CHICAGO NAKED RIDE
WHY ARE WE RIDING OUR BIKES NAKED IN CHICAGO NAKED RIDE?
• To celebrate our bodies
• To fight global warming
• To have fun
• To lose weight
• To save money
• To live longer
• To get dates
• To be beautiful
• No traffic jams
• No smelly exhaust
• To save the world
• To fight against oil wars
• Biking’s better for you
• Biking’s better for the world
• To see and be seen
• To live life to the fullest
The World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together on human-powered transport (mostly on bicycles, but some on skateboards and inline skates), to “deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world.”
Chicago Naked Ride is the localized version for Chicago where all activities and principles of the event are based on the WNBR. This is why it is considered for the Naked Stories Chicago.
The dress code motto is “bare as you dare”.Full or partial nudity is encouraged, but not mandatory. Nudity is the differentiating factor of this event from other biking events.
Imaginative expression is also encouraged to create a fun and immersive atmosphere during the ride, capture the attention and imagination of the public and media, and make the experience more personalized and fulfilling for the riders. Body art, such as body painting, are common forms of creative expression, as well as costumes, art bikes, portable sound reinforcement systems and musical instruments or other types of noisemaker.
Participants are becoming more diverse and it is the indication for the public to be more than willing to accept the objective of the Chicago Naked Ride. More often than not, people with prejudice mind is not that reactive about the fact that this event is accepted in the society as a new concept of expression and not offensive to others with not so welcoming beliefs.
It’s obvious that it is less healthy to cycle in polluted air than in clean air. But should one not cycle because of the pollution? If there is a cleaner alternative the answer is yes, but if the alternative is to drive or go by bus, the bicycle will not necessarily be the worst alternative, if not even the best one.
Cyclists breathe more, so the exposure to pollutants at a given concentration is relatively higher. Studies however find that the concentration of pollutants at rush hours is substantially larger inside the cars than outside. The reason is that the air intake of the cars is close to the exhaust tube of the car in front.
Finally the health benefits should be taken into account. When comparing thenegative health risk from cycling accidents with the positive health impact from exercise, one finds the latter to be far the most important. So cycling safety needs indeed to be improved, but there is no reason to stop promoting cycling for this reason.
