How does it grow? Mostly by word-of-mouth. Invite your friends! Invite your coworkers! Invite your neighbors! Anybody on a bike is welcome.
Note that there are actually four naked rides. This page only discusses the big one -- the nighttime World Naked Bike Ride. For information about the other naked rides, and hundreds of other events, see the Pedalpalooza calendar. The naked rides are on June 12 and June 19.
There are many changes this year. I suggest you read the "Your First Naked Ride" article, even if this isn't your first naked ride.
- Quick Facts
- When and Where
- Portland's World Naked Bike Ride is happening on June 19. Our rally point will be the ODOT lot at SE Water and Taylor near the East end of the Hawthorne Bridge. We'll start meeting up at 9:00pm, and the ride will begin at 10:00pm. This is earlier than last year!
- Ride at your own risk.
- We aren't responsible for theft, injury, law enforcement, or anything else.
- What to Wear
-
The ride's dress code is officially "as bare as you dare".
You don't have to be completely naked to ride with us.
Shoes and a helmet are strongly encouraged.
A free "Bag Check" service will be available. If you leave things at Bag Check, please retrieve them by 11:30pm.
- Mechanics
-
Free bike service will be available, compliments of Joe Bike.
However, please make sure your bike is in good working condition
before you get there --
three or four mechanics, no matter how motivated,
can't fix up 10,000 clunkers between 9pm and 10pm!
- Parties
-
There is no dance party at the rally location this year.
In previous years, the Pedalpalooza Kickoff Dance Party served as
the starting point, but this year the Naked Ride falls on the middle
weekend of Pedalpalooza.
We can't have a "kickoff" party in the middle of Pedalpalooza.
Also, we couldn't find an affordable party venue big enough for
thousands of people.
However, there will be afterparties! Multiple little parties scattered around town instead of one large party at the rally point. Lists of the afterparty locations will be available at the ride.
If you want to host an afterparty of your own, or a preparty for body painting or general camaraderie, please do so! If you want to announce it on the Shift calendar (either by adding an event or by mentioning it in this ride's forum) then to avoid being inundated by friendly cyclists, I suggest being vague about the location, and asking people to RSVP. When people RSVP, you can tell them the exact location.
- Theme
- The suggested party theme (and costume theme, to the degree that it matters) is "Warriors", the classic cult movie. If you don't know the movie, read the Wikipedia article.
- Alcohol
-
We will not be selling alcohol this year.
This means you can bring your own adult beverages
though if you drink them outside of the ODOT lot then you could be
cited for drinking in public.
If you provide alcohol to a minor, you could be cited for that.
If you ride your bike drunk, you could be cited for DUII.
Riding drunk is a very bad idea anyway. You'll be riding among thousands of other cyclists, many of whom are not used to riding in groups. Slow reflexes could ruin your night.
- Risks
-
Aside from the dangers of riding in tight formation with cyclists
are aren't used to that, there are some other dangers we can
warn you about.
There are old railroad tracks near the ODOT lot. You should always cross tracks at a perpendicular angle, or as close to it as you can manage. This is tricky when the tracks turn, and even trickier when nearby cyclists limit you ability to maneuver.
We'll be crossing bridges. The route we're planning will avoid the trickiest bridge surfaces, but all draw bridges have odd gaps and metal plates which can surprise you.