Latest news with #WorldNakedBikeRide
Time Out
3 days ago
- Time Out
The World Naked Bike Ride returns to London this month
Warning: in just under two weeks, thousands of cyclists will be cruising stark naked through the streets of London. Yes, you read that right – from Clapham Junction to Hackney Wick, they'll be completely, utterly, full-frontally in the nude. The World Naked Bike Ride is an event that has been happening since 2004. It's purpose is five-fold: protest against the global dependency on oil, curb car culture, obtain real rights for cyclists, demonstrate the vulnerability of cyclists on city streets and celebrate body freedom. You can get an idea of the kind of sights to expect here. Here's all the key info you need if you want to take part in (or firmly avoid) the World Naked Bike Ride 2025. When is the World Naked Bike Ride happening in London? The 2025 edition of the World Naked Bike Ride is happening on Saturday, June 14. Start times vary depending on where you choose to start from – more on that below. Do I need to sign up? Nope. It's completely free to take part in. All you need to do is turn up at the right place, at the right time with your bike and be prepared to get in the nude. Where does the London Naked Bike Ride start? There are nine starting locations dotted across London for the bike ride. So wherever you are in the city, you're likely to have one nearby. Not all starting points will have body paint stations, so if you want to add a little splash of colour to your birthday suit, make sure to check whether you have to do it at home instead. Clapham Junction Meeting point: Grant Road, SW11 2NU Gather: 2:30pm Ride: 2.45pm Body paint station? No Croydon Meeting point: 233 Shirley Church Road, CR0 5AB Gather: 11am Ride: 1pm Body paint station? Yes Deptford Meeting point: Piehouse Co-op, Arches 213 & 214, Edward St, SE8 5HD Gather: 12pm Ride: 2pm Body paint station? Yes Hackney Wick Meeting point: Thingy Cafe, 1 Trowbridge Rd, E9 5LD Gather: 9am Ride: 1.45pm Body paint station? Yes Kew Bridge Meeting point: North end of Kew Bridge near W4 3NQ Gather: 1.15pm Ride: 1.30pm Body paint station? No Regents Park Meeting point: Outer Circle, near NW1 4NA Gather: 2.35pm Ride: 2.50pm Body paint station? No Tower Hill Meeting point: Trinity Square Gardens, EC3N 4DJ Gather: 1.45pm Ride: 2.45pm Body paint station? No Wellington Arch/ Hyde Park Corner Meeting point: Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner W1J 7JZ Gather: 2.15pm Ride: 2.45pm Body paint station? No Accessible Option: North entrance to St John's Church Gardens, Secker St, SE1 8UF Meeting point: SE1 7GQ Gather: 3.15pm Ride: 3.45pm Is there an afterparty? Yep. You'll find the afterparty at Candid Arts in Islington from 6pm. There'll be life drawing taster sessions for early arrivals and the main entertainment will kick off at 8pm. Nine dreamy bike rides in and around London.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'Cycling naked is nothing compared to tumour pain'
"I would happily go cycle naked around the capital 100 times in a row than go through having my brain tumour again."Those are the words of Stephen Lewis, who will take on the World Naked Bike Ride in London with his partner on 14 couple from Newark in Nottinghamshire will be raising money for the mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) because of their struggles after Mr Lewis's diagnosis and treatment of a brain 38-year-old, who works as a train driver, says he had his work and life upended by the cholesterol granuloma between his brain and eye socket, and still deals with the aftermath two years later. "When I first had symptoms I wasn't overly sort of bothered by them," Mr Lewis had started to experience double vision in 2023 and saw an optician, who assured him it was normal for someone his after feeling that something was not right in his body, he sought out an MRI scan which revealed the tumour."I remember the room turning into like this tunnel, and Shayne was sat to my left, and I completely shut down."He was asking all the right questions, but I remember at that point, I sort of went into this self-preservation mode, and because of the nature of it no-one truly knew how to operate." 'Mentally exhausted' After visiting hospitals in Nottingham, Sheffield, and Lincoln, a surgeon in Leicester figured out how to proceed with the removal, Mr Lewis was told the tumour might be cancerous, and there was no way of knowing until it would have been taken Lewis said that was when doctors told him to consider writing his turned out the tumour between his eye socket and brain was a cholesterol granuloma, which is a type of benign the successful removal, the ordeal left Mr Lewis feeling at his "lowest" afterwards."I held myself up strong the whole time, being strong for everyone else as well because it upsets so many family members, especially my mum," he said."Perhaps after it all, because I had done that so hard, maybe my brain was mentally exhausted from it, and