WNBR 2014

[imaderelict]

.. I've seen a number of videos from people riding. Hasn't anyone thought to mount their camera on the BACK of the bike? The view would be so much better, don't ya think?

[Davidavin]

Originally Posted by imaderelict

.. I've seen a number of videos from people riding. Hasn't anyone thought to mount their camera on the BACK of the bike? The view would be so much better, don't ya think?

At Fremont, I have seen tandem bikes or hybrid vehicles where a second guy is pointing a camera backwards. I wouldn't try it alone though because I'd have little assurance that the camera was pointed right.

I've been thinking about riding the Fremont parade this year but doing it with the idea of getting out in front of the pack, stopping here and there to shoot backwards (not while moving) and otherwise high tailing it down to Gaswork Park ahead of everyone else (tricky but if the pack is riding slow and circling you can maybe continue to work your way back to the front). Then when I get to Gaswork, I ditch the bike, turn around, and take the rest of my shots. But I doubt I'll try and shoot while moving.

Riding as opposed to driving your car like a crazy man to cover both the front and back ends of a ride can be good logistics. With many WNBR's, the actual route and end point is not really known to anyone but the riders. And in fact, while the nighttime Portland WNBR seems best covered by spectators, the best daytime WNBR pics often seem to come from other riders. With the smaller rides, fellow riders can do better than spectators because they can stay close to everyone throughout and thus take multiple close ups of the few (often under 5) female riders taking part.

Davidavin (Klondike)

[Iamsailing]

Originally Posted by imaderelict

.. I've seen a number of videos from people riding. Hasn't anyone thought to mount their camera on the BACK of the bike? The view would be so much better, don't ya think?

I'm sure I saw a guy in london with 3 or 4 camcorders mounted all over his bike with some on poles to get elevation but I cant recall seeing what looked like the reults anywhere

[Pedro the Fisherman]

Just seen the pics, 1.5 fully naked ladies seems to be the sum total The usual rider with flowers and the new girl mentioned above, who kept her panties on

[BeachBiker]

According to information posted on both Twitter and Facebook, organizers are planning a "clothing optional" ride "in solidarity with the WNBR" in New York City on Friday evening June 13, That's the night before most of the international WNBR rides, and there's, so far, been no mention online of an "official" WNBR in NYC on that Saturday.

The new evening ride is being promoted as "Bare as You Dare" and "clothing optional" probably to encourage more participants, who might not want to be associated with something with "naked" in the brand name.

As an after work, Friday Night Happy Hour, event in a city with millions of young singles such a ride might draw large numbers of riders and spectators before they head for home at the end of a work week.

It should be noted that New York City has a new administration this year, with a much more liberal mayor. Also new this year are widely available Citibikes, which can easily be rented. They are similar to the Boris, or Barclay's bikes in London. And New York has miles and miles of dedicated bike lanes.

Unfortunately, the NYC WNBR has, most years, offered a few dozen riders who appear to be mostly counterculture types, with a few guys and a couple of very brave women willing to risk an encounter with the NYPD by riding fully nude in the city. However, it should also be noted that in NYC it is ALWAYS Legal for women to walk around or ride a bike completely topless. So a fully legal ride full of babes wearing just bikini bottoms is much better than no babes at all. And the first few hours, from 6-pm until 10-pm, should offer enough daylight, at this time of year, for pictures.

The new ride will also start over the bridge in Brooklyn, and likely cross the river and into Manhattan. The downtown financial district is still pretty active on Friday nights in summer, but very quiet the rest of the weekend. It will also be interesting to see if the ride ventures up to Midtown, Central Park,Times Square, 5th Avenue etc. which are always very active. A few years ago they rode all the way to Columbus Circle through a busy Midtown on a Saturday afternoon, and they also had an escort of motor scooter police watching their every move. It has appeared that the police were less vigilant when they rode through neighborhood streets in Brooklyn, or an almost empty Downtown Manhattan on a Saturday afternoon. It will be interesting to see how the new ride goes, and, hopefully there will also be a daylight WNBR in NYC the next day.

If the night ride is anywhere near as popular as Portland, this could be the start of something really BIG !!!

[karaban]

Originally Posted by Drondo

The organiser of these two rides is strongly anti-photography and classes those as 'creeps' and will ask the Police to 'remove you', whether or not they will or even have the powers to do so is questionable. Rather odd as the ride is designed to promote awareness and garner publicity, furthermore some of the participants are a bit 'strange' and seem to enjoy exhibiting themselves.

This is a good reason to avoid the rides, however even if you are still tempted the main reason to avoid this ride is that the participants are mainly old blokes with their cocks out!

I have high hopes for Hastings, they have a reasonable (and legal) photography policy, asking people to observe etiquette and not to harass riders. Something that is common sense anyway.

Think he's likely to be disappointed by the police response, to be honest.

[karaban]

Originally Posted by Drondo

Just about sums it up, Portsmouth was never going to be a shining light, onto the next one, Canterbury, I wouldn't hold your breath for that one either.

Has anyone seen any more Portsmouth photos since this was posted? I've seen the FBook set mentioned, and the one on the photo agency site Demo*tix, are there any others?

[Fango]

Originally Posted by portlandmarine

plus I'll have a young female friend with me!

Any chance we'll be seeing any pictures of your friend?

Fango

[schlubby]

Originally Posted by portlandmarine

Got them both covered Klondike, I'm 30 so no problem there, plus I'll have a young female friend with me! So hopefully that will help too. I was thinking about brining a larger camera (a Sony NEX-5N) though. What precautions do you think I should take? Also, I have a flash on the camera, but never used it before and am not sure if it will drain the battery.

I don't have any experience with photographing WNBRs, but I do know something about photography, and the NEX series in particular. I wouldn't worry about the size of the NEX-5N; even with the kinda-bulky 18-55mm lens, it's on the larger end of "small cameras", in my opinion. Probably not the kind of thing that will get anybody worried. But more importantly, the low-light performance is absolutely amazing. If you set the ISO to 12800 or 25600, streetlit photos can be clear as day. The higher the ISO, the grainier the picture, of course, so you'd want to test it out beforehand to be sure, and probably bring the flash along in case you want it in the darker areas. But if you can take clear photos without drawing the attention a flash draws, it might be very well worth it, and that's a great camera to pull it off. Using the flash would probably run down your battery twice as fast as not, but the battery life starts out so good that I'd be surprised if it ran out on you from flash photography, unless you're bold enough to take 100+ shots w/flash.

[kuryaki]

All set in Madrid and Barcelona for next Saturday June 7th!

Here's the events on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/events/237586819775257/ Barcelona
https://www.facebook.com/events/663129643724176/ Madrid

I'll try to go and see if I can snap something for you fine people. But last year it was very few chicks and topless only, at least in Barcelona.

So if you're in the area, spread the word!