(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
The sun is shining and bike fun spirits are high. Pedalpalooza is going strong and tomorrow night it will reach one of its many climaxes when thousands upon thousands of you get naked and pedal through our wonderful city. Yes, it’s time for the legendary Portland edition of the World Naked Bike Ride.
Let’s review the basics shall we?
Where and When
The ride will happen Saturday night (June 16th) at 10:00 pm. The start location is the empty lot at the corner of SE Water and Salmon (same as last year, here’s a map). Folks will begin gathering at around 8:30 to 9:00 pm.
Why
Why not? (Oh, and it can change your life if you let it.)
How (and this is the part I need your full attention for)
Amazingly, the Naked Bike Ride (and all of Pedalpalooza for that matter) is coordinated by a loose volunteer organization known as Shift. These folks built bike culture in Portland from the street up and the Naked Bike Ride is the biggest thing they work on all year.
Organizing the naked ride — the second largest group ride in Oregon behind only the Bridge Pedal — takes hundreds of volunteer hours and it is not free. How many free, safe locations do you know about where 10,000 naked people can gather? There are permitting fees to secure the location, they have to pay security at the ride, provide porta-potties at the start, and then pick up trash left after the event. Shift takes care of all this with panache and a smile; but they need our help!
This year they’re trying a new fundraising method.
“WNBR guy” Stephen Upchurch recently shared more on the Shift email list:
“In the past we’ve had a party and sold donated beer to cover costs. But no more of that because it overwhelms the rest of the organizing effort… This year we can probably cover much of the remaining costs if everyone who attends makes a small contribution. Like a dollar. We’ll have people, somewhat official looking people, seeking your donation. Help the ride out in this small way and we will move toward a monetarily stable future for the WNBR.”
So that’s it folks. Bring a few bucks to the naked ride and help keep it going strong.
You can also donate online at PDXWNBR.com. Shift’s non-profit partner is a 501(c)3 so all donations are tax deductible.
For more info about the ride check out the official website, PDXWNBR.com and the Facebook event for the latest details. For a good first-timers guide to the ride, check out the Portland Mercury’s “How to Bike Naked” article or the Shift wiki page.
BikePortland has covered the Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride every year since 2005. Browse our past photos and coverage — including last year’s — here.
A few last things… Have fun, be smart and respectful to everyone (including the police), and bring your friends.
For more photos of WNBR fun, check out my photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wear_no_pants/
no prob’!
looks like you forgot your camera too. joke?
Just thinking……
Perhaps for future WNBR events we could collect non-perishable food for local pantries.
They’re naked, sure, but will there be “corking?” Snicker snicker.
WNBR is officially “corked” by the Portland Police Bureau in a great example of civic collaboration. I know that lots of people have a beef with the PPB, but perhaps we can all put that on hold for this weekend and allow that outstanding effort to continue – it’s great to have an event with police assistance that we can all be happy with, and for the past 3 years of PPB involvement, there have been no arrests during WNBR.
I’m sure there’s no shortage of officers to willing to cork.
Just don’t sleep or sit on the sidewalk, pull out your cellphone the wrong way, attempt to photograph a cop, practice free speech or (omg) unpermitted freedom of assembly, any of which can get you beaten or shot esp if you aren’t the correct shade or in the correct socio-economic percentile group.
Will they really accept money from naked people who didn’t have pockets to keep it in?
Fanny packs.
you said “fanny”, huh-huh-huh-huh.
Are you really riding there naked? I know I’m not, and I am one of the event organizers. Most folks show up clothed and then strip down. I mean, can you *imagine* leaving your *cell phone* at home?! ().
Plus, that paypal button on pdxwnbr.org works from all locations, whether your wallet is in your pocket or you’re naked and it’s sitting on the table next to your laptop.
practice safe corking, watch your fanny pack!
Thank you so much Jonathan! This ride is truly an expression of free speech, fun and civic collaboration. It’s what I live for, why I live here, and what makes it all worth it. Portland rocks on so many levels!
Want to ride in the sun? 82 degrees tomorrow. Come to the Sunny Naked Ride, 1:00 pm, 39th and Glisan
Ted Buehler
Here is a Poem found at the OWS Bicycle Coalition site set to video I shot last year. Have fun tonight: http://www.crankmychain.com/crankmychain/world-naked-bike-ride-a-liberated-collective-of-skin-poem-with-video-video_77278a215.html