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Please don't take offence
Zero offence taken. It's complicated.
About 1 in 6 of the marshals are of Afro-Carribean or African heritage. Every so often somebody will ask them why they get involved or why they dress like that. The typical answer would be "What do you think my ancestors were wearing a hundred years ago?". But then while sometimes the question is asked by a racist Kipper, sometimes it's by a fellow Afro-Carribean who would not make the same choice. So it's definitely complicated and I'm absolutely not trying to carry on an argument, let alone win it.
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"Please don't take offence, it's just a personal take / opinion on it, but I'm not English and the ride has always made me a bit uncomfortable, kind of imperial / colonial vibes for me"
Its worth looking at the history, where and how of Harris (and Donegal) Tweed, it's a unique hand woven rural fabric which somehow in the age of fast fashion still survives.
Tweed run makes me a bit uncomfortable but for other reasons, I wear Harris tweed not as fancy dress and not using the company of others in uniform to make wearing tweed socially acceptable.
If you want to wear tweed then you shouldn't need an organised event to do so and then put the tweed away until the next gathering.
IMHO.
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itsbruce
Mr_Smyth
@dubkev
Thanks for the offers of the marshal, each to their own and that, but I don't think I would be the best marshal as I don't care about cars being blocked etc.,
and admittedly, the victorian dressing up, it's not my thing.
Please don't take offence, it's just a personal take / opinion on it, but I'm not English and the ride has always made me a bit uncomfortable, kind of imperial / colonial vibes for me, thats why I never attended with C. and others who did go.
Yes I know it isn't that. It's just fun and a day out, but ... I guess I have been more brainwashed by my republican upbringing than I thought.
The last ten years or so with Brexit and Tory hate makes anything that harks back to anything in the past tainted in my head with a Rees-Moggian, Daily Expressian hue.
I don't want to get into it here, I know that people enjoy it and it's fun for them, so that's cool with me.
I was primarily asking about it to find out if TfL had come down on it and forced the ride into the bikes lanes, which Bruce has cleared up for me, thanks.
Best of luck with it in the coming years. It's obviously very popular and good to see "non cyclists" getting involved with it.