Guest blog: London naked bike ride

Image by the brilliant Stuart F Taylor

As this blog goes live, I’ll be on my bike. Sadly not naked, but definitely enjoying the wind in my hair and feeling like I’m flying through my holiday. I love cycling, and as a result I’ve always been fascinated – and tempted – by the London Naked Bike Ride. I’ve watched it a few times before, envious of the brilliant people who are comfortable getting their kit off and riding through the busy streets of central London. As yet I’ve never done it, though perhaps this year’s ride – on 8th June – might tempt me out of the shadows. In the meantime, though, I’m welcoming @pervy_thoughts (you can find his blog at the excellently-titled Pervy.Fun) – a regular guest blogger and nudist who is here to extol the joys of naked cycling!

Naked bike rides

Back in the 1980s when I first got interested in nudism, the streaking phenomena had just started. It carried on for a few years with naked pitch invasions at sporting events. The most infamous one with Erica Roe at Twickenham is the benchmark for getting your tits out in public.

As much as I liked the idea of getting naked in public, I did not want any publicity; I did not want to upset anyone. So I forgot about getting naked in public and got involved in more mainstream nudism.

Jump forward twenty five years…

“Fancy a bike ride around London on Saturday?” From the smirks on my friends’ faces there was more to this than a simple bike ride around London…

World Naked Bike Ride is a protest movement against the dependency on oil, traffic in our cities and the vulnerability of cyclists. It’s also a chance to get naked and ride around in public.

This was 2005, and I have taken part in a naked bike ride in various UK cities every year since. It’s great fun. I do think the original purpose, PROTESTING, has got a bit lost, and some rides – London especially – are overcrowded. Lots of unskilled riders on bikes makes the ride dangerous. I have seen riders taken down, some badly injured in the fall. This is what we are protesting about; we should be the solution, not the problem.

What’s the London Naked Bike Ride like?

That first year I made the mistake of taking my regular commuting bike on the ride. Razor saddle, clipped in pedals, drop handlebars. The saddle was designed to be used with padded shorts, not a naked bottom. The pedals were a nightmare as we kept stopping and I had to unclip and drop handlebars were too low. Plus, at the end of the ride I really did not want to chain a £1000 bike to some railings to go into the pub.

Despite all the problems, riding naked past The Houses of Parliament was a blast, and I loved every minute. My sore bum recovered after a few days of treatment with Savlon.

The following year I was much more organised. I acquired a bike specifically for Naked Bike Riding. A sit up and beg riding position, flat handlebars, pedals you can use in trainers, a big comfy saddle and panniers for my clothes. Second hand and under £100. Perfect! (It was nicked from outside a pub a couple of years ago, so I am on Naked Bike Mk2.)

Even if you don’t want to participate, Naked Bike Riding is quite a spectacle, hundreds, maybe thousands, of naked people out on the streets. In London you can watch from Waterloo Bridge, then walk up to Southampton Row and watch the ride come past again. Covent Garden with its pubs is not far away.

To get a feel for what the London Naked Bike Ride is like, check out this gallery on Vimeo. And if you’re interested in similar activities, remember you don’t just have to get naked on bikes! I have streaked around Regent Park Zoo in aid of tigers (followed by a film crew!), and Yorkshire Wildlife Park for polar bears. (Bare for bears!)

From a vague I idea I would like to streak in 1980, I have fulfilled the dream in spades. Young me would never have imagined I would be naked in central London.

9 Comments

  • I’ve been on the London Naked Bike ride every year for the last 4 years. Love it :) I always start from Marble Arch and the route goes down Park Lane, Through Piccadilly, over Westminster Bridge, back over I think Waterloo Bridge and up to Hyde Park Corner via Covent Garden. Hope to see you there this year!

  • fuzzy says:

    ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJvEpQEC-RE))

    Or just google Queen Uncensored Bicycle Race because internet links.

    I streaked in 1975 in Knoxville TN with about 40 other members of my high-school band across UT Campus; and later because a card-carrying naturist. Learning that nude doesn’t mean sexual was one of the freeing events of my life.

    Thank you for documenting such fun events in such an entertaining manner.

  • Phillip says:

    You are a woman of many surprises.

  • Phillip says:

    Oh! It is a Guest Blog. My mistake, but I just figured that if you could knock out three or four posts in a week that you could slip in a nude bike ride. I have no idea what would happen if people in Los Angeles tried to stage a nude bike ride. It could be a joyful expression of free will OR it could be tear gas and rubber bullets.

  • ClothedRider says:

    Sounds quite uncomfortable for both riders and onlookers. I tried to wear cycling shorts couple of times without underwear, but as soon as I stood up from the saddle, my balls started to swing like bells – I presume the experience would be the same riding naked. Not good. Also, in such “heat” that is usual in London at this time of year I usually still wear arm warmers and wind resistant vest – riding naked sounds really chilly.

    As for the onlookers – I was once at a nudist event. It had similar gender (in)balance like a typical IT department. They had a Zumba class (held by a fully clothed woman) – in front of her were 20+ men swinging their sausages. It was worthy of a Monty Python sketch. But it’s OK, it was a nudist event, it was me who went there. But I wouldn’t expect such scenes in downtown London when I’m being a tourist there.

    • Girl on the net says:

      “I wouldn’t expect such scenes in downtown London when I’m being a tourist there” – well, yes. That’s why it’s an eye-catching and effective event. If the Naked Bike Ride folks had instead arranged a ‘stand around taking pictures of Big Ben’ protest, it wouldn’t make such a splash.

  • Stevo says:

    Seen the NBR a couple of times by accident. There’s something distinctly unsexy about 50 y.o beardy men with beer bellies riding Bromptons. At the same time, there was one beautiful girl, little flowers painted over new flower box: i will remember those flowers for many years

    I can’t take part myself: I’m too big. It’s not just when I get a hard on, it’s when I don’t. It’s why I used to get accused of getting erections in the changing rooms at school PE sessions. How do you explain that you are huge and they are just children. On a bike, naked, I’d crush myself against the saddle. That would not be fun. I know, I could wear swimming trunks and take part, but it wouldn’t be the same -especially if the girl with the flowers wasn’t there

    • Girl on the net says:

      “There’s something distinctly unsexy about 50 y.o beardy men with beer bellies riding Bromptons. ” Speak for yourself. Not all of us are into flower girls, some of us would rather a beer belly and a Brompton.

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