Portland World Naked Bike Ride

The most joyous fun time my wife and I ever had. The vibe was great, more people going fully nude, lots of support from the street crowd. We’ll be back next year.

If you’re on the fence about it– I just wanted to give you that extra push to JUST DO IT. If you’re nervous just wear your clothes and meet up with the group. Odds are you’re going to want to strip down, but if you decide you don’t you can always cheer people on or just be a spectator.
The Good:
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the ride and all of them are true. Being naked amongst ~10K people is really liberating. It reminds you how beautiful the human body is and how many different body types there are.
It’s pretty organized for the most part. The cops are very helpful. Everyone’s looking out for each other including spectators who are cheering you on and warning you about train tracks, potholes, etc.
The Bad:
A LOT of people take pictures and record video.
You might run into people you don’t want to. The odds are actually quite high that you’ll run into people you know. I personally ran into a bunch of coworkers but you’re on level playing ground.
Tips:
Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. If you want to wear a mask– do it. If you want to wear paint, underwear, fairy wings, etc. go for it!
Think about what you’re packing and don’t over pack. You’ll want water and perhaps a snack. Especially if your first ride– you might be flustered so be careful and don’t lose your stuff.

Hands down this is Portland’s best gathering, event, protest, festival of awesomeness thing. Everyone should do this once if you’re going to call yourself a real Portlander.
Far more tame than you’d think and personally I feel and it’s an amazing opportunity for anyone who struggles with body image to try this and be freed!
Like other reviewers, if you’re on the fence, do this!
You will forever be changed.
The 2015 ride was the best organized so far and with an estimated 10 000 riders, that’s saying a lot!

For the 2014 ride. It was fun, but sort of disorganized. It was fun, but it didn’t start until over an hour after the advertised start time! It was fun with a cool vibe, but it was honestly a little weird to stand at basically a stand still while a bunch of clothed people ogled the riders and took pictures while we waited to ride.

The awesomeness that is the World Naked Bike Ride cannot be expressed in one Unilocal review.
This is my favorite night of the year. During no other time in Portland do I feel such camaraderie with my fellow citizens. Sure, there are some looky-​loo creepers and in rare cases, some jerks. But if you ever have to deal with those people, the support and backup you receive from the other naked bikers is incredible. Everyone who rides just beams with pure happiness. You cannot pry the smile off your face with a crowbar. Must be experienced to be believed. Highly recommended.
If you decide to ride, here are some tips I’ve picked up over the years:
1. Bare as much as you’re comfortable. One year I went full commando and found that I prefer wearing bottoms, so that’s what I do now. But you’ve got to bare something– it would be weird to ride fully clothed next to a bunch of naked people. If it’s cold, scarves, leg warmers and arm warmers are totally acceptable. Costumes are fun but not necessary.
2. Shoes– you’re going to want to wear comfortable shoes, because most likely you will be walking for short stretches. You do not want your flip flop to fall off as you half walk/​half pedal in the crowded areas.
3. If you see someone you know– wave, smile, and keep your eyes above shoulder level.
4. Wave to the crowd and thank the police for clearing the streets. You’re basically in a parade.
5. Bring a bag or pannier for your clothing and phone. It’s best to have it with you, and not leave it at the start. Panniers or baskets work great so you don’t have to carry your bag or smear it with your body paint.
Once you’re comfortable with the nighttime ride, try the smaller daytime ride!

Sure, the event shuts down the city and traffic for a couple of flesh-​colored, neon lit hours.
Yes, you see lots of balls and boobs and bits, not to mention enough body glitter and paint to decorate a Cirque du Soleil troupe for a multi-​month run. If setting your virgin eyes upon such sights upsets you, then camp out in North Portland, your bunker, or even Vantucky for the evening and don’t watch.
And yes, you probably learn about the annual naked bike ride and wonder why. That’s healthy. It’s always good to question the reasons for things. Some other suggestions of things to question could include: How do you keep the swinging pendulum action from getting caught in anything? Is there etiquette when it comes to borrowing a bike for the naked bike ride? How naked should you go? Are shoes acceptable? I can help you with those questions.
I don’t know. I don’t have any swinging pendulum action, although I did say at least once that it was hard to steer my bike because my dick is so big,
Unless you plan to replace the seat of your friend’s bike, use your own.
As much as you’d like! The only articles that you really shouldn’t skimp on are your footwear and a bag to carry your essentials. Just plan ahead, as body paint and backpacks don’t play so well together. Costume gear such as masks, fairy wings, and wigs are cool and can help you appear less recognizable, but seriously, good luck with that. I know that about 15 minutes into the ride, I totally made eye contact with a person standing on the sidewalk and realized that she was a casual acquaintance. As I pedalled away, I heard her say, «Oh my gosh, I know that girl! The one in the pink wig!» So much for anonymity.
I haven’t really gotten yet to the answer regarding the why. Why indeed. What would possess you with the urge to strip to your birthday suit among thousands of like-​minded strangers and ride a bike through a city at night not known for being particularly warm to even the clothed? Let me back up to explain my reasons why.
I’d watched previous years’ rides from the sidelines. Unless you are blind or fatally uninterested in other human beings, it is impossible not to. And I’d wondered why, too. Then during the 2011 naked bike ride, I found myself on Belmont attempting to cross the street to get to the second bar of the night but forcibly intercepted by the riders en route towards the east. For what must have been an hour, I stood gawking with everyone else at all the tattoos and crayon-​colored hair and whirling spokes and pointed nipples. And while lots of sounds erupted from the riders — hollers of triumph and grunts at the chilliness of the air and the swish of tires against the wet asphalt — the one phrase that stuck with me was the epithet, «Perverts!» That was what a few of the ride participants shouted at the spectators. Because even though the instinct is to label the hardly-​clad freaks on the bikes as the deviant ones, it’s the people who sit and watch who become more suspect. The naked bike riders may get the stares, the judgement, and the turtle effect on their private parts, but they also get the adrenaline rush, the high fives, the police escorts, the major streets free of cars, and the up-​for-​grabs donuts (FOR REALS — thank you Staccato Gelato!).
A few months after the 2011 naked bike ride, Kathy died and I found myself wondering in moments of banal trepidation, «What would Kathy do?» That girl was many things, but she was no mere watcher.
Kathy’s passing wasn’t the only reminder that stuff you take for granted would one day go away. I would have one more beer the night before, and when I woke up the next morning trying to shake the freight train from my skull, I realized I couldn’t drink the way I used to. I would aggravate a shoulder or my back or some major muscle doing some standard action, and I got the message that my body would someday become unreliable and weak. On some nights, Ter and I would play «How’s our future lookin’?» and the glimpses involved dumb things like property taxes and early morning diaper changes and not awesome things like leaving town at the drop of a hat or staying out all night just because.
Then in 2012, the weather on the day the ride was scheduled all but begged you to shed your layers and ride a bike. And in order to handle things like your life’s eventual morphing into something totally unlike yours, you have to be brave, right? So Ter put on a hat, I pinned on a wig, we both plastered on temporary tattoos that say Portland in hearts, and we got on our bikes.
Why ride naked? Why the fuck not?