might. It’s like nothing else we’ve done down here in these modern times, so it might be quite the event to attend in the years ahead. Of course you’ll want to be at the first one, won’t you? Everyone will be there.

Just don’t snicker at my knickers.