Quote:
Originally Posted by crispus
And see her riding at about 1:15-20 of the first Brighton video I saw at yt: youtube.com/watch?v=sQL_8fPbGGY
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Thanks Crispus for this- that vid inspired me to jot down a
few observations, mainly because of the fact that after the London and Brighton rides last year suffered from such unusually dreary weather, and the many reasons for fearing this year might have been ominous for both rides;
Firstly,
the police presence. A motorcade of bikes paving the way, with police bicycles discreetly scattered through the field.
Followed by a police van! This has got to be the most robust WNBR organisation ever, which is reassuring. London organisers should take note, although Brighton is obviously a pretty unique place and with six start points, London policing would be much more costly. Hopefully by 2018 such policing will be unnecessary.
Secondly that it seemed the
majority of female riders were nude. Maybe that's down to Caroline Lucas doubling her majority last Thursday!
And thirdly- correct me if I'm wrong on this- but I see many more riders (female, obviously, who pays any attention to the male riders...) who are
co-ordinating between rides- over and above the obvious nudist regulars. Notable examples being the regular curly haired girl-next-door girl who stressed about stewarding in London yesterday was there, again fully nude, but more relaxed. The svelte cropped brunette who was a regular rider in Cardiff before branching out to Bristol and Brighton was again there; as was the bespectacled Bristol nude yoga chick and our good friend Lucy Lume on her third ride- surely the latter a record for an inaugeral year! Sadly I didn't see Naomi or Tish- last year was the first year one of them rode without the other, so one hopes if they were indeed lovers, that they haven't split. That would make the world a much sadder place.
But my point there is that might this just be the year the major UK WNBRs properly
consolidated into a fully co-ordinated movement- like the moment when Glastonbury went from being a load of hippies getting stoned in a field to being a sophisticated, professional operation. Wishful thinking, maybe but... if so I'm gonna have to get me a bike.
Didn't mean that to be an essay- it's just that I'm sure I'm not alone in having had not-so-optimistic expectations of this year. Cardiff, over to you!
Meanwhile, back to more good London stuff, courtesey of Flickr user Edward Allen. I'm struggling to get excited about the fanny pack girl's goth makeover, I have to say...
