1. Remember to wear sunscreen on all that skin not normally exposed to daylight. Our riders recommend slathering it on and letting it dry before attempting any body paint.
2. Scotch tape will not keep pasties on in the wind.
3. It can get cold down by the waterfront. “You’ve been warned,” says veteran naked bike rider Chris Maxwell.
4. Only go as bare as you dare. “Lots of people keep their bottoms on, and lots of women keep some sort of top on,” says Maxwell. Some people start out more covered and shed some layers as the ride progresses.
5. Figure out your costume before you arrive. Sketch something out, or paint up first at home with the help of friends. Make sure to try out any costumes ahead of time so you know what the odds are of a wardrobe malfunction.
6. Someone will guard your clothes at the staging area, but if you’re really nervous remember to bring a backpack or something to carry your duds in while riding.
7. Try to stay with the group (especially if you don’t have your clothes with you). That said, riders can feel free to join in part-way through.
8. Maybe give some consideration to a cover for your bicycle seat. Or at least have some disinfecting wipes handy for when you’re done.
9. Know your limits, and don’t let people coerce you into doing something you’re not comfortable with. Maxwell also advises to know why you’re attending and focus on that message. It could be about bike safety, nudism/naturism, freeing the nipple or just having fun.
10. If you’re participating, you belong.
For observers
1. There will be a designated area where media can snap photos. There should be no random photography anywhere else within the staging area. Respect people’s privacy unless they tell you otherwise. If you’re not media or a participant, wait until the ride starts before taking photos.
2. Absolutely always ask permission to take pictures of someone. Also, Maxwell says, it helps to be as naked as the subject you wish to photograph.
3. Feel free to take photos during the ride, and remember that the riders would love it if you could make the pics easy to find online. The hashtag this year is WNBRHalifax2015, and related Facebook and Flickr groups for WNBR Halifax have also been created.
World Naked Bike Ride: Halifax
Saturday, July 4, 2pm
2706 Fern Lane, Halifax
Facebook
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2015.
What stupidity!!
You’re going to ride naked and you advise observers to respect people’s privacy!!!!
If you are that needy for attention, there are no rules. Perhaps observers need to make a list of rules for themselves. Dickheads all.
^^at least your photo is accurate. you’re as ignorant as that horses ass. go to bed.
OMG NAKED PEOPLE NOOOO! WON’T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN! NUDITY IS THE DEVIL !
Open casting call for “The Human Centipede IV: A New Hope”
Is there a website or Twitter for the official or proper photos?
Tonight I went to watch the CTV news and when I saw the naked bike ride in Halifax I was disgusted. Do they know that their bodies are no different than the rest of us?
I have watched Gay Parades and I can see they are making a point. I can see it and know in my heart that they are no different than we are. But this?
It was beyond words that I can express. Don’t tell me that the CTV thought it was this groups’s right, what about our’s.
CTV news has certainly degraded it’s self.
More people should ride naked. Fewer people should drive alone in cars.
BTW, see R. v. Jacob. It’s not yet the law across Canada, but any statute or by-law restricting women’s rights in regard to being “topless” would be quickly struck down as unconstitutional.
The following has nothing to do with religion, and I am not “repressed”. Rather, I am a loving family man who certainly enjoys being nude with his beloved spouse in the privacy of our bedroom. I love children, especially those who have been especially entrusted to me by fate, or god, or what-have-you :
The problem with exposing one’s genital region in public is that human beings are not like the other mammals in that we exhibit an ability to pervert what is natural and innocent. This is why there is no law about Fido’s scrotum dangling and bouncing before our eyes as you play frisbee with him in the park : Fido is an innocent creature and does not get a thrill – or indulge a “kink”, or “get off” – from being naked in public, whereas many humans do receive a perverse and disordered sense of pleasure from exposing themselves to folk who do not wish to share that level of intimacy with them.
I do not want anyone foisting their bare penis and ball sack on my family. And I believe that overrides anyone else’s desire to ride, walk or dance naked in the streets : I cannot evaluate the inner workings of an individual’s psyche, and I believe that it is just and moral to defend the innocent.
If the police will not prevent a man from exposing his penis to my children on the streets of my home town then I will stand as a caring father and defend the innocent. If said nudist is injured in my act of restrained defence then it is his fault, and not mine, because he put himself into a position requiring a warning and possibly a forceful intervention to end his unwanted – and potentially perverted – activity.
It’s very sad to read some of the negative comments regarding this year’s World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) in Halifax. The WNBR is an annual event that takes place in most major cities all over the world.
The ride is primarily to raise awareness about crude-oil dependency and its subsequent environmental damage, a subject we would all do well to pay more attention to! The WNBR has traditionally always been a clothing-optional event, as its organizers feel it is important for the human body to be portrayed in its most vulnerable state with no protection, which, in turn, highlights the safety aspects all cyclists face using today’s busy roads.
The human body, whether male or female, can be a thing of great beauty and not “disgusting” as some describe it. Nude is not necessarily lewd. The body is, after all, who (or what) we all are and not something that will somehow damage children who may be viewing it in this setting.
Maybe the problem here is with just a few very small-minded people who can’t help associating the naked body with sex. They therefore completely miss the artistic statement being made.
The WNBR is a colourful event which brings happiness and smiles to the great majority of the public at large. The ride has an equal gender balance, despite an earlier claim of being 80 per cent male. We should all be thankful to be a part of such a great city that embraces the WNBR. Maybe those who have found it necessary to write so negatively should carefully re-examine their outdated views and start living in the 21st century.
If, after all, this ride is so “immoral” and “depraved,” why is it probably the most photographed event of the year in Halifax?
This comment is 4 years later, as a naturist myself, however, I have not participated in the Halifax naked bike ride (just learned of it) but would like to, I do frequent clothing optional sections on some beaches. There are a lot of haters when it comes to naturism, non naturists simply don’t understand what naturism is all about, other than being nude, true naturists are very conservative while nude in a naturist setting, we know we are being monitored by others who disapprove, so we remain on our best behavior. If you don’t agree with naked bike rides and naturism in general, it is not like naked bike rides happen every day, allowing one day a year for a naked bike ride for those who enjoy to gather with other like minded naturists in a group setting, is very harmless, we are just a group of people who like to celebrate freedom, and try to increase our confidence and confidence in others, and put an end to bodyshaming.