Naturist item in Denver Post Today

The Denver Post has an article today of the Top 10 Things To Do In Colorado before You Die. Number 4 on their list is a visit to Strawberry Park Hot Springs where, as they say, "you can go au naturel after dark".

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!

Happy Towel Day

For lovers of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adans, today is Towel Day. But as most nudists knew long before the radio show, you never should go anywhere without your towel.

Tomorrow is World Naked Gardening Day

Saturday will mark the sixth annual World Naked Gardening Day, sponsored by the American Association for Nude Recreation.

Gardening enthusiasts who wish to be at one with nature can do so on the day, joined by thousands of others with the same mindset.

With our recent heavy rain and sunny skies now appearing, the flowers will start blooming all over, including the wildflowers along the hiking paths at Mountain Air Ranch.

You can read other stories here, and here.

Wall Street Journal Article on Nudism

The Wall Street Journal has an article out today discussing nudism and nudist resorts in America. You can read that article here.

Nudist Digital Clock

Here is a cute idea for a nudist digital clock (click here).

New Nudist Themed Motion Picture

A new nudist-themed motion picture is still trying to see the light of day. The film is Act Naturally and you can see their web site here. They are still looking for investors to get distribution going, evidently.

Is Facebook too strict on nudity?

Lately, Facebook has been excessively reacting to posting of breastfeeding, art projects, nudist postings and any pictures showing human skin, even if not nude. AANR has started a polling site here for you to chime in on how you feel.

Great ad for an Internet Service Provider

I just love this ad by an Internet Service Provider (not in the United States).
You need to have Flash installed (and working, which is sometimes problematic).

Save the Colorado

A local brewery, New Belgium, has always been known for their environmental committment, as well as great beer, including their Skinny Dip beer and Fat Tire (in cans you can take poolside).

Now they are sponsoring a group that is committed to preserving the Colorado River. And this group is obviously somewhat into social nudism, as you can see from the above picture. Plus, I'm sure it gets more attention than simple a picture of a magnificent river.

Nude recreation on the Colorado River is abundant, given its length and its traversal of remote and nudist-friendly environs. On any given day, the various lakes along the Colorado are full of great spots to be clothes-free.

Nudism in Grand Junction

There is a nice article and video report on the World Naked Gardening Day
and a couple in Fruita, Colorado

Springtime in the Rockies

The past two days saw temperatures across Colorado in the 60s and 70s, with today's forecast being 30s and snow. So, a lot of nudists (and near-nudists) took advantage of the weather to get outside for some sunning, gardening and hiking.

In Boulder a nudist was picked on again for being topless, which is NOT illegal in Boulder. 9news.com reported the story here.
Unfortunately, it took a while for the repressive Boulder Police Dept. to stop harassing the Pierces and tell the four callers to grow up.

The Boulder Camera asked a few people for reactions in the following video. I like the last lady's comment "I have more important concerns with kids than whether someone is topless:

How To Look Good Naked

The W Network in Canada is launching a Canadian version of "How to Look Good Naked," a TV series hosted in the U.S. by Carson Kressley. The show teaches women how to look and feel good about themselves with their clothes on or off. The outdoor campaign running in Toronto and Vancouver heavily emphasizes being comfortable sans clothes. A naked, pear-shaped woman stands next to a giant pear, with copy stating, "Learn to love your pear shape." A woman with an apple bottom stands next to a large apple and similar copy. See here and here. Pear- and apple-shaped bodies are basically out of one's control, but the muffin top, however, is controllable. The third ad has a naked lady sitting on a blueberry muffin, advocating her to love that muffin top. See the ad here. Zig created the campaign.

A Colorado Newspaper Covers Nakations

The Durango Herald did an OK job of covering Nakations (Nude Vacations) recently. Although they ignored a signature event, the World Skinny Dipping Record, held this past summer and instead focused on two bizarre airline problems with nude passengers (who really weren't being responsible nudists), they at least mentioned some high points to nude vacations.

Popularity of Nudist Vacations

This is from the San Jose Mercury News:
It seems that a recent survey of 1,882 US adults showed that ten percent of them would consider a nude recreation experience extremely or very desirable in a leisure travel experience. That was higher than for golf, snowboarding, hunting or mountain hiking, all of which you can do in Colorado.

The weather this past week in Colorado has been great for nudist venues. The Desert Reef Hot Springs and Dakota Hot Springs were open and I had friends visit both of them this week. Mountain Air Ranch had great weather, but it will be a little cool for the next three days before warming up again.

Another Not-Colorado Nudist Story

It seems the fight in California about the nudist use of its State Park beaches isn't over yet. If you follow this fight, you know that an Appeals Court ruled that the State Park rangers could start citing people for nudity WITHOUT A COMPLAINT!. Now the State Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of that ruling by the Naturist Action Committee.

World's Best Nudist Beaches

OK, not about Colorado, but fun to read about. The Daily Mail newspaper in England reports that TripAdvisor has updated their list of the World's Best Nudist Beaches, in this order:
1. Haulover Beach, North Miami Beach, Florida - A truly great beach, wide, warm water, and close to a large metropolitan and tourist area.
2. Wreck Beach, Vancouver, Canada - on my Bucket List
3. Paradise Beach in Mykonos, Greece - I haven't been to this one, but I have always found beaches in Greece to have the clearest water.
4. Orient Beach, St. Martin, Caribbean - another wonderful beach that I have had the pleasure of spending many days at.
5. Black's Beach, San Diego, California - a great beach, but the water can be a little chilly

The Denver World Naked Bike Ride

STOP INDECENT EXPOSURE TO CAR EMISSIONS!
The Denver WNBR is set for this coming Saturday, July 11, 2009. Participants are meeting at Enzo's End Pizzeria at 4:30pm for body-painting and bike decorating. The ride will kick off at 6:30pm on a route that will bring you back before sundown.

Enzo's End is at 3424 E. Colfax (& Madison)

Why a video about Air Safety in a Nudist Blog?

Watch the following video and see if you can see why: