CV
Cycling
Recumbents
Unicycling
Juggling
Other Links
The World Naked Bike Ride is an annual protest against oil dependency. A few days before this year's event, someone posted to the CTCWest mailing list saying that there would be a ride in Bath. I'd often thought it would be fun to cycle naked and this seemed a perfect opportunity, so on 11 June I climbed onto Helga (my Street Machine) and headed Bathwards.
It turned out that there is an annual cycling festival in Bath, which I had never heard about. The festival finishes on the Saturday with "Wacky Races" in Green Park. The naked bike ride was to start as one of the Wacky Races, with the riders doing a couple of laps of the park and then heading into the city.
The races themselves were fun to watch. Cycles Maximus were there with electric-assist rickshaws. One of the first races was the electric bike race, where the rickshaws appeared not to stand a chance against one homebuilt machine that was clearly not street legal (much too fast under its own power). Then, towards the end of the final lap, its rear wheel fell off, to great general amusement.
When the time for the naked ride arrived, the announcer called for naked cyclists to ride to the start line. Nobody did, and I didn't want to be the first. Eventually, after a few more calls, a few people rode to the start line in their underwear. I was still waiting for someone else to be the first naked cyclist, then it occurred to me that I couldn't be the only person waiting for somebody else to be the first.
I was just about ready to strip off and ride up to the start line, when somebody came and parked an electric cargo trike full of kids next to me. The kids started asking questions about Helga, making it difficult for me to get away. When I was able, I rode to another part of the park, stripped off, then rode up to the start line as the first naked cyclist.
Once there was one naked cyclist, two more men decided to strip off, and a few more women decided to ride in their underwear. There were still too few of us to confidently ride into the city (about a dozen riders, only 3 of us naked), so instead we just rode 3 laps of the park.
(The Naked Bike Ride website incorrectly stated that the ride would start from Green Park Station, rather than Green Park, which I suspect may have contributed to the poor turnout).
I had expected cycling naked in public to feel liberating, but I was surprised at just how liberating it felt. Anyway, the riders and spectators all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the event. I hope it will happen again next year, on a larger scale. I'll be there for the Wacky Races regardless, hopefully with the wife and kids.
Incidentally, there were a few more races afterwards, and I eventually got to race. I borrowed a child who sat on top of Helga's rack during the race for machines with child-carrying capacity.
Danny
CV
Cycling
Recumbents
Unicycling
Juggling
Other Links
Note on browser compatibility - I hope that this site will be easily accessible in all browsers. If you experience any problems viewing this site, please let me know what the problem is, what browser you're using and, if possible, where I can obtain a copy for testing.