London Hyde Park

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The London WNBR is part of Bike Week.

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Next ride

Date: Saturday 9 June 2018
Time: 14:15 assembly, for 15:00 departure
Location: North Carriage Drive near Marble Arch

Hyde Park gets overcrowded so our advice is - you might prefer the other central London starts.

Start point

We will meet in Hyde Park near Marble Arch on North Carriage Drive, which will be closed to traffic by agreement with the Royal Parks. See Facebook event for info.

Route

The coloured lines match the topological map:

• The red line is just for our group.
• The blue line is the merged route for all the northern start points.
• The green line is the merged route for all start points.

Timings

• 14:15 Assemble.
• 14:30 Remove clothing. (You must keep your clothes on before this.)
• 14:45 Line up ready to depart.
• 15:00 Depart.
• 15:30 Meet the group who started in Regents Park at Piccadilly Circus, then meet the group who started in Kings Cross at Haymarket.
• 15:45 Meet the groups who started at Clapham Junction, West Norwood, and Tower Hill on Westminster Bridge.
• 17:30 Finish at Wellington Arch.

Body painting

Body Painting and Body Painting Area (informal/small) from 13:00 to 14:00

We encourage all riders to buy some body paints for themselves and get painted up before they come to the ride.

A list of suitable slogans can be found here if you can't think of your own - Slogans

There is no arrangement for a body painting group at the park this year - tbc.

Planning Your Body Paint

The best way to make sure you are ready for the ride is to get painted at home beforehand. Wear loose-fitting clothing that won't rub it off, and you can always leave final details and touch-ups for the ride. For advice on getting and using body paint, see the UK FAQs. The easiest thing is to have a friend body-paint you, but you can paint yourself if it's an all-over-in-one-colour or message on your legs.

For people who aren't able to paint themselves at home, you may wish to do some body painting just before the ride, but you'll have to bring your own paints and painters. From 2006 till 2008, we provided a body painting service from professional painters such as Sitech Creations Ltd [1]. In 2009, there was no official body painting area. We had difficulty due to growing numbers of ride participants, aggressive photographers, and the short time available at the start.

Photographers can be a problem at the ride start especially while body painting is taking place. If you notice photographers crowding around someone who is being painted, please politely enquire whether the subject of the photograph is happy to be photographed. If they aren't happy being photographed, please ask the photographers to stop, and consider standing between the photographers and subject (in a polite but assertive manner).

Please don't photograph riders who are being painted. Wait till they are fully painted and then ask if they are happy to be photographed. Better still, please photograph the riders during the ride!

Toilets

The toilets at Marble Arch may be closed - tbc. There are toilet facilities inside Hyde Park and in a few local restaurants, but you may find a big queue there. If you undress before the ride starts, please don't leave the assembly area; specifically, don't walk into McDonalds (or any other building) naked! If you do it on any other day of the year then that's up to you, but on the day of the ride your behaviour will reflect on everyone else.