(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
Oregon’s biggest pay-what-you-will group ride of the year is three days away. Maybe you’ve heard of it.
Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride will start rolling at 9 p.m. Saturday from Mt. Scott City Park, SE 74th Ave and Knight St., in what’s currently forecast to be a rain-free night after a warm day, with late-evening temperatures in the high 60s and a low of 54 degrees by early morning.
As always since its local origin in 2002, the ride is being organized by volunteers, and the $5,000 to $7,000 cost of the permits, port-a-potties and liability insurance is covered by donations and merchandise sales.
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This year’s project manager, Bill Chin, said in an interview last week that the ride’s cash reserves have been exhausted as of this month, so next year’s ride will be funded largely by voluntary donations and sales this weekend.
If you’d like to help keep the tradition rolling, you can chip in online, bring some cash to Saturday’s event (volunteers in shoulder sashes are collecting donations and are typically easy to find) or buy some WNBR bags, fanny packs, stickers or posters.
As usual, expect a one-way ride of about six miles. To minimize disruptions from spectators, the route is always secret, closely guarded by organizers and the police support donated by the city.
The naked ride gets a lot of national notoriety, maybe too much. But it only became notorious because it’s so big — expect a few thousand riders at the least — and it only became big because at its best, it’s truly a wonderful time. WNBR lovers all have their own reasons for loving it. For me, it’s the complete acceptance of the infinite number of ways to have a body.
We’ll be covering, of course — though from a slightly different angle than we usually have. See you there.
— Michael Andersen, (503) 333-7824 – michael@bikeportland.org
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This will be my 4th Naked Bike Ride! (Well, I’ve actually done one or two smaller naked bike rides, but this is my 4th official WNBR).
In my opinion, the WNBR is one of the best events ever. I love riding my bike. I love being naked. I love that feeling when there are so many people having fun in one place that you can’t help but smile.
I’m encouraging a lot of people to go this year, and I’m hoping that the ride will make an appearance in downtown again.
I can’t wait!
I’m looking for thoughts on bringing a kid (7 yo)… ok idea or bad idea?
I’ve seen reports from parents that have brought their kids and they had a great time… although I’d likely keep mine in underwear just in case…
I’ve seen kids of about that age enjoying themselves. Underwear seems like a decent idea.
My kids can’t stay up that late, but as soon as they can, I’ll be looking to bring them on the WNBR. I advise to stay towards the front of the ride (You’ll end earlier, you will mostly avoid any bottlenecks, etc.) Watch when the ride starts to leave and follow (Even if you have to ride a block out of the way to get “To the ride” from the giant mass of dancing, laughing, people in the park all waiting to get their turn to join the riders.) If you get a bottleneck (With kids in tow) I’d consider leaving the route for a block and catch up in front of the bottleneck. This is an amazing event and most kids would love it.
I would recommend against it…a bit frightful for young children. They are not old enough for you to make the decision to expose them to that.
You mean like putting them in a car?
Shrinkage should not be a factor.
friends visiting from Germany mentioned that Portland WNBR was profiled on German TV recently. Who knew?
Kids, yeah. Start ’em early. We took our daughter when she was six and she still talks about it, five years later.
My cat is naked right now. But he sheds.
Thanks to Bill and all the other volunteers that are making this ride happen.
If you want to support the ride, here’s a couple ideas:
* come to the ride, and invite your friends.
* bring some cash for the donation buckets at the beginning of the ride.
* make a protest sign for your bike, or paint your cause on your body (Fred Meyer sells face paint which is good for this purpose). To keep the ride legitimate and free it needs to be a protest ride.
* send a nice note to City Council telling them you think it’s pretty badass of Portland to support the protest ride with closed streets and police control.
Ted Buehler
There’s also four daytime naked rides tomorrow. The daytime rides have been around for at least 10 years, with about 100 participants in the “Sunny Ride”, somewhat less in the other rides.
Morning ride, 9:30, Irving Park
Sunny ride, 12:30, Coe Circle
Fig Leif Ride, 4:00, Thurmon Trailhead
St Johns Ride, 6:00, Block Bikes.
FYI,
Ted Buehler
Links to the daytime rides:
http://shift2bikes.org/cal/view3week.php#25-5629
I need some flourescent lights for my bike. Where can I get those at the last minute?
The ride has changed a bit since the smartphone took off and now spectators simply film it/snap photos/upload to social media.
Yeah but let’s face it this ride is more about the thrill of being an exhibitionist than making a political statement.
I’m this year’s Project Manager, not the Lead Organizer. It takes a team of volunteers to plan this event every year.
Thanks, Bill, and sorry about that — I’ll fix.
I was dragged out of town for a wedding, I am missing WNBR, the one event where I can mostly handle a huge crowd. Glad the weather cooperated.