Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Nudity Encouraged, Helmets Required During Naked Bike Ride

On Saturday night, thousands of bikers in Portland, Oregon were expected to bike naked together to celebrate their World Naked Bike Ride.
According to The Portlander, the night, expected to begin at 10pm, was to be focused on raising awareness of “society’s gas guzzling ways.”
2010 saw an estimated 13,000 riders, which according to The Portlander, made it the largest Naked Bike Ride in the world to date.
FOX12 reports that nudity is legal in Oregon as long as a sexual act or attempted arousal is not involved. Additional police planned to station themselves along the route. Although nudity is legal, the police did ask that riders wear a helmet and shoes for safety.
Other biking events are taking place in Portland, Oregon for over two weeks during Pedalpalooza.
A Naked Bike Ride near Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles recently broke out in fighting between bike riders and the occupants of a car. Naked Bike Rides took place in New York and Chicago earlier this month.
Reports show that if the average American substituted one day’s worth of driving with riding per week, he’d cut auto emissions by 1,248 pounds of CO2, save over $800 on gas and maintenance, and burn enough calories to lose 19 pounds in one year. Nudity not required.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/19/naked-bike-ride-clean-transportation_n_879888.html

I don’t know what these people have against gel seats, padded bikers shorts and sun block. It seems to me that if you want to make a point, and bring attention to your cause a poster and a bullhorn might be a better way to go.  Riding a bike in the dark wearing only your epidural meat suit makes a statement that I’m not sure you’re trying to make. Perhaps the bouncing appendages of these riders are supposed to make us consider high gas prices, but I don’t think a thousand naked cyclists converging on me will necessarily bring the fuel economy of my 2008 Saturn to the forefront of my thoughts.   

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