It is interesting (to me anyway) to see how
'the man/woman in the street' reacts when confronted with 'non-sexual nudity. From my experiences in the UK, both in Southampton and Brighton for the WNBRs, I can say that 99% of reactions is favourable, to say the least.
Maybe one or two people (usually Christians, never very tolerant and forgiving, despite the good teachings of their founder
) will call out
'you should be ashamed', but as the happenings they claim happened in the garden of Eden (not near Brighton or Southampton, as far as I know) were not the fault of those on the ride, shame is not much in evidence, just joy of existance and delight in owning a body capable of peddling a bike 9 miles, clothed or not!!!
Maybe a nude appearance of one or two people may cause a different reaction (maybe an anthrapologist can answer this) to 700 naked or partially clothed people, but I fail to see why it would enrage public feelings to the extent of violence.
The people I have encountered have on the whole been delighted by the spectacle, many shout 'I wish I had your courage to do that' and at least 20 or 30 over the past three years have done just that, stripped naked there and then to join the ride.
The Brits are not as liberal as the Europeans, but seem (mostly) to have a very healthy attitude to mass full frontal daylight nudity in crowded streets, for a worthy cause. The police are 100% behind the organisers, in fact in 2009, a policeman from the year before fulfilled a promise he made in 2008 and joined the ride!