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Bare faced cheek of naked bike riders

Thousands of cyclists brave the streets starkers to protest against oil dependency

Thousands of cyclists shed their Lycra yesterday (13 June) to take part in Naked Bike Ride events all over the world.

Globally more than 10,000 people take part in rides, designed to celebrate nakedness, draw attention to cyclists’ vulnerability and protest against oil dependency.

An estimated 3,000 riders were expected to join the main UK rides yesterday in London, Brighton, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton and York. Smaller rides were planned in Belfast, Bournemouth, Cambridge, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, Oxford, and Totnes.

A spokesman for the Naked Bike Ride said, “It was a great success, with more rides and more riders than ever before. This year saw the first rides in Italy and Ireland and a newly extended ride in London starting from near Heathrow. The London ride now runs so smoothly that the police no longer see any need to escort us. There's been more media interest than ever before too - perhaps because of the dreadful BP situation in the Gulf.”

Thanks to Brighton photographer Heather Buckley for her shot of one of yesterday’s Brighton riders. To see more, visit her Flickr pages.

Lifelong lover of most things cycling-related, from Moulton Mini adventures in the 70s to London bike messengering in the 80s, commuting in the 90s, mountain biking in the noughties and road cycling throughout. Editor of Simpson Magazine (www.simpsonmagazine.cc). 

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Denzil Dexter | 14 years ago
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Quote:

Oil is needed just as much for bicycles as it is for car and modern life

No argument oil is needed for bicycles, but just as much as for cars? That's over-egging it a bit.

No doubt some aspects of manufacturing and transporting my bike from the Far East to Blighty were oil powered, but unless my memory really is failing me I can't remember ever having to stick fifty quids worth of unleaded in it or indeed any. Nor does it take a litre of Castrol every month either… maybe the odd dribble of Green Oil, which, if my nose is right smells morel like the by product of olives rather than old dinosaurs.

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Shiny Flu | 14 years ago
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"...protest against oil dependency."

I have no issue wit

h wanting to protest, but ignorance rubs me the wrong way. Bicycles would not exist without oil or the use of refined oil products. From extracting the raw materials (or producing them- carbon) all the way to replacing worn parts. Oil is needed just as much for bicycles as it is for cars and modern life. When will people understand that oil = more than just cars!?

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Recumbenteer replied to Shiny Flu | 14 years ago
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Shiny Flu said"....ignorance rubs me the wrong way. Bicycles would not exist without oil or the use of refined oil products...."

That may be currently true, but need not necessarily always be true. In-fact we could make and maintain bicycles without any fossil-fuels.

Because modern society is geared-up around artificially cheap FFs [the true costs of FFs are not reflected in the price paid by the consumer], using renewable alternatives to FFs will continue to compare badly, untill the true cost of FF use is reflected in the price.

The most stupid thing we can do with FFs is to burn them. FFs will eventually run-out. For example, we are currently burning coal at a rate 1,000 times the rate that it was laid down.

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simonmb | 14 years ago
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I really don't see that this has got anything at all to do with cycling or road.cc - it's merely exhibitionists at play. Good luck to them though. And the photos on Heather's site are beautifully shot.

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Zaskar | 14 years ago
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Wish I was brave as them! eek!  19

I know its a protest but they could raise funds for charity too but taken less seriously which defeats their goal?

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