![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jun. 10th, 2013 01:13 pmBefore I dig into work-type stuff I have to do, I thought I'd write about Chicago Naked Bike Ride.
I'd been tentatively planning on going for a few weeks, but I was holding off on a final decision until that weekend when I knew where I stood on school-related stuff. On Saturday things seemed good, so I started getting ready to go. As I got my things together,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
danaeris asked whether I was just going for the chance to bike around Chicago naked or whether I was invested in the political message too. Since I agree with the oil independance message, she offered to do body paint for me. I jumped at the chance, and she did really good work! I was a little worried about the time she was taking, but I reminded myself that I was being overly worried about scheduling and let her work, and it was awesome!
(In case it isn't clear from the above, this bit of writing will, in completely non-explicit ways, acknowledge the existence of naked people. If you don't want to read that, please don't.)
Chicago Naked Bike Ride - Pic-a-Day 8 June '13
Copyright 2013 (The copyright holder of this image is my partner Danaeris. Thanks sweetie!)
I wasn't sure at first whether I was going to totally strip down for the ride. I also knew it was going to be cold, so I brought thigh-high socks to wear on the ride. Along with them, I had my choices of nothing, the boxer-briefs I usually wear, or a black frilly skirt that Danae lent me that would be a little more costumey. I packed everything into the panniers on my bike, rode over to Burger King for a quick bit of food, and then got on the CTA at Davis. The ride from the Purple Line to the Red Line to the Blue Line to UIC took about an hour and a quarter and from there I quickly found the meetup spot. I and others were forwarded on from there to a semi-abandoned looking plot of ground where a thousand or so people in various modes of dress and states of undress were finding places to lean their bikes, queuing up for photos with the official photographer, and having a big damn party.
Finding myself in the middle of a huge crowd of whom a significant portion were without a stitch of clothes, I felt confident enough to go ahead and join them. I stripped to shoes and socks, stuffing my clothing into the bike bags. Now, this was the first time that I have been nude in a public space. Since I'm doing a lot of seeking out of novel experiences these days, that was pretty nifty. I was also a bit surprised at how casual it seemed. Lots of unclothed people walking about, chatting, and having fun isn't that much different from clothed people doing the same thing. On top of that, there was lots of really great costuming and paint. It felt a bit like the trip that my mother and I took to the National Rainbow Gathering years ago. In fact, I thought of that gathering a few times, and wished that I'd been a bit more socially capable back then; it would have been a fuller experience. I'll have to go again some time.
Anyway, after I'd gotten my stuff packed up and rubber-banded a small towel onto my bike seat to sit on, the time finally came for everyone to get on their bikes and roll onto the streets. Things were a bit clunky and jerky at first, what with there being over two thousand people to coordinate, but eventually things got moving. There was a slight mental barrier to overcome as I left the semi-private lot for the public streets, but I was surrounded by so many people doing the same thing I was that it only seemed like a big deal in passing. Soon enough, we were heading east toward the loop.
There were people lining a lot of the route. One guy with a big telephoto lens was out near the start, and lots of folks were shooting pictures and video on point-and-shoots or cell phones. I expected this of course. If you're doing something odd in public, people are going to take your photo. There are certainly dozens, or hundreds, of nude photos of me out there now. I did think about that consciously before doing the ride, and I decided that I'm ok with that. I was probably unelectable to higher office anyway, and I think helping to break down body taboos is a pretty cool thing. And it was a hell of a lot of fun!
Our path led us right down Wacker Drive in the north Loop, with tons of well-dressed businessmen and restaurant guests awe-struck at the site. Public response was pretty positive, both there and along the whole route. I high-fived about fifteen or twenty people during the spans that I rode along the side of the road. Some of my favorite reactions will remain in my head for a long time:
"Ohhhh myyyyy goooooood....." -commented a woman in one group of people
"Thaaaat's a penis." -said by someone looking at me as I coasted through a turn on the outside of the crowd.
"You guys are the shit!!" -I didn't see who said that one, but I heard it.
And people in general were shouting, clapping, waving, honking car horns, and generally cheering us on.
As one of the pre-ride communications from the organizers noted, I really did feel like a little like a rock star. Even when I ended up stopped in the middle of an intersection with tons of people around (the whole ride, especially the early part, was a bit start-and-stop), I wasn't phased. I did a lot of waving at onlookers and cheering back at them. The adulation was thrilling. It makes me want to do it again.
Another fun part of the night was a ten minute break the group took at a park about halfway through the ride. As I ate a protein bar, I watched a quite-pleasant-to-look-at guy do some spinning of glow-poi. He was really good! I told him so after he was done, and confirmed that I had, in fact, seen him before at the Full Moon Fire and Drum Jam. Of course, he'd been wearing more clothing the last time I saw him!
The biggest problem of the night was the cold. It was about 60 degrees, and occasionally windy. I wasn't cold where you might expect; it was primarily my arms and legs. I kept pulling my thigh-high socks up when they'd slip down to preserve a bit of warmth, and I had an occasional shiver or chatter of teeth. But for the most part, the buildings blocked the wind, and in still air it was quite manageable. We'd started at about 8 o' clock and once we reached the end of the 13 mile route about 11:30 or midnight, I felt great! In fact, I thought briefly about staying for the after-party, but I'm glad I didn't. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down on the Blue Line with my bike, but after sitting for a few minutes I realized that I was exhausted!
I texted Danae on the way home to let her know I was coming. She demonstrated her wonderfulness yet again by ordering some pizza that was ready once I got there, and then let me tell her all about my ride. I don't think I can express too often or too fully how wonderful she is and how much I love her.
And with that, I think I'm going to get back to some work I still have to do today. I'm so looking forward to next year!
I'd been tentatively planning on going for a few weeks, but I was holding off on a final decision until that weekend when I knew where I stood on school-related stuff. On Saturday things seemed good, so I started getting ready to go. As I got my things together,
danaeris asked whether I was just going for the chance to bike around Chicago naked or whether I was invested in the political message too. Since I agree with the oil independance message, she offered to do body paint for me. I jumped at the chance, and she did really good work! I was a little worried about the time she was taking, but I reminded myself that I was being overly worried about scheduling and let her work, and it was awesome!(In case it isn't clear from the above, this bit of writing will, in completely non-explicit ways, acknowledge