Denver's World Naked Bicycle Ride

Denver's 2011 World Naked Bike Ride is almost 2 days away! Join us!

Date: Sunday, August 7th
Time: Meet at 2:00pm, ride takes off at 3:00pm
Start location: 721 Elati St. (the "T-Haus")
Directions: Between 7th and 8th Ave (8th Ave. is a one-way street going west, so plan your route out ahead of time if you don't know your way around here). Elati is 5 blocks west of Broadway. 721 Elati St. is a house (residence). We'll be in the backyard!
Bring: Your bikes/rollerblades/skateboard/rollerskates/pedicabs/tricycles/etc., clothes you can take with you during the ride, water bottle, helmet (please?), and your fabulous self and as many people as you can convince to come ride with us; optional: signs that can be safely strapped to your bike, bike decorations. Some body paints and brushes will be provided, but bring some of your own if you want. Can anyone bring a portable sound system?
Do I have to be naked?: The ride is "As Bare As You Dare." This means as much or as little clothing as you are comfortable with.
What about police?: The Denver police are actually pretty supportive. We should be fine. (see below)
What if I think I'm too fat/ugly/abnormal/etc. to be naked in public?: You are free to decide what you are comfortable with, but the ride is body-positive and open to all, regardless of body type (see below)
Other info: If you live too far away to bike to the start location, please try to car-pool or take public transportation or something. Yes, you can take your bike with you on all RTD buses, including the BV/BX from Boulder to Denver.
You will be able to leave extra clothing, paints, or other stuff at the ride start/end location during the ride.
The route will probably be about 7 miles long (possibly less, but not more) and will travel slow enough for everyone to keep up.
Questions?: e-mail wnbrdenver@gmail.com

***About the World Naked Bike Ride and this year's Denver ride***

The World Naked Bike Ride is an international protest movement that, through rides that happen in cities all over the world, calls attention to and raises awareness of bicycle and transportation issues, protests oil dependency and car culture and the resulting global warming, and demonstrates the vulnerability of cyclists on the road. More information about the movement can be found at www.nakedwiki.org .

One important aspect of the World Naked Bike Ride is the body-positive aspect that reminds people not only that cyclists on the roads are extremely vulnerable against cars, but that cycling is a completely healthy, organic, and human-powered form of transportation.

Ride participants also seek to celebrate the power and individuality of the human body and remind people that there is nothing inherently lewd or indecent about the human body itself. As such, the dress code for the ride is "as bare as you dare," which may include anything from full nudity to completely "dressed," and anything in between, but many participants find creative ways to cover up whatever body parts their own modesty dictates, using bodypaints, bike parts, found objects, and other creatively- and tastefully-designed costuming. How individual participants express this dress code is up to them as long as they are attired and behaving in a way that is in no way lewd or sexualized, and ride organizers never impose a minimum or a maximum of clothing. Most participants paint some sort of bike-related political slogans on their bodies to make it clear what the ride is about.

For those concerned about legal issues, here are a few helpful things to know:

1. In both Denver and Colorado, "indecent exposure" laws are designed to criminalize flashers and others who may seek to "offend or alarm" others with their nudity. What we're doing is quite the opposite, and therefore legal (according to lawyers we've worked with in the past).

2. Nipple exposure on ANYONE is legal in Denver.

3. The Denver WNBR has worked out a pretty good balance with the police department, who are fine with what we're doing as long as we follow traffic rules (stay in one lane and stop at red lights, etc.) At the last ride, they showed up at a couple points to block off a busy street for us so we could all cross, but left us alone otherwise. Please note that this does not constitute a guarantee on the part of the organizers that there will be zero legal issues this year, but we do believe that it is reasonable to expect solely benign, if any, interaction with law enforcement.

4. You can always find a creative (or uncreative, if you must) way to cover up whatever your modesty dictates, if you still have some concerns. Participants are advised to bring with them some sort of clothing they can throw on quickly in case there are any issues or, more likely, they get separated from the ride somehow (although we do try to make sure this doesn't happen.) You can always add or remove clothing along the ride, as you are comfortable.

Who can participate? Anyone! Please know that you are beautiful and are welcome to participate, whether you are fat, thin, muscular, flabby, trans, cisgendered (not trans), female, male, genderqueer, gender-ambiguous, intersex, a person of color, white, able-bodied, disabled, queer, straight, tan, pasty, old, young, political, non-political, rich, poor, religious/spiritual, non-religious/spiritual, a naturist, some one who's never been naked in public before, shy, outgoing, a cyclist with a fancy bike, a bike commuter with a non-fancy bike, a car-owner who hasn't picked up their bike in a few years, a skateboarder punk, etc. etc. Of course, you are still free to decide how much nakedness you are comfortable with or whether you want to participate, but know that as long as you are coming to ride in solidarity with the pro-bike/body-positive message of WNBR and respect the people around you, you are welcome!

*Kids are welcome, but it's recommended that the younger ones have a parent or something with them.

*We're aware that the nature of the ride may pose particular obstacles for some disabled folks, and that it is not perfectly accessible. But please please talk to the organizers if you would like to participate and have any concerns about accessibility. We'd like to make it work as best we can.

*Also, we'll have a safer spaces policy. We'd like to encourage people to not take some one's picture without asking first, but to also keep in mind that you may end up having your picture taken and to plan accordingly.

Join us as we protest oil dependency and celebrate the power and individuality of our bodies.

NAKED BICYCLE PEOPLE POWER!