(Photo: NW Documentary)
Bare As You Dare, a new documentary that goes behind the scenes of Portland’s annual World Naked Bike Ride will debut at Filmed by Bike later this month. The film was created by Ian McCluskey, Lilah Cady, and Jenn Byrne from NW Documentary, a Portland-based non-profit that teaches the “art of non-fiction storytelling.”
Bare As You Dare is a 17 minute film that features interviews with the volunteers who put on the ride. It also follows several subjects to show the diverse backgrounds of the people that participate. According to a statement from Filmed by Bike, the film, “follows a variety of subjects from a cancer survivor to a reserved homebody, who are surprisingly open in sharing their personal stories and motivation for participation.”
Portland’s version of the World Naked Bike Ride was first held in 2002. Since then the ride has attracted what many consider the largest number of participants of any naked bike ride in the nation (if not the world, unverified estimates range from 5,000 to 10,000 people). The ride is organized by Shift and is set this year for June 8th.
A trailer of the film was released last week:
You can watch the film at Filmed by Bike on April 21st and 23rd at 7:00 pm. You can purchase tickets online at FilmedByBike.org.
For more background on Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride, browse our past coverage.
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When Bunny on a Bike, Tweed Ride, and Filmed by Bike Filmfest all happen- you know Pedalpalooza is just around the corner.
FBB is one of my very favorite events (Of any kind) of the year. It keeps getting better and better- which seems imposible. This years’ line up looks amazing.
I think I’ve seen too many GG. Allin bands to enjoy the naked bike ride or films about it. It’s just like tall bikes; If you are doing that much “LOOK AT ME”, you better be doing a little something more than riding two bikes welded together or wearing no clothes.
Is “LOOK AT ME” all you perceive in tall bike riding and the naked ride? I am not inclined to believe that’s the sole intent behind such activities.
IDK, tall bikes are pretty sweet. Maybe there is a little bit of “look at me” in them, but it’s like an art car – someone took the time to build it themselves and is now riding around this elegant but impractical device. I think they bring a little bit of fun and sense of play to otherwise mundane everday activities like commuting to work.
As far as the Naked Bike Ride, I admit that’s always left me a bit cold (pun intended). I’m all for it, but have zero interest in actually participating.
comparing WNBR to a guy who eats his own crap is a bit extreme. i mean it has become a bit of a sh@tshow but come on! and when it comes to tall bikes, dan sums it up…
I was saying that a naked bike ride cannot compare. You do need to read better.
oops, i guess i do! it’s all just to entertain you, i’ll try and do better next time…
Not all tall bikes are impractical.
Totally! With extreme weather events more common these days, a tall bike could be a handy thing to keep around in case of a flood! 😉
crap! dan meant ALL tall bikes are outright impractical? i don’t agree with that! i thought he meant that riding two bikes at once is impractical when compared to riding only one! i need to learn to read better, my bad!
I don’t know what the WNBR has to do with tall bikes, but as someone who rides a tall bike, I can say that I often feel more comfortable riding my tall than I do on my road – especially in inclement weather. I can see over cars and down intersections. I have better grip of the road (using wider tires) and obviously a longer trail. If I were to fall, which I think I have maybe two or three times on my tall – it’s like in slow motion. Barely a fall at all and I always have time to put my foot down or just step down. A fall on my road bike is EPIC. Face crash, elbow, knee, sobbing crying – I never have time to unclip from the pedals. (I mean not always, but I’m so much closer to the ground, I dont have the reaction time). The road bike has such skinny tires, I feel like I dont have the traction in the rain with wet leaves and sticks. I am fearless over rocks and twigs. I run over curbs. There’s a small group of off-roading tall bikers here. Impractical? I pull a trailer with my tall bike, and know others that do as well. Side-cars and extra-cycles. Tall bikes were historically used to light street lamps. I’ve used a tall bike in a pinch as a ladder. We’ve retrofit tall bikes into tandems with just a couple parts and a second seat. (They already use tandem chains after all!) And they teach communication – calling intersections for each other so you know if you can ride on through or roll as a group, for instance.
Very cool. Portland’s Naked Bike Ride is one of the many fine “gateways” to the bicycling lifestyle we have here, I’m glad to see it getting some proper documentariage.
Are there any additional screenings planned? If its only showing twice at FBB that’s only about 500 people who get to watch it. Seems the market might be a bit bigger than that. I think hourly screenings at VeloCult or another venue would draw big crowds and let lots if interested folks see the film.
Ted Buehler
Thanks for sharing this piece, Jonathan! We’re super excited to have it included in the festival. We did a special advance screening at NW Documentary with the involved people and WNBR volunteers and everyone loved it. It was a nice treat for the volunteers who are working very hard on this year’s event, which sounds like a grand affair.
LET’S PACK THE THEATER to celebrate bikes on the silver screen, and free wheeling riding naked through the streets on a lovely summer night.
http://filmedbybike.org/buy-tickets/
See you at the theater,
Ayleen
Trailer is gone — what happened?
Due to functionality issues with our video hosting service, the video is going in and out of playability. It’s a real drag!
You can find another version here: https://vimeo.com/63623829
As one of the organizers of WNBR since 2009 (yes, I am in the documentary. I was honored enough to go to the pre-screening.) This film is amazing! Tasteful, beautiful, and very well representative of our work. It was humbling having film crew following us around for a couple months and even more so to see it come together so seamlessly (haha) on the screen. Please, if you have the opportunity to go on Sunday 21 or Tuesday 23 at 7pm to see it at FBB, do it! If you cant see it at that time, there are many other fantastic offerings at FBB! I am sure that they are all amazing! The judges have very good taste!
Again, it was so inspiring to see what I have worked on for so many years be validated and affirmed on screen. I hope that you enjoy it. After FBB, we will, I am sure, try to have summer bike ride to all watch it together somewhere. No plans to or promises. Winging it off the top of my head, but that sounds like a fun thing to do, right?