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Ride reports

2006

Marte

By Marte Kinder

On Sunday the 12th of March, sunny warm weather and bemused locals greeted two ladies and nine gentlemen who assembled at the Merewether Surf Life Saving Club at 7am.

After introductions and orientation, the sexes divided and retreated to the dressing sheds at the ocean baths to prepare for the ride by painting peace signs, hearts, flowers and protest slogans on our bodies. Some riders said their initial apprehensions soon faded after the painting was underway and stripping down seemed natural when among a supportive group doing the same thing. (Nudity is not compulsory in the WNBR and you can wear as much or as little as makes you feel comfortable. You should try to challenge yourself to wear as little as possible without frightening yourself).

Once the body painting was completed, we all re-assembled to commence the ride. Five of the gentlemen had chosen to ride completely naked and one of the ladies went top-free. Everyone wore a smile. The riders stopped along the beach promenade for a photo opportunity for the press and then we were off!

The locals at the Merewether SLSC gave us a cheer and we hit the road! We made lots of noise with whistles, bells and singing out our protest messages. From Merewether we rode along the streets to Bar Beach and then into Darby St where many of the Café set roared their approval and hooted with laughter. Every business in Darby St that was approached to place a WNBR promotion poster in their window before the ride had agreed, so it was great to see their patrons enjoy the spectacle.

From Darby St we turned right into Hunter St (for the benefit of those unfamiliar with Newcastle, this is the busiest shopping street in town). When we were approaching the intersection with Crown St, a big white Police paddy wagon passed in the opposite direction. The World Naked Bike Ride in Australia had never seen the Police on any ride before this and I had no idea what would happen next. I thought if I looked straight ahead, kept riding, quietened down and avoided eye contact with the Police in the paddy wagon, then they might not feel compelled to do anything. Maybe they did not notice a pack of 11 naked painted people on bikes? This delusion was quickly dispelled when the riders behind me waved at the Police in the paddy wagon. I couldn’t see how the Police reacted, but was told later that the two Policewomen were “pissing themselves with laughter”! In any case, the paddy wagon didn’t do a U-turn and kept going. That was a relief, even if short lived. Two or three Policemen were on foot at the western end of the Mall as we were just getting to Scott St. The Policemen stopped a few of the riders at the tail of our group. Apparently, they asked a few questions and made some disapproving noises but did not give any directives so the riders set off again and quickly caught the rest of us up. One of the riders said the Police were concerned that we might ride our bikes in the pedestrian-only Mall (which we hadn’t planned to do anyway). After that, we didn’t see the Police again. We had got away with a Police “grumble”. No dramas.

We continued up Scott St and into Nobbys Rd then all the way to the end of Nobbys breakwater where the winners for the three free bike prizes were decided from the competitors. Critical Mass had donated three bikes in excellent condition. The prizes were awarded to the rider who recruited the highest number of participants, the female rider who recruited the highest number of female participants and to the rider who was judged to be best decorated with body paint by the most acclaim of the other participants. We all cheered each other for such a wonderful event for critical global issues. We set some milestones for the WNBR in Australia: it was the largest ride to occur to that time, the first ride to confirm the participation of ladies, the first ride to encounter the Police and first ride to encounter the Police then let go. There were no injuries, damage or pollution. Everyone was very happy and the whole town was in giggles. To everyone that took part: THANK YOU!

We put our clothes back on and went to Newcastle SLSC for a post ride party. Newcastle Nudists for Peace had donated slabs of beer and the winners of the bike prizes chose which bikes they wanted. Two of the riders who brought guitars with them played while we drank, talked and reflected on a fantastic morning.

The World Naked Bike Ride – Nudecastle 2006 was endorsed by Newcastle Nudists for Peace, Critical Mass (Newcastle), NUSA Transport Collective and NUSA Environment Collective. At least half the participants are students at The University of Newcastle (maybe that should be the Uni of Nudecastle?). The organisers were helped during O Week by the Newcastle University Students Association (NUSA), the NUSA Environment Collective, Rising Tide and the University Union. Big thanks to everyone at Uni from WNBR. Thanks to Glenn, Mark and Consolidated Press for recording the event.

The next WNBR is on Saturday 10 June 2006 and is the northern hemisphere event. All cities are welcome to participate. Newcastle has not yet decided whether we will participate in the June ride although will be definitely riding in 2007.

Daniel

By Daniel

or read it here.

On 12th March 2006 I participated in a fun bicycle event with many other people that reached double figures. We were protesting for clean air, less oil exhaust deaths, more sustainable less toxic energy solutions, less greenhouse gases, fewer wars for oil, more bicycling. Men and women from Newcastle including overseas people visiting our region met at Merewether Beach front at 7am and did body painting of the protest themes. So lots of colour, and peace signs, flowers, “clean” messages, adorned many bodies. This display and body and painting of the body with slogans is in protest of being indecently exposed to toxic emissions every day. So for one day a year this World protest event exposes and celebrates the power and individuality of our natural bodies against the unnatural toxic emissions of the World.

