Quote:
Originally Posted by stevin6
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From the offical WNBR site:
The fifth annual Chicago World Naked Bike Ride on Saturday June 14th 2008 was an overwhelming success, with an official participant count of 1700!
This count was calculated using a stationary elevated video record of the entire mass from head to toe passing a fixed point early in the ride, counted using slow-motion, repeated four times and averaged. The video was taken at the North East corner of Washington and Racine as mass left a traffic signal, using a crosswalk line as count point. Point was about 1.5 miles into ride from gathering area, about .5 miles from Union Park check-in point. Mass there averaged a dozen deep, passing about ten a second. Margin of error could be high, but certainly over 100 more joined the ride well after the count (many intentionally merging at the half-way viewing point) making 1700 a safe figure.
Others may review the count using the reference video on our photos page. Several preliminary photo albums, route map, and more are also there.
Cheers to everyone for their tremendous courage! I'd guess that over 90% were in briefs or less (and paint), and 5-10% of those were nude or bare-breasted despite risk, with gender mix not far from even. The mass included a marching-type band and several large music systems, over a dozen inline skaters, several skate boarders, many art bikes, and a rear-guard of trailers. As usual, participants have trouble describing the experience, with even gushing words like magical, miraculous, incredible, unbelievable, transcendent, and "best time of my life" barely sufficing.
Route covered about 14+ miles, and for our first time a text messaging group was used to broadcast our progress live. The throng of fans at viewing point (Belmont and Halsted) was exceedingly thick (compressing and lengthening the mass) and we arrived there fashionably late. Some 24,000 informational handouts were distributed en-route. Accidents, flats, and altercations with cars were few.
Huge kudos to the volunteers and coordinators who gave outstanding performance and dedication under pressure. Body painting capacity was more than doubled, and additional activities and more snacks and water were added. Also for the first time we rented porta-potties, and had a large after-party.
1700 nearly triples Chicago's 2007 turnout, and I would presume sets another US record. This year we intentionally under-publicized, to save on printing and distribution, to throttle growth and filter for earnest and repeat participants, and to focus on safety instead of growth. In modesty, Chicago's WNBR benefits greatly from sheer population, an active bike culture and clubs, 10 years of Critical Mass, bike friendly city government, good weather on ride day, and especially being a night ride.
ANYONE WITH PRESS clippings or TV NEWS captures of the Chicago ride PLEASE retain and reply. Don't assume we already have it. I'm told I was on TV again this year, but have yet to see it.
Finally but foremost, boundless sincere gratitude goes to mayor Richard M Daley and to the Chicago Police for their acceptance and facilitation of this ride. This and other massive local rides tangibly show Chicago's ongoing commitment to being a notably bike-friendly U.S. city