Naked Bike Ride London

[editor]

Mass scenes of wobbling bottoms spotted in the heart of London!

Here's what it's all about:

"A peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture. A celebration of the bicycle and also a celebration of the power and individuality of the human body. A symbol of the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic. The world's biggest naked protest: 50+ cities and thousands of riders ..."











Thwe cops policing the ride looked fabulously uncomfortable throughout. : )

[Oswaldtwistle]

Why do they hold these type of events in the city where fewer journeys are made in private cars than anywhere else in the UK?

Talkabout preaching to the converted!!

Hold the next one in Birmingham!

[IC3D]

A friend of mine raised a fair bit of money for charity as well as celebrating freedom to be naked

As de Saint-Exupery said: 'Perfection's finally attained not when there's nothing to add...but when a body's been stripped down to its nakedness!

[Kanda]

Originally Posted by Oswaldtwistle

Why do they hold these type of events in the city where fewer journeys are made in private cars than anywhere else in the UK?

You got a source for that fact?

[Oswaldtwistle]

Originally Posted by Kanda

You got a source for that fact?

Yes, but it's a 6 meg monster pdf http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...2007-final.pdf

Page 12 is the table we want. Basically in London only 37% of people travel to work by car, compared to 76% of people outside London.

This figure falls to just 11% for central London, which presumably was where this protest was held.




EDIT (page 12 of the pdf, which confusingly is numbered 'page 8' . )

[Kanda]

Cheers

[editor]

Originally Posted by Oswaldtwistle

Page 12 is the table we want. Basically in London only 37% of people travel to work by car, compared to 76% of people outside London.

This figure falls to just 11% for central London, which presumably was where this protest was held.

It's still got abysmal traffic problems though and is threatening enough to put off many cyclists off using their bikes in central London.

I was amazed by the turn out today - there had to be way over 300 nudies!

[tim]

Not too kind to ones genitalia!

[Oswaldtwistle]

Originally Posted by editor

It's still got abysmal traffic problems though and is threatening enough to put off many cyclists off using their bikes in central London.

Granted, but if you look at the traffic next time you are in Central London, you'll see a large proportion is trucks, buses*, vans, taxis. Relatively few private cars.



*obviously buses reduce traffic, but they also make up a fair proportion of it.

I was amazed by the turn out today - there had to be way over 300 nudies!

Celebrating cycling, challenging our ideas about nudity, both quite ideas. But if they were *specifically* seeking to highlight car culture, they were in the wrong place.

[HobgoblinMan]

Originally Posted by tim

Not too kind to ones genitalia!

Have you got a source for that???

[tim]

Originally Posted by HobgoblinMan

Have you got a source for that???

No, just a poultice.

[Crispy]

more importantly, London is where all the TV cameras are

[Oswaldtwistle]

Originally Posted by Crispy

more importantly, London is where all the TV cameras are

Fair point...

[cybertect]

Anyhow, it's not just London

http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/uk/

Brighton
Cardiff
London
Manchester
Sheffield
Southampton
York

I believe similar events also happen in other countries.

e.g.

http://australia.worldnakedbikeride.org/
http://chicagonakedride.org/
http://sanfrancisco.worldnakedbikeride.org/

[moose]

Originally Posted by editor

I was amazed by the turn out today - there had to be way over 300 nudies!

I have a vision of you like Lady Godiva, protecting your modesty with your dreads.

[T & P]

The smell of sweaty nuts must have been something after a while... Wouldn't want to have been at the back of the group...

[Geri]

Originally Posted by tim

Not too kind to ones genitalia!

If I was ever brave enough to contemplate such a thing, I'd have to fashion some kind of towelling cover for my seat.

[Missez]

We were passing when all the nude cyclists went past. There were 100s of them. It must have taken at least 15 mins for them to pass by.

[Madusa]

Originally Posted by T & P

The smell of sweaty nuts must have been something after a while... Wouldn't want to have been at the back of the group...

lol Fair point!

[Madusa]

Originally Posted by Geri

If I was ever brave enough to contemplate such a thing, I'd have to fashion some kind of towelling cover for my seat.

Yeah, I'd do this too. I think I'd just wear a bikini though...fuck going all the way.

[BiddlyBee]

Chafing was discussed in our house last night - I couldn't go bare on my saddle

Like the tiger man

[BigPhil]

Originally Posted by Oswaldtwistle

Why do they hold these type of events in the city where fewer journeys are made in private cars than anywhere else in the UK?

Talkabout preaching to the converted!!

Hold the next one in Birmingham!

Did it cross you mind that people may join in for fun?

There is also still a very long way to go in terms of cycle infrastructure and the amount car journeys that could be replaced by the bike. Look to our European neighbours and cycling rates are often 5x higher than rates in London

Having a ride in London does not preclude a ride happening in Birmingham!

[BigPhil]

There was talk of a naked bike ride in my city - no chance of me joining in a local ride but possibly I'd ride in a city where I don't know anyone!