World Naked Bike Ride
For everyone who's taken part, or would like to take part in the fantastic World Naked Bike Rides, which are growing all the time - 1,000 plus in London every June, and many more around the world.
- created by Transferinjection
Report - 2015 World Naked Bike Ride
Return to DiscussionsSeveral cities have completed their annual World Naked Bike Ride event.
For those who participated in this 2015 event, what was your experience?
The questions below are merely guides. Feel free to share your experience in your own words.
1. Which city/cities did you participate? Was this your first time, second, fifth, etc?
2. What were the highlights of your ride? What parts of the event were memorable to you?
3. Did you get to meet new people, make new friends, or meet some old ones from previous rides?
4. Were there more people attending than the previous bike rides?
5. Were there any issues/conflicts on the day of the event?
6. What preparation or advice would you recommend to those planning to join their very first World Naked Bike Ride?
7. Will you do it again next year? Will you still attend the event at your chosen city or try another?
8. Do you think your event was able to "promote cycling" and deliver the message of " ...a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world"?
9. What message, if any, do you have for the organizers and volunteers who worked hard to make this possible?
Most of all, did you have fun?
I did the Bristol (UK) World Naked Bike Ride yesterday (27 June 2015), along with over 420 others, the theme was bare as you dare, but lots went naked as did I!
I have been doing WNBR since 2006 at least one a year, sometimes as many as three!
Think best bit for me is the relaxed happy atmosphere of each of the events I have taken part in. Seeing so much laughter and the positive atmosphere amongst all the passers by!
Occasionally you get somebody saying it is disgusting, but very very rare and as they in minority soon shut up!
My favourite one to do is the Brighton one in UK because it ends up on the naturist beach which means can continue to have a naked party and swim in sea lol
As it was a lovely day here yesterday so consequently saw a lot more people take part and also actually be around in the City center!
A couple of people had bike malfunctions such as punctures, peddle issues, but everybody mucks in to sort out the issues.
So top tip is to check your bike thoroughly before taking part so simple things can be repaired before turn in to a major problem. Make sure you plenty of fluids especially if it is a hot day. Try and avoid alcohol and ensure you eaten something too! I found an piece of cloth held over saddle with elastic bands much more comfortable for bare bottom than black standard seat!
I will definitely be doing it again next year, always such a buzz, may try and get a rack so don't have to use a ruck sack and can be completely naked and free again!
Some people I only ever see each year at WNBR, so always nice to catch up again, meet some people just chat to online so nice to actually meet in the flesh, made lots of friends through it!
I do it to encourage all road users to be more tolerant of each other and basically because I love to be naked in sun. It is also a great way too learn more about a City by riding naked through the streets.
Finally I would like to say a huge thanks you to all the volunteers who spend ages organising all these events across the world for all of us to drop in and partake in! and of course thanks to Connor Jr for setting this forum to post about our experiences!
Yes I had a great time and certainly had fun, look forward to seeing even more people doing them next year!
Nude regards Mark
This was my sixth time doing the Los
Angeles ride.
For me the highlight as always is the
great response from the people who see us.
This proves the lie to the belief that
most people are bothered by seeing someone nude. There is the
occasional person that looks away or cries out shame on you, but out
of the thousands of people who saw us, I did not see more than 5
people that were visibly upset. In fact there were several occasions
where I saw a parent actually call there children out so they could
see all the nude people ride by.
As far as turn out, I have not seen any
numbers yet. Last year they said we had at least 300 riders. I would
not be surprised if this year it was between 350 and 400.
Due to the nature of the event it is
hard to communicate to all who see us as to why we are out there.
Towards that end, for the last few years I have made up signs based
on the ones from the official WNBR site adding the web site for the
Los Angeles ride. Because of the logistics this year of having the
bikes in one area and the riders in another before the ride I was not
able to hand out as many signs as last year, but there was still a
good number of people that put them on there bikes that most people
should be able to figure out why we were riding around naked.
Next year I think I may also make up
some small cards with information on what the WNBR is all about.
There were a few times when I overheard people on the sidewalk ask
why we were there, unfortunately more times than not the answers I
heard was we forgot our cloths, it is a birthday party, or just
because. A few times I heard them give a good answer about the WNBR,
but they were also the same people that put my signs on there bikes.
When possible I tried to give a good answer but when you are riding
along you only have a few seconds to talk as you ride on by.
This year was by far the best organized
ride so far. Mike has done a great job of organizing and making sure
that all the riders, regardless of skill level, was able to have a
great time. There is no way to thank Mike and the other volunteers
enough for all the hard work and time they put into this ride.
This was my second year for LA WNBR. It was great!! I too loved the response of the crowds. It would be good to have more signs so folks can see our purpose right away. It's a great way to spread the word for next year as well. Everyone should ride through the streets of a major city naked at least once in their lives.