Quote:
Originally Posted by 27cows
It'll never be worldwide. Can you imagine WNBR Baghdad? WNBR Riyadh? WNBR Beijing? Yet the (picks words carefully) people from less enlightened countries seem to be the very worst behaved when it comes to any gathering involving people wearing very little or nothing. Which speaks volumes, I think.
If I had my way, the London ride would be scrapped and there would be two (maybe more!) in Brighton each year. The whole place is just one great vibe. I will never forget perching on the edge of that fountain at Old Steine as girls and boys, young and old, danced about under the cascading water in the glorious hot sunshine and thinking that this is about as good as life gets.
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From what I know, Brighton is sort of a college town? I ventured down to Eugene, OR, another college town, on Saturday to witness their ride. My report goes like this:
Eugene, OR is a bustling college town of 150,000 and is home to the University of Oregon. Always at the cutting edge of west coast culture, this town would seem ripe to host a large, enthusiatic WNBR. However, despite the fact that Portland and its mammoth ride is only a scant 90 miles away, this town has never really put their WNBR on the map. I've attended 4-5, always in daylight, and always they have been lightly attended. Where are all those college kids? Eugene is also a very bike friendly town. But as many know, the kids don't generally come out unless its dark out. One year, this town did attempt to host a night ride, but it fizzled out and I recall spending a fruitless evening driving around town only to come up empty handed.
OK, so they do ride, but attendance seldom tops 50 participants, and its hit or miss if you are a photographer. So, last Saturday, I arrived with low expectations. At 4PM, the scheduled arrival time, few had showed, and even at 4:20, ten minutes before ride time, only 10-15 were on hand, mostly male and mostly clothed. Oh well, I though - I guess I'll head out. So I started to walk towards my car, but a little voice inside me said "hang around another 5-10 minutes - or at least until the ride departs". And so I did, and thank the lord for that! Five minutes later, three nice young girls arrived and two stripped to nothing. Within 5 more minutes, I had gotten my shots, and the ride was off. Unfortunately though, they rode away from me, not towards me. But thats OK - it wasn't a total loss and I'm glad I made the trip down. Eugene's bike ride may not be in a class with Portland's, but any one can have the potential to be productive.
Below are two pics and I have up to a dozen or so which I will try to post as soon as the London WNBR onslaught has cooled.
Davidavin (Klondike)