2017 outlook
 

So I gather the UK season starts today, with Canterbury. Here's hoping for something of interest!

Does anyone know if there's something strange going on with the London ride this year? I've read that they're expecting a bumper turn-out and apparently have an additional start point in Kew, but FB numbers seem low.

By the way if there are any UK based, potential jihadis reading this, can you please refrain from publicly topping yourself until say, mid July. Thank you very much.

Facebook numbers seem lower this year in the UK. Maybe a trend, but possibly because when you sign up for a FB event, it automatically tells all your FB friends what you going to do. Possibly people have decided not to have this happen now. Anybody can just turn up and strip off at any WNBR event, signing up on FB is not required.
Weather is the thing in the UK, Canterbury yesterday was 26C and sunny, today it's overcast and much cooler, so any ride today will struggle for any but the hardened few regulars......almost all male :mad:

I'm not far from Canterbury and the weather is now sunny and hot, after short but intense storm earlier. As per last year, conditions look to be ideal (sunny, high of 26C). But last time only 18 rode from the start. And I would be very surprised if the number was higher this time. I would expect the all time record low turnout at a UK ride (shared by Canterbury 2016 and Hastings 2015 - 20 each, so a couple more must have joined in at the Canterbury event last year) to be broken today.

Facebook numbers don't mean a lot any more. Last year 130+ were 'going' to the Folkestone ride. Around 25 actually did it.

Saying that, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if only 5 people turned up for today's ride. These very small 'satellite' rides really are pointless. They almost all consist pretty much entirely of the same few hardy naturists. And any local publicity is always puerile and childish, which does nothing for the pro-cyclist/clean air/oil dependency angle.

Having said that, I'll be in Canterbury anyway, as per last year, so will wander round by the castle in time for when they set off, just in case a miracle happens :D Of course, the one year I didn't bother - 2014 - over 100 rode. Why or how so many more did it that time is anyone's guess. Maybe they heard I wasn't going to be there :rolleyes:

It'll be a cock fest for Canterbury.

The lower FB numbers are because of a change in FB policy about inviting people to be a member of a group.

Your photos are always fantastic, like you I have very low expectations for Canterbury but all it takes is a couple of naked babes....

Yeah I knew that, noticed one of the organisers complaining about it. Hopefully though it'll mean that more of those who're specifically invited will attend, rather than accepting a group invite just out of politeness. I always suspected, for instance, that for Newcastle last year invites were sent to the old Spencer Tunick list- over a thousand signed up whilst just a few dozen actually rode.

Probably the blog posts I chanced upon were just being optimistic, but they sounded pretty confident of a decent turn-out for London, so I wondered if they'd been co-ordinating via a different platform this year. Though with all the various, horrendous bullshit that's gone on over the past year, I'd imagine cycle safety and oil dependency has probably dropped down most people's lists, for the time being at least.

Conditions in Canterbury were absolutely perfect for a naked bike ride. Sunny, extremely warm indeed but with a welcome cooling breeze. I walked past the castle grounds about ten minutes before the ride was due to start and was surprised to see quite a gathering. But there were some people camping in the grounds and I suspect many of the folks I saw were them. Certainly it appeared at that point like there might be the first ride not consisting pretty much of just men since 2014.

But sadly it wasn't to be. There were about 20 again, almost all the usual regulars. Fair play to them, they made a lot of noise, waved to everyone and were generally well received. I was there with a camera and so took a few snaps. I tried to get some of the members of the public reacting but it's harder than you think :p The only female taking part this time was the wife of 'Mr Skirt'. Though today she was wearing one and he wasn't :p

If only Brighton would have this kind of weather - another 2014 party would be on the cards, for sure. But we know it'll be 15C, windy, grey, cool and probably with a bit of rain thrown in come June 11 :rolleyes:

Does anyone know is lady God1va is coming
 

After lady God1va twitter got suspended ,there is no information about her ,does anyone know if she is participating???

Seen your photos, well there you go. A load of Bollocks (not your photos but rather your subject matter). The 'reaction' photos were the best, roll on the decent WNBRs

Kiran (AKA Ladygod1va) is one of the main organisers of the London ride, so it's extremely likely she'll be riding this year, probably in her usual role as traffic marshal.