Click here for sample photographs of the World Naked Bike Ride Newcastle Australia
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I really didn't know what to expect. I had traveled many hours to arrive at the starting point of Newcastle's annual Naked Bike Ride and I have to confess I wasn't entirely convinced my day would be pleasant.
You see, in the weeks leading up to the event I was forced to put all my journalistic skills to the test. Finding out exactly who was running the bike ride was, in itself, a trial. Mysteriously, the advertising leaflets and web pages did not contain a contact number.
My polite e-mails were then met with suspicion. I had asked three simple questions in my correspondence. Where exactly in Newcastle would the event be held, what time would it start and who could I interview when I got there? The questions, however, were not met with the basic replies I had hoped for.
Instead I was asked, curtly, to identify myself in more detail and to outline exactly why I wanted to know such information.
A seemingly futile email ping pong game soon developed. The 'Mr X' I was communicating with made it clear that the World Naked Bike Ride would not be boycotted by prudish opponents and he wasn't about to give me the information I needed without forcing me through his self-designed personality assessment appraisal.
After a fortnight of often ridiculous email exchanges, I was finally granted an audience with the chief organiser, albeit by phone.
After a surprisingly intelligent 20-minute conversation, it seemed both me and my motives had checked out - I was granted permission to cover the very public event.
With the sour taste from this process still sitting on my lips, I arrived at the University of Newcastle where the event was set to begin. I was surprised to see the number of people who had turned out. There were at least 25 riders saddled up and they ranged in age from the very young (one family brought their nine-year-old daughter) to the mature.
It has to be said they were, as a group, a welcoming and warm bunch of people. Naturally, there was an air of excitement. It's not everyday you have a stranger paint your naked body in bright colours before you get set to ride through one of the busiest cities in Australia.
The vast majority of the riders were not completely naked. Most wore pants to conceal themselves. Many of the women participating in the ride went topless or wore bikinis that left little to the imagination.
As the journey began I asked one of the riders to explain to me why they were there. I wanted to know why a person would choose to put themselves in the public eye in such a bold way.
"There are some issues on this planet that are so important that it's worth slapping people in the face and forcing them to take notice," the rider said. "This is a fun day that has a lot of serious messages."
In fact, it seemed nearly every individual rider was spruiking a different agenda. Some were attempting to draw attention to climate change, at least one was promoting the virtues of bike riding as a 'clean' form of transport and others were touting the simplicity of a nudist lifestyle.
As the band of riders weaved their way through Newcastle, heading towards its main beach, bystanders looked on in amazement. Many were shocked, some were appalled but mostly they were amused. I watched the mouth of one elderly lady drop to the floor as the riders passed her by, ringing their bells and chanting various slogans. At another point along the route, a group of Aboriginal children were clearly ecstatic to see something different in their town. "Hey youse I can see that guy's dick," one of the teenagers yelled out. His friends doubled over with laughter.
The Newcastle World Naked Bike Ride was a great success in many ways. It created a positive spirit among those who participated and among most of the people it passed. It was indeed an adventurous pursuit for all the courageous people involved.
Whether or not it brought serious attention to the causes it intended to promote is another matter. Perhaps running the event in such a secret, 'cloak and dagger' style simply created suspicion about the motives behind the ride. Surely it would have been far more appropriate to speak openly about the event before, during and after it happened so the general public understood the very pure intentions of its participants?
I wonder if I am the only one who can see the the irony in a naked bike ride which intended to promote freedom, tolerance and acceptance but which was organised behind firmly locked doors as if it were a dirty little secret? |
