CYCLISTS BARE ALL FOR SAFE PASSAGE
Naked bike ride ‘pedals’ safety message
C YCLISTS ditched their clothes and took to the streets in Cardiff yesterday as part of the World Naked Bike Ride.
The cheeky event is organised annually to raise awareness of cyclist safety.
Cardiff’s tenth annual ride attracted around 150 cyclists, with many of them partially or completely naked, though some wore fancy dress.
The group of nude riders set off near Sophia Gardens for an eightmile cycle around the city.
One of the organisers, Mike Ambler, said it is important to help change driver mentalities.
He said: “You’ll see us when we’re naked, so you should see us when we’re not naked.”
The cyclists met up at around noon, stripped off and painted each other’s bodies on the grass behind Cardiff Museum.
Along with the body painting, there was also a carnival-style atmosphere at the site, with drum music and horns blaring.
Cyclists followed a similar route to last year’s ride, heading out to Cardiff Bay after starting from Museum Avenue.
The route took them through Cardiff city centre and, traditionally the cyclists tend to take their time, rarely going above 3mph, while taking a few stops along the way.
One memorable pit stop saw naaked bodies jumping into fountainsns in Callaghan Square for a coolingng break on the hottest day of the yearar so far.
“This is about cyclists’ safety, thehe idea being that very often motoriststs don’t see cyclists. I know it is improving but so often they’re not seen,” Mike said.
“This is to highlight the vulnerability of the human body against a two-tonne machine.”
The first global event of its kind started in 2004 – and rides in Cardiff joined in the fun in 2007.
Each year more and more people have taken part, with London and Brighton currently attracting the most UK riders, with more than 1,000 cyclists taking part in each, while Portland, Oregon, in the USA had around 8,000 riders last year.
Cyclists strip off and hit the roads each year to help raise awareness about road safety – specifically for those using bikes.