Ron's Log

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July 9, 2015

Hubway, the company that provides shareable bikes in Boston, does not object to riders taking their bikes to ride in the Boston World Naked Bike Ride which happens this Saturday. But they do ask that you not ride the bikes bareass. Look, that rule applies even at Burning Man. They suggest underwear.

The ride starts at 9 PM in Cambridge at North Point Park, which is a newer park built since I left Boston. I'm sure some will tell you that the ride is at night to avoid the summer heat (big eye roll). Honestly, it may simply have grown out of a tradition among Boston bicycle messengers to hold an annual naked race at night. Or it may be to avoid heavy traffic.

I don't know if casual nudity is legal anywhere in Boston or Cambridge. Video from last year's Boston WNBR when they met in front of the State House shows some people riding actually naked. And also shows them riding in the wrong lanes - at night, in traffic. Idiots. Right turns from far left lanes in front of moving traffic where there is no stop sign or traffic light. Double idiots. Somebody built a high-rise next to Berklee School of Music - is that a dorm? The route was pretty short: across the Common to Tremont, go down to the theater district, back past the Public Garden to Beacon Street to Arlington to Comm Ave, ride that a ways to Mass Ave. That over to Boylston, following Boylston up to Berkeley, then over to Newbury and then somehow popping back up to the State House by some route they don't show. That's like, what, 4 or 5 miles?

Filed under Cities/Urbanism,Cycling,Naturism-Nudism | permalink | July 9, 2015 at 07:37 PM

Comments

A description of the ride by a participant:

BTW everyone, the Boston version of the WNBR now in its sixth consecutive year is really beginning to develop some legs and staying power after the city's long and notable absence from participation in this world wide event for most of its previous years. Last night we saw some 200-300 riders turn out by some estimates, a phalanx of joyful naked riders a traffic lane wide and more than a half mile long. The word is rapidly spreading across a wider demographic in our neck of the woods that shedding one's clothes occasionally in public celebration of nothing in particular is great fun and very freeing. By contrast with this year, last year we were about a hundred and the year before a bit over fifty. Most encouragingly, the official acceptance of nudity in Boston for this kind of whacky "freedom of speech" event now seems assured for the foreseeable future. It was also gratifying to see the event announced in advance on web media sites like Boston.com and in some of the print media. The event was even mentioned in at least one of the "things to do this weekend" type calendar of events. Prior to this year, WNBR in Boston has been more of a flashmob hatched in the darker corners of Facebook by a small group of intrepid and determined Bostonians. Hubway, the local bike share program even weighed in on the public discussion this year by reminding potential participants/bike renters to exercise a bit of naturist etiquette in regard to use of their saddles, though they missed the obvious point by neglecting to mention that simply securing a small bathroom hand towel over the saddle with a bungee would do the trick. All in all, a far cry from a distinctly venomous diatribe against such events by a notable columnist that appeared in the Globe only three years ago a week before the WNBR that year. I like to think that in the aftermath to that bit of miscalculation, the Globe was stung in the online community by a ground swell of popular dissent with their former point of view and has quietly re-examined and repositioned their public posture to be more in line with that of their contemporary readers on the subject of innocuous acts of public nudity.

We all had a great time riding openly naked (or as much as some dared) through the streets of popular business, club, dining, and residential neighborhoods of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville for a couple of hours with no interference from the authorities. Make no mistake about it, there was a large percentage of us who rode the entire distance without "aid' of clothing. We even had a bike mounted police escort of two officers for some parts of our route through Cambridge and several more officers stationed at key intersections in Boston to assist with directing traffic. Likewise the public acceptance and support for our collective statement being made in behalf of increased body awareness and body acceptance and in support of fostering a more widespread positive body image in our culture was overwhelming throughout our ride with countless bystanders cheering us on, throwing us thumbs up waves, and high fiving us all along the way. And of course, the army of hand held smart devices held at arms length along our way most assuredly guaranteed our presence on social media in real time. It is most encouraging to see Boston finally joining the ranks of other world class cities in extending a growing tolerance towards those of us who would like to occasionally be less encumbered as we go about some parts of our daily lives. I am glad to have been part of this noble event for the past four of its six years in Boston (as well as for many years in Montpelier Vermont and hope to remain active in WNBR for many years to come. I hope to see more of you there in the future.

Posted by: Ron's Log at Jul 12, 2015 7:38:05 PM

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