Melbourne 2007

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Melbourne 2007

Date: Saturday 10 March 2007
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Carlton Inn/University Sqr. - cnr of Pelham & Leicester Sts, Carlton

Ride location and how to get there

Assemble at the Carlton Inn on University Square on the corner of Pelham & Leicester Streets, Carlton. This is just south of Melbourne Uni. Please do not drive to the event because it will create greenhouse gases and contradicts the purpose of the event. Please ride your bike to the assembly place or take the train if it is too far for you to ride. Metlink allows passengers to take their bikes on the train. The nearest train station is Melbourne Central.

What to wear:

The dress code for the ride is As Bare As You Dare! This means if you're up to going fully nekkid, great. If you're a little shy, then wear your bathers. If you want to wear a full burkha, go for it. Some people are a bit concerned about the comfort of their seats while nekkid. Past riders haven't found this to be a problem. Indeed the feeling of giddy exhileration is so great that people hardly notice their seats at all.

What to bring:

You, your bike, helmet and lights will be required (just like any other time on a bike). A bag or pannier to carry your clothes is a good idea. Body paint (finger paint works too and is a lot cheaper), bike decorations, noise makers, signs with catchy slogans, your friends, and a positive attitude are all highly recommended. (and maybe warm clothes for the outdoor after party if it's a chilly night)

How much:

FREE! You -don't- need to register and you don't need to pay to go on this ride. (The streets are free, so why should you pay to ride on them?)

What the ride will be like:

Between 7 and 8PM, we'll mill around at the pub and in the park, body painting, chatting, joking, etc. Maps will be handed out, and an announcement will be made welcoming people to the ride. At 8PM we'll mount or trusty steeds to ride around some of the nearby commercial streets and smile and wave to the dazzled and delighted onlookers. We'll be riding on streets where people are friendly to the unusual. There will be at least one sound system with us, pumping out tunes to shake your body to. The ride will be about 35 minutes long (~7km), at a pace we can all stick to. We'll stop once shortly into the ride for people to dress up or dress down (last year several people caught the spirit and lost some layers shortly into the ride). The ride ends in an attractive park, where we'll party down, with food and drink outlets nearby. Last year there were 14 pioneering cyclists, this year should be more as the word is definitely out in Melbourne.

What the ride won't be like:

The ride won't leave people behind. The ride won't be confrontational to other road users. The ride won't engage with people looking to start arguments (we'll just ride away!). The ride won't be boring! The ride won't disobey direct requests from the police, if they happen to give us any (though individual riders might at their own discretion).

So grab your bike, grab a friend and see you there!

What the ride was like:

2007 Ride Report by Alex

Greetings fellow cyclo-nudistas!

Melbourne World Naked Ride 2007 was a success.

We had 25 riders, well up from 14 last year, with about 80% of riders going fully nekkid. It was a good time.

The map of the route can be seen on bikely here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/WNBR-2007 (a few minor variations were made during the ride, but that's pretty much it). The ride was 6.7km long.

The police chose a more tolerant approach than last year. One officer showed up at the start. He told us we were welcome to do the ride (as bare as we dared), but that the police were concerned about us being targeted by onlookers. Generally a very positive interaction and he was given a route map. He said that he contacted the relevant precincts to let them know we'd be passing through. Not bad eh.

More reports later, and many lessons to be learned for next year.

peace, bikefunnist, in the flesh

2007 Ride Report from Bawdyliar

What a Saturday, initially spent in indulgent relaxation, readying myself for the Melbourne Naked Bike Ride and indeed the World Naked Bike Ride. I was hard at it again writing, knocked back some more fecking episodes of Father Ted, finished "Portrait of the artist as a young dog", picked up "Dylan Thomas: The Legend and Poet", more indulgences, and then finally 6pm rolled around with its paws in the air, panting "tickle me!". I got on my bike and rode to destination where all the cyclists were meeting, which was University Square in Carlton. Sabine (my partner) was waiting with camera handy, and another girl was sitting with her bike and a bag of body paint. Slowly but surely the riders began to arrive in a trickle.

A friendly policeman pulled up and told us that no police had been assigned to our action so he was the only one on duty for us. He didn't care what we did, he told us, "If you want to get naked and ride around the Melbourne streets, I don't care" his only concern was that other people might be of a threat to us. Drunk bullies in cars mostly, being that it was Saturday evening, and once some people hop into a car they feel empowered to dominate public space. The policeman also told us that we should adhere to normal bike riding rules like wearing a helmet, lights and sticking to the bike lanes, but he also said that we could ride on the road if we wished but we did so at our risk. I had left my light at home and sent Sabine back to rescue it, the last thing I wanted was the sour irony of having been arrested not for being naked but not having a light.

I only endorse events I feel appropriate to my personality. The people arriving were already beginning to strip and brush colourful designs on their flesh. It was a beautiful day for a ride, and everyone was fairly confident but some were a tad nervous I felt. One woman had her whole naked upper painted pink with pink angels wings on her back, one guy had a bicycle helmet with a video camera strapped onto it. Some guys had their buttocks painted, some wore shorts. I wore body painted slogans, mauve and black harlequin socks pulled up to my knees and union made Blackspot sneakers. We had a stereo system hooked up to one rider's bike so that our journey would be as funky and fun as possible.

It was very important I wear my Blackspots, as I like to promote these corporate arse kicking non-sweat shop shoes at any opportunity, made by the crew from Adbusters. I am also a vigilant anti-car person and performed with "The Dresses of Mass Seduction" for numerous "No Car Days".

There was a stop off point arranged (on a 'round-about) where people could either decide to shed more clothing or put more on - if they became shy. At the very start one guy asked me if I was going the Full Monty first up, and I said, "Yes why not" which made him repeat to me "Yes, why not" and we stripped ourselves of our inhibitions and clothing, so a few of us were completely nude at the start. Along the way, tops and pants were removed by most cyclists. Much merriment as privates jostled about in the open breeze of public streets.

The music was pumping and we rode off towards Swanston Street, already an inebriated lad with a beer bottle in one hand and the other extended for "high-fives" was yelling something with a crooked smile on his face, the line of riders closest slapped his hand, I avoided it as it looked like the size of a ping-pong bat and any slap from me would have sent me flying. So off we rode through a small park in Carlton, and then down Lygon Street with cheers and screams from people in restaurants, standing up and applauding, bicycle bells were ringing, horns honking, and a line-up of about five flash vehicles reduced to a snail's pace beeping their horns and flashing their lights behind our train of pedal powered steeds.

We took a turn just before Lygon Street hits Elgin, and we then rode through the top half of Fiztroy, across over to Smith Street. Then down Smith Street, and turning right down Johnston Street we headed for Brunswick proper, and waited at the intersection until the green arrow went, we rode steadily down Brunswick Street with mass hysterics and applause, waves, thumbs up, smiles, laughs, and a girl I knew yelled out "Rupert! Rupert!" waving her hand, I casually offered my Majesty's gesture. This was the final lap of the ride, and we took a left into a quieter street, I heard a small group of guys yelled "Put some clothes on" to which a cheeky cyclist yelled out "Take some clothes off".

It was a massive high, and quite amazing how comfortable we all felt riding amongst each other starkers. It was extremely liberating but also an effective natural protest against car culture which is not only a environmental concern but a mind-set and materialistic issue also.

• Note: the ride report of 2007 WNBR Melbourne participant bawdyliar has been edited somewhat.
  
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