Freewheelers dare to be bare
Nude cyclists bared all in Golden Bay this weekend to promote freedom and body awareness.
The World Naked Bike Ride on Saturday attracted about 30 naked cyclists from all over New Zealand and the world.
While the event started out 14 years ago as a protest to raise awareness for safer cycling conditions and sustainability, in Golden Bay it has slowly become a popular event for naturists, or nudists, and their clubs from around the country.
The global grassroots event takes place in 17 countries around the world.
The dress code motto is ‘‘bare as you dare’’.
Full or partial nudity is encouraged, but not mandatory.
Participants rode the 9-kilometre route from Central Takaka to Pohara.
Organiser Jeremy Kelleher said the closure of the Takaka Hill Road last week due to severe damage by ex-cyclone Gita, and the subsequent restriction on vehicles going through, meant there were fewer participants than in previous years.
‘‘So we have been promoting the event to locals, and showing the world that Takaka is open, and ready to have fun.’’
He said the ride was initially created to promote safer cycling and an alternative to motorised vehicles and dependence on fossil fuels.
‘‘In recent years, it’s come to promote body acceptance, together with the original objectives,’’ he said.
Kelleher is the South Island vice-president of the New Zealand Naturists Federation.
Naturism is described as a way of life ‘‘in harmony with nature, expressed through social nudity, linked to self-respect, tolerance of differing views together with respect for the environment’’.
Kelleher said the Y Generation had really come on board with naturism in recent years.
‘‘Particularly because there’s more pressure to look beautiful by buying something [to wear].
‘‘We know that you don’t need to buy something to look beautiful, we just are,’’ Kelleher said.
Ashburton naturist Joyce Mullen said the choice to go nude instead of clothed was ‘‘all about the freedom’’.
‘‘Freedom to be myself, freedom to be able to take my clothes off without offending anybody.’’
German traveller Marco Fisher said it was his first time riding naked, and being nude in public was quite new to him.
‘‘I arrived in a naked hostel here, and was pretty overwhelmed by it; I really like it and it’s really nice – different but nice.’’