I finally felt the true nature of what I went through." He feared the tumour would stop him from working as a train driver, which had been his "goal in life".Despite his recovery progress, he can currently only work up to three days a week because of his medication, although he said this should be only was one of his partner's friends who invited the pair to take part in the World Naked Bike Ride to commemorate the overcoming of the health scare."I thought, not a chance," Mr Lewis recalls of his initial reaction. "Then I sat on it and thought, you know what, if I could go through what I went through with my brain tumour, then I can do anything."I figured as well, because of the impact that all this has had on my mental health, I'd like to sort of strip away the stigma." He said there were lingering elements of the railway industry being "male-oriented", which made it important to encourage people to talk about their mental health."I thought by doing this bold move, it'll gain people's interest, and it has really," he said."It's raised a lot of conversations, certainly with colleagues, talking about their own mental health stories, so in my eyes it's really worked."The route of the World Naked Bike Ride will see the pair cycle through some of London's busiest areas bearing it from across the world will depart at 14:50 BST on 14 June from Regents Park.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Mystery naked cyclist identity revealed as retired professor
A mystery nude cyclist who has stunned villagers by regularly going for rides in his birthday suit has been revealed as a retired college professor. Residents in Belmont often spotted the naked cyclist pedalling along the lanes and roads near their homes in the summer but were clueless as to his identity. Last week he was photographed by Henry Lisowski who posted the images on social media which prompted him to finally go public. Dr Grahame Cooper, 68, revealed he had been a proud naturist for 13 years. The former IT professor said he has 'never been more comfortable' in the saddle than when he's 'unencumbered' by clothing – weather permitting. The granddad-of-four said: 'You get many, many friendly reactions. 'You get some negative reactions, some people shouting 'pervert' or 'nonce', things like that, which are stupid – they don't know what the words mean, I don't think. 'The vast majority are people who cheer or clap, that happens a lot. 'To be honest, I would rather we got to a situation where people didn't bat an eyelid, so no reactions either positive or negative, but obviously we've got a long way to go before that happens. 'But certainly the majority of reactions are extremely positive, and that's from males, females, of all ages. It's reassuring to see that.' The naked cyclist out in Bolton (Image: Henry Lisowski / SWNS) Grahame's nude rides have also drawn the attention of local police, but he's not been arrested as he hasn't committed any crime. He now carries around a printed version of the College of Policing's public nudity advice for police officers after an incident where he was stopped by two officers. The guidance, which includes a flowchart for officers to follow, says those simply sunbathing, cycling, swimming, gardening, or carrying out home maintenance while naked in public are undertaking a lawful activity. Grahame said: 'Two officers in a van stopped me and then I explained to them that I wasn't doing anything unlawful as it's perfectly legal to be naked in public in this country unless there's intention to cause alarm and distress. 'They then spent some time doing research, one of them searching for documents on his phone and the other one calling back to base. 'Looking very surprised they said 'Oh, well it seems you aren't doing anything wrong, so you can go on your way'. 'I was expecting them to apologise for stopping me unnecessarily, but they didn't do that – but it was alright.' The naked rider first started getting into naturism after he visited Finland for jobs" target="_blank">work and realised their sauna culture was 'far more liberated' then he was. In 2011, Grahame started to spend more time naked at home, and a year later he joined the Manchester version of the annual World Naked Bike Ride. The retired University of Salford IT professor points to research which shows naturism can have positive benefits, such as increased levels of happiness, as well as improved self-esteem and body image. He said: 'It's just a feeling of freedom, losing that encumbrance of clothes and just being yourself. 'We build a persona in society and clothes are all a part of that. Shedding all of that and just being who you are in the moment is a big part of it.' In 2012, Grahame decided he would practice naturism 'whenever possible'. He said: 'It generally depends on the weather. You can walk in relatively cool weather, but cycling it's not as if you can get out of the wind, you're making your own wind. 'It has to be pretty warm before it can be comfortable.'