Riding with less clothes than usual is very natural and very funny. All the people I talked to on the ride usually never go in public with less than their usual amount of clothing. So this special fun event allows them to “go free”. The bicycle itself of course is not natural (walking is the most natural form of transport). But the bicycle is the most environmentally friendly form of transport for travelling the distances the average Newcastle travels each day. Cars are the worst urban polluter so this is a perfect event to protest that bicycles are better than cars. It is a fun event creating a situation where Bicycles were the dominant form of transport on the road as we rode safely down the road.

The bicycle ride was great fun and I heard many cheers from passer-by. We were a group that believed in simplification, human harmony and love and we rode together. We rode down Darby street Cooks Hill and out to Newcastle Station. These roads may be usually bicycle “unfriendly” but in a large group it is a perfect opportunity to learn to ride safely. The bicycle “lanes” are too narrow and riding in the lane is the safest option. Riding in the “bicycle” lane usually means the “parked-car-door-opening” lane. Newcastle Council knows about the lanes being too narrow and unsafe but they as yet have not removed the dangerous bicycle pictures on the road. So a large very colourful group riding safely on the road not worrying about the ignorant motorists was very liberating for everyone. Most Newcastle motorists think a bicyclist riding in the “traffic” lane is just being a “smart-ass” and deliberately making motorists go slow. Motorists want that bicyclist in the gutter or “car-door-lane” where they usually see almost all bicyclists ride. But most bicyclists ride very dangerously in the “car-door-lane” and a literally playing Russian Roulette with a small child opening a car door in front of them. So this fun protest event is important for cycling safety as well.

We rode our bicycles from Merewether out to Nobbies break wall where everyone cheered for a great event. Prizes were awarded for best body painting. We went back to Newcastle Beach for a Post ride party. Everyone had so much fun and it was great to meet so many lovely people who care so much about humanity.

Parts of the ride were filmed by a local filmmaker who made a film this year on Newcastle Bike Activism. There are photos of the ride that will be posted on the web. You should be able to use them if you give credit to the photographer (the photos should be free).

This was a clothing optional ride and some people wore more clothes than others. The name of the bicycle ride was “World Naked Bike Ride” and the sub-title is “Nudecastle”. Even though the name of the ride offends many people, its protest themes certainly do not. I also went in the first “World Naked Bike Ride” “Nudecastle” in 2005 and the next one for 2007 will be just as much fun. The name of the ride may put people off from participating, but it is for a number of reasons. It creates media attention and a funny side of people riding as naked as they want to be on bikes. It can be very hard to grab media attention these days so this can be seen as another option for protestors. Lobbying and writing letters to governments does not seem to work very fast these days. People willing to expose their bodies to Newcastle have shown the way to have fun and spread good messages at the same time.

Bicycling invisibly in gutters & "Car door lanes": An unseen 6 year old opens a car door in front of you. An instinctual reaction has you swerve around it; the 1st car passing you swerves quickly and misses you. The 2nd car tailgating behind the first car hasn't seen you yet. BEFORE bicyclist's rights (& safety) on the road get reduced further (recent reductions within last 8 years are not known by 99.99% of people), once a month we can become the dominant transport form displaying a better way and possibilities towards a car free city.

2005

Marte

by Marte Kinder.

The protest themes were against oil dependency and war; and for peace, environment, sustainability, human rights, personal freedom, harmony, love and to save Newcastle’s trains. The event was free.

5 men (3 of whom were completely naked) braved an unseasonable chill wind and pre-dawn start for the 7 km ride from Tighes Hill TAFE to the end of Nobbys Breakwater.

All the riders had their bodies painted with peace signs and a combination of slogans (including Save Newie Trains and No War), love hearts, flowers or reggae stripes. Drawings of bowsers with a bar through them represented the rides antipathy to oil dependency and likewise for cars.

Many people who were out for their morning walk or run (some with their dogs) and other cyclists, Sunday drivers, locomotive engineers and fisher-folk had a good laugh and cheered their approval. The most fun belonged to the participants who will remember the day for a long time. The riders rated their World Naked Bike Ride a great success! It was terrific and hilarious!!!

Despite a huge amount of publicity inviting participation prior to the event the Police did not show up. Perhaps they had their bikes stolen?

There were no injuries, damage or pollution. On completion of the ride, one of the nude riders pronounced; “One small streak for Man, ONE GIANT STREAK FOR MANKIND!”