Bristol history

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Home > List of rides > United Kingdom > Bristol > Bristol history •  Google Bristol history WNBR

2023

Overall numbers slightly down, but a big increase in riders with black skin. Many disabled and other hidden-diversity riders, but a concerning drop in female participants. Many said they felt unsafe, and we've followed this up extensively, and will be taking lots of extra measures in 2024. More memories as they arise. A longer route.

2023 Route Map:

Bristol press-public map 2023.jpg

PDF ride poster:

Bristol poster 2023.png

Ride event was here: [1]


2022

The restart after the Lockdown Maybe 80 riders, but the dip in numbers was expected. Extensive cooperative with the city council and A&S police. No police rode with us, but they watched us on CCTV and said afterwards they were impressed with how well-organised we were. A cool-ish day, but we were happy the predicted rain didn't arrive. A lap of honour around the Bearpit gyratory before the finish. The day cooled down further after the end, resulting in participants leaving much earlier than expected, and virtually none exploring the bar. Lots of maps; lots of map alterations. A choice of two routes around/through College Green towards the end. Assessment of the protest situation there showed no violent activity, and indeed little activity at all, so we chose to ride through. This brought national publicity, including a nice write-up in the Daily Mail. Covid and illness knocked out our primary team, so the event ended-up being run by the backup team.

Media coverage

2016

Bristol's 7th World Naked Bike Ride A great ride, without incident, on a warm but overcast day. We had around 210 riders. The route was significantly altered just a few days before the ride to avoid a far-right anti-immigrant march, and two counter-protests. This meant we had to avoid College Green, Hotwells, Millennium Square and the Fountains. We kept in touch with Avon and Somerset police, and went along with their requests. We had one police rider along with us (clothed). Thanks to the route change, we didn't encounter any other protests. A highlight this year was the amazing samba drummers 'Batala', who played in Castle Park. We had two stops there, giving people time for a naked dance. Nearly half the riders were first-timers. No accidents or complaints reported. We had lots of press attention - including Metro, Huffington Post, and independent.co.uk. We were also mentioned in at least 8 different articles from the Bristol Post (see below).

Media coverage

Videos

  • Coming soon...

Galleries (Flickr links that don't appear to work may require you to log in first)

  • Coming soon..

Blogs

2015

Over 250 riders - a new record for Bristol, in its sixth World Naked Bike Ride. The Full Moon courtyard was packed! We had great weather and a wonderful atmosphere. There were many first-timers, and we had an overwhelmingly positive response from the public. No confrontations, no police presence, no accidents. Lots of music, dancing, spontaneous high-fives and great body-painted slogans and designs.

BBC News website screen grab of article "Naked bike ride highlights importance of 'being noticed'" 27/6/2015 From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-33298980

Media coverage

Videos

The leaflet and poster design used for Bristol's 2015 World Naked Bike Ride.

Galleries (Flickr links that don't appear to work may require you to log in first)

"OK Bristol, you are officially amazing #nakedcycle" - Tweet from @VeeDoubleMoo on Twitter

Blogs Bristol's 7th annual Naked Bike Ride on WDOT.org (very positive) The Naked Bike Ride on electic blue (rather negative)

2014

2014 - 5. Over 60 riders. Good weather, happy riders, and great reactions from the public!

2013

2013 - 4.

Great turn out. Rain and a brief heavy downpour, but the sun came out towards the end and it turned into a lovely afternoon.

  • Tim's photos
  • Photos by MnD Photography on Flickr. "Well despite the atrocious weather at the start the ride went ahead so hats(and anything else) off to these brave souls. Luckily the sun did appear to dry out and warm them up before the end."
  • Simon Hendy's Photo Blog article about the 2013 ride
  • Flickr galleries from Coolasicemandave, Myk, Red Bay Blue

2012

2012 - 3.

2011

2011 - 2. Bristol World Naked Bike Ride Big Success Again Again Again!

"beautiful day and beautiful ride!" A guestimate number of riders 200+ took to the streets of Bristol on Sunday 19th of June 2011 "Wow what a joy to come and bring awareness to people of the city, about the cyclist vulnerability !!"

We had funky Inline Roller Skaters come down from Birmingham, what a treat! "Hei GuYs! Had an awesome day in Bristol - beautiful weather mixed well with all the beautiful people there :-) Well done ~ thanks for letting us skate too. Like someone's body paint message said it's all about: Ass power not horse power (or something like that :-)"

It was a smooth running machine of human beings :)

"Naked bike ride at the sunny city of sanctuary today... What a day!!"

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Pictures:

2010

2010 - 1. Bristol's First World Naked Bike Ride Big Success!!!

The new Bristol World Naked Bike Ride on June 13th 2010 was overwhelmingly successful. We were expecting 30-50 people and we got nearer 200. There were tallbikes, a unicyclist, recumbants, tricycles, a pedal powered soundsystem, people of all shapes and sizes, and from all walks of life, Super Cow was there, plenty of Avatars, stripey people, spotty people, pink people and the naked man with big boots on a penny farthing was just a fantastic sight to behold. Under the slogan of Healthy Hearts in Car-Free Cities! the ride focused on promoting the idea of regular Car Free Sundays, and highlighting proposed traffic free environments in Bristol such as Park Street, Baldwin Street, The Centre, Corn Street...

It was just ridiculously good fun. Again, again, again!! was the cry at the end of the ride. 'Can we do this every Sunday ?!'

It was great to see how everyone stopped in their tracks as the group approached, and as soon as it went there remained a happy buzz in the air with people smiling and laughing. We really made an impact and created awareness of the need and desire for car-free Sundays in city centres.

My Bike, My Heart, My City! - Have a look on the Bristol WNBR Blog for some quotes, a poem and links to loads of pictures.

A big thank you to everyone who came and made this event so fantastic and a regular fixture on the Bristol Calendar!

Naked We Ride Vive la Velorution!

Media Coverage:

Pictures:

2006

A "taster" version of this ride took place on 14 October 2006, as an activity associated with the free film screening at the Watershed Cinema at 11.45am. The screening was hosted by the Wildscreen Festival, and the numbers at the film were more than the theatre capacity (40?). Following the film, at 12.30pm the riders assembled to set off on an impromptu ride. The police decided to require the riders to cover their "genitals" at the front (for female riders, this meant breasts too). The riders complied, and then set off on a mini ride, in very cold weather. Although the ride was intended to last just 30 minutes, the 17 riders continued for an hour, and managed to pass out all the leaflets they had on hand. By and large, the ride was greeted with support and enthusiasm, and bystanders were able to discern the purpose of the ride (thanks to many signs on bikes). The BBC (Points West) filmed the event and included it in the regional TV news reports. There is a short written report on the BBC website too. There seems to be enthusiasm for a future ride in Bristol – probably in June 2008.

Wnbr route.jpg

Media coverage:

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