World Naked Bike Ride is back this Summer.
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 (the vast majority on bicycles, but some on skateboards and inline skates), to “deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world.”
By Paul … from London, United Kingdom – Picture 500, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7046735
The dress code motto is “bare as you dare”. Full or partial nudity is encouraged, but not mandatory. There is no mandate to cover intimate parts; this is a distinguishing feature of the WNBR against other cycling events.
Dates for this years ride in the Northern Hemisphere is Saturday, June 9th. (Sorry, There is not one in Detroit)
The History
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 which had taken place in Vancouver, Canada starting in 2002; this and other high-profile political and media events led to the creation of the Work Less Party of British Columbia.
WNBR rapidly started to come to life through collaborations with activist groups and individuals around the world. The first WNBR event in 2004 was a collaboration between the WNBR group riding on 12 June and Manifestación Ciclonudista in Spain riding on 19 June, establishing a precedent as a solstitial Saturday observance. Since that time rides have also taken place in February and March (mainly in the Southern Hemisphere). A smaller number of rides have taken place at other times of the year.[citation needed] Before June 2004, two independent organizations — AFP/AAW and Manifestación Ciclonudista — had been organizing very similar political events with virtually identical messages of protesting oil dependency. Despite having similar political messages neither of these groups knew of the existence of the other until collaboration began many months before the first WNBR event.
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. While the ride does include an appeal to participants from social nudity circles, the ride is not focused on promoting social nudity directly as much as cycling.
Detroit could spice up its image a lot with some events like this. Let’s give it a go.
Detroit could spice up its image a lot with some events like this. Let’s give it a go.