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Where The Rubber Meets The Road, And The Skin Meets The Seat: Nude Cyclists Prep For Global Event

Matt Smith
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Flickr.com

Tomorrow the streets of Eugene will bear witness to a bare fitness event. But organizers of the “World Naked Bike Ride” say there’s a serious message they want to share.  KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.

Participants are told to “Bare as you dare”, meaning they can go totally naked, wear body paint or thongs, or layer on as they feel comfortable. 

The main point, according to volunteer coordinator Ralph Forrest-Ball, is two-fold.

Credit Brian Yap / Flickr.com
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Flickr.com

“Riding our bicycles nude symbolizes the vulnerability that cyclists face when they share the road with larger vehicles," Forrest-Ball tells KLCC.  

"And it also symbolizes the fact that our entire society is vulnerable when we rely on fossil fuels, which are a finite resource.” 

Cyclists are to meet at Monroe Park Saturday afternoon at 4pm.  The ride will loop around downtown hitting sites like the Saturday Market and the old EWEB Building. 

Altogether, the route will cover roughly eight miles.

Forrest-Ball says he hopes to have 100 bikers for the Eugene event.  The ride is happening in dozens of other cities worldwide.   

Copyright 2017, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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