Twixt young and old tweed beats cold

The collection of more than 50 tweed-clad riders was out to prove cycling could be a courteous, leisurely and easy form of transport, even in Canberra's coldest months.

Steven Callahan, organiser of Canberra's Tweed Ride, said it would take in the Parliamentary Triangle and the Albert Hall, finishing at Smiths Alternative Bookshop, where riders would hear a pianist play and enjoy an Irish coffee.

Along the way a prize would be awarded for the best outfit, and a bicycle would be auctioned off to raise funds for alternative cycling events, he said.

''It's just a way of sharing the road with motorists and showing the positive, polite side of the cycling community and also showing that there are alternatives to wearing modern clothes on a bicycle,'' he said.

''You can wear your work wear, you can ride in a casual manner and get to your office not covered in sweat, and you don't have to avoid winter riding. Winter riding is the key; we want to keep people on their bikes during the cold.''

The Garran man said London hosted the first tweed rides, but Monday's was the fifth Canberra event.

''Canberra's a beautiful city and it's nice to just go out and enjoy the town at a time of year when a lot of people are sort of shutting their doors and watching DVDs,'' he said.

Nicholas Cowley, a tutor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, was in Canberra visiting friends for the long weekend. As a friend of the organisers, he turned out for the ride, and had little need to dress up. ''[I wear tweed] basically every day, so it's not particularly onerous for me to come out today,'' he said.