Tomorrow marks the 7th Naked Bike Ride in Cape Town. A bike ride where clothing is optional, is surprisingly not about nudity. The event which started with 10 people in its first year now attracts 350-400 people who share the same passion.
“This ride is not about nudity – it’s about joining in a worldwide campaign/protest for the environment: we ride for CLEANER ENERGY, less reliance on fossil fuels, CUTTING CARBON EMISSIONS, MAKING CYCLING IN CAPE TOWN SAFER and to encourage MORE PEOPLE TO CYCLE!”
The ride starts and finishes at the Sea Point Library car park (see details here) and Clothing is optional. The dress code for the World Naked Bike Ride is “Bare As You Dare”! YOU get to decide how naked you wish to be. If that means completely naked, or completely clothed, the decision is yours…
Creative expression is also encouraged to generate a fun and immersive atmosphere during the ride, and make the experience more personalized and fulfilling for the riders.
Participation is encouraged but not gawking;
“Remember no gawkers at the ride please. Come and participate: cycle, skate, unicycle, rollerblade, rollerskate, run, jog, walk, push a wheelchair, push a pram… Doesn’t matter how dressed or undressed you are… just take part!”
The The World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is not exclusive to Cape Town, it’s 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.”
But is it effective?
“The ride is received exactly as we would like,” says Gray Maguire, “With much discussion. Some people are outraged, most people are highly amused, but it gets everyone talking and not one brick gets thrown or one tyre gets burned.”
Do you dare to go bare? Let us know if you will be joining tomorrow and how you feel about this event in the comments below.
