The World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together ''en masse'' on

human-powered transport Human-powered transport is the transport of passenger, person(s) and/or goods (freight) using human power, human muscle power. Unlike animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, run ...

(the vast majority on

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

s, but some on

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

s and

inline skates Inline skates are boots with wheels arranged in a single line from front to back, allowing one to move in an ice skate-like fashion. Inline skates are technically a type of roller skates, roller skate, but most people associate the term rolle ...

), to "deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world."

History

The first naked ride happened in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) in 2001. In 2003, Conrad Schmidt conceived the World Naked Bike Ride after organizing the Naked Bike Rides of the group Artists for Peace/Artists Against War (AFP/AAW).Artists for Peace/Artists Against War's archive
web page
is currently hosted by The Work Less Party of British Columbia Initially, the message of the WNBR was protesting against oil dependency and celebrating the power and individuality of the human body. In 2006, there was a shift towards simplifying the message and focusing on cycling advocacy.

Simon Oosterman Simon Oosterman is a New Zealand political activist, trade unionist, and syndicalist. He is best known for coordinating the Unite Union campaign ' Supersizemypay.com', which targeted the fast food industry and advocated for the abolition of yo ...

, the organizer of the 2005 WNBR in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, and the first to be arrested during a WNBR event, is credited with going further and refocusing on the issue on moving away from

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

dependency in the context of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. He urged: "Stop the indecent exposure to vehicle emissions."Simon Oosterman printed this on a protest banner as documented o
Enzyme's WNBR web site
The 2004 WNBR saw events in 28 cities, in ten countries on four continents.Official WNBR global web site
/ref> By 2010, WNBR had expanded to stage rides in 74 cities, in 17 countries, from the United States to the United Kingdom and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. The largest WNBR event is held in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, with over 10,000 participants in 2019.

United States arrests

Two male riders were arrested during the 2005 WNBR in North Conway, New Hampshire, and charged with "indecent exposure and lewdness". The two riders agreed to having the charges reduced to "disorderly conduct" and paid a $300 fine, the majority of which was paid for by the WNBR Legal Defense Fund.More information about the case can be found a
WNBR North Conway website
Six male riders were charged with

public indecency Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

during the 2005 WNBR

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

ride and later prosecuted with sentences ranging from fines and non-expungeable conviction to three months of court supervision. In 2007, during the first World Naked Bike ride in Denver, Colorado police surrounded the bike riders and wrote several people tickets. During the WNBR held on June 12, 2010, two men were arrested by

campus police Campus police or university police in the United States and Canada are Police officer, sworn police or peace officers employed by a college or university to protect the private or public property of the campus and surrounding areas and the peo ...

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

in Bellingham, Washington.

Films

*"World Naked Bike Ride Thessaloniki Greece" (''Βγήκαμε από τα Ρούχα Μας''; 27' Greece, 2009) Greek language with English subtitles, won the Audience Award at 11th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2009 *"World Naked Bike Ride: The Documentary" (Toronto) 4 minute short *''World Naked Bike Ride'' (31 minutes, UK, 2006) directed by Johnny Zapatos of High Altitude Films, narrated by Jon Snow *''Indecent Exposure to Cars: The Story of the World Naked Bike Ride'', produced by Conrad Schmidt *''Bare As You Dare: Portland's World Naked Bike Ride'' (Portland, OR) Directed by Ian McCluskeyMcCluskey, Ian
"Bare As You Dare: Portland's World Naked Bike Ride"
/ref>

References

Notes Further reading *Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence (Paperback) by Peter Newman, Jeffrey Kenworthy (Island Press, February 1999)
''The Offense of Public Nudity''
by Mark Storey
''The World Naked Bike Ride Book''
by Richard Foley

External links

World Naked Bike Ride
official site – general information and other resources
Biking Revolution News Toolbar
News about World Naked Bike Ride, Critical Mass, & Super Hero Service Rides. {{DEFAULTSORT:World Naked Bike Ride February June March Naked cycling events Nudity and protest Recurring events established in 2004

History

United States arrests

Films

See also

References

External links