Quote:
Originally Posted by eskimojoe
Well shit, I guess I should have brought my camera to work. They rode past my bar twice (at night in Portland). A bunch of customers ran outside to watch it. I mean, it was dark out, and the guy-girl ratio was at least 10-1 (
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more like 3:1. Maybe 4:1. the pics I've seen so far bear that out.
This ride was possibly the biggest naked bike ride in the history of mankind.
It took 20-30 minutes just to get it rolling at the start, meaning the last riders left a full 20-30 minutes after the first riders. Everyone rode out to the accompianment of a drum corp and a guy with a whistle who acted like a drum major. Future rides might need bullhorns and walkie talkies to coordinate.
Under 25 naked babes were everywhere, literally rubbing shoulders with each other, guys, spectators, everyone. Spencer Tunick would have been proud to attend and photograph this monstrous assemblage of flesh. And after the ride ended, a pretty good number of these babes walked right into the dance party without so much as putting on a sock.
As the riders returned, one fully naked babe was offering free hugs to other riders. This means, next year I RIDE!
Now as for the photography - many riders had small cameras with them, but if you were on the sidelines with a big camera, you were not very welcome at the ride. I have learned this two years in a row. So I only have a very small number of pics which I will post soon. What I heard, actually, was that along Burnside avenue, the group of riders was so massive that they pretty much were ground to a halt. That made them sitting ducks for sidewalk photogs and flash users too. I suspect that many internet pics you will see will have been taken along Burnside.
And although this year the police acted as escorts and were very friendly, I do wonder what will happen if this ride continues to grow. I don't really think it could get much bigger without starting to cause some problems (a la Bay to Breakers). And some women expressed discomfort at the scene along Burnside Ave, near where the drunks and homeless hang out, and where supposedly backsides were getting slapped by unruly spectators.
but all in all, wow! - I mean, last night I confess i had a little trouble sleeping, despite the late hour. You tend to replay these things over and over in your head....
EDIT: there are a good number of Flickr pics now up from Portland. This one below will give you an idea of the crowd assembled at the start. Shown here is probably about 1/5 or less of the total number.
KLondike