WNBR London World Naked Bike Ride 2014.

• ptrbee

The World Naked Bike Ride London 2014 got under way today with a record number of participants, who managed to bring Westminster Bridge to a stand still. Full album can be viewed here.

Riders and spectators.

This was the tenth year of the World Naked Bike Ride, a protest against car culture and global oil dependency.

Burn fat not oil.

2014′s World Naked Bike Ride began at 2:30pm with nude riders embarking from six different starting points around London. They then converged on the city centre in a mass protest, with all cyclists merging at Westminster Bridge and heading to Wellington Arch to complete the ride.

Protest body paint.

Some were covered in body paint and political messages as the protesters sought to get their message across about creating a cleaner future.

Coconut trees.

The London Naked Bike Ride attracted cyclists as well as skaters to promote cycling as an alternative to car transport.

skating as an alternative transport method.

I’ve posted an article on Demotix photos here.

Paint.

For more information on the event see the World Naked Bike Ride London Facebook group.

Lanes are for sharing.

The ride was part of Bike Week, which is the UK’s biggest nationwide cycling event and aims to encourage ‘everyday cycling for everyone’ with a range of free activities across the country and the capital from 14-22 June.

Cyclists decorated their backs and bikes with slogans to highlight the vulnerability of cyclists on the roads.

Can you see me now driver.

Although the ride is in support of a good cause, some of the participants were very rude and disrespectful to the waiting crowds and onlookers. Hundreds of spectators waited for hours to view, support and get photos of or with them.

Rude nude cyclist.

One protestor randomly squirted the crowds with a water canon, apparently unconcerned about damage to the phones or cameras of bystanders. Some cyclists went out of their way to walk into photographers or people standing on the side while shouting, “excuse me” or “can I get past”, ignoring the open space directly in front of them.

Water canon.

The majority of cyclists got their message across peacefully, with riders participating in several continents and numerous cities across America, Australia Venezuela and elsewhere in the UK.

Peace.

5 thoughts on “WNBR London World Naked Bike Ride 2014.”

  2. As I said, it was a very enjoyable experience. But kind of weird. First, when I got to the departure point, I was a a bit hesitant to disrobe. But once I did, I gradually become more comfortable. Also, in York, there were so many Chinese onlookers (many of them were university students) that made the scene strange but I eventually I enjoyed their presence. There were times when there were very few spectators and at others, we were the main attraction in town.

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  3. Mr Branch, I think it a shame that you feel it necessary to criticise some riders for their reaction to being crowded by people not taking part in the ride.

    Year on year, we endure inconsiderate and intrusive behaviour from onlookers making it quite difficult to move away at the start, and to follow the route to the designated end point of the ride. When hundreds of riders are being forced through a narrow gap by the crush of onlookers on both sides, it’s rather unfair to talk about “an open space in front” that is barely enough for one cyclist at a time. From your description of the disagreement, and the nature of your photographs, it rather suggests that you were one of those right at the front of the crush.

    As for the lady spraying water, where’s your sense of humour on a warm day? Perhaps you could take it as a hint that she didn’t want to be photographed. Instead of accusing others of being “disrespectful”, maybe you could show some awareness for how the needs of the participants were not being respected.

    I don’t wish to be negative. The response from onlookers over the length of the route was overwhelmingly positive, and contrasts with unwelcome crush at the start and end. There – that’s a “participant’s perspective” (I take it you are posting as “ptrbee” above). If you want our perspective at first hand, there’s nothing stopping being a participant next time round. I promise you, you will have far better cooperation from riders you want to photograph!

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    1. Hi Anthony,
      sorry I took so long to reply but I was away.

      I don’t feel it necessary to criticise I did feel the need to report what I saw. I’m sorry but I will not be participating, I am a photographer.
      This was a demonstration on the public roads. Due to the type of the protest you will attract attention not just the press but also of the general public. I’m sorry but based on what I witnessed, there is no reason to be rude to onlookers or press because they are watching the protest! If you go through the photos you will notice that no one is being crushed & the protesters actually outnumbered the bystanders. Also note there is no one around the lady with the water gun, so walking along squirting people standing on the sidelines is wrong & unacceptable! Sorry but there was no need to be rude.

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