The Guardian
27-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘People spontaneously strip off and join us': nude cyclists send message you don't need to be buff
This weekend in Melbourne, expect to see hundreds of cyclists with a striking difference. Instead of the usual Lycra-clad peloton, these riders will be getting their kit off in a day of nude protest to draw attention to rider safety and visibility, diversity of body image and a celebration of low-carbon transport. Dearne Weaver, a 61-year-old community worker from Canberra, says when she first attended Melbourne's World Naked Bike Ride in 2019 she was worried it might be too male-dominated – but she was pleasantly surprised. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads 'The first time I went solo and I did expect it to be mostly guys, as many nudist and cycling events are, but then we went and I found it a very welcoming, very appropriate and very supportive experience. I had an absolutely great time – I don't think you could have wiped that smile off my face if you'd tried.' Weaver is making the trip down to Melbourne again this weekend as the city's annual naked bike ride celebrates its 20th anniversary – having evolved from a small grassroots event to the largest in the southern hemisphere, according to organisers. She says one of the most exhilarating things about the 10km naked bike ride around Melbourne's CBD and inner suburbs is the responses it gets from unsuspecting spectators. 'I mean there are always going to be a few horrified glances and curses, but the vast majority of people love it and cheer us on especially when they realise we are chanting about rider visibility and safety and the environmental benefits of cycling. We've even had people spontaneously strip off and join us.' Pablo Teleg says the naked bike ride feels liberating. The 30-year-old building designer who moved to Melbourne from the Philippines in 2022 took part for the first time last year. 'A Filipino student had given away his bicycle that same morning and a few minutes later I was getting my body painted and then riding nude in the crowded city with people honking and cheering.' Teleg says as a gay person coming from a conservative country, he had never experienced anything like it before. 'There's this University of the Philippines Oblation Run, which is also a form of nudist protest, but it's exclusive to men [fraternity members],' he says. 'I had no idea about [the naked bike ride's] essence aside from being a fringe thing until I saw messages about body positivity, gender equality, climate policies and cyclists visibility in the streets painted on people's bodies.' 'The participants had this friendly and joyful energy and it was nice and sunny. The suddenness and novelty of the experience just felt like a pleasant dream to me.' Naked bike rides first took off in the early 2000s in Spain and Canada, before gaining speed and morphing into the official World Naked Bike Ride after Vancouver-based social activist Conrad Schmidt helped organise the first iteration, intended as a clothing-optional event to celebrate body positivity and to advocate for less oil-dependent transport and more cycle friendly streets in 2004. The naked bike ride has taken place in more than 70 cities and towns globally since its inception, with this year's locations including Byron Bay in Australia on 9 March this year, London, UK on 14 June, and Portland, Oregon, in the US on 26 July. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion Melbourne co-organiser and longtime participant Michael James, a 63-year-old retiree, says he has been involved in more than 50 naked bike rides in Melbourne and around the world. 'The ride started small and has grown in popularity each year.' He says those wishing to take part this year will gather on Saturday at noon at Lincoln Square in Carlton, but the route will remain a secret until the day 'to avoid large groups of people gathering to view the ride and causing unnecessary traffic disruption particularly at key intersections'. James says people can expect to see a lot of body paint, shouts of joy, bells and whistles and a once-a-year opportunity to cycle naked through Melbourne's streets. For Weaver, taking part in the naked bike ride is a chance to advocate for rider visibility on the roads and desexualising the human body. 'There's still a lot of road users that remain hostile or downright aggressive to sharing the road with cyclists. But on top of this, I see this as a reminder that being naked is not any kind of implied consent – it is just a human body. It's not just body positivity, but just body acceptance.' Weaver says especially in these times of global anxiety and violence, events such as these give participants an opportunity to do something joyful and empowering. 'At the end of the day, anything that brings people joy is vital right now, anything that distracts you from all that darkness and negativity. This brings me a lot of joy. When you're out there, naked, smiling and laughing and riding through the city, it feels outside of the box. It just feels awesome – honestly.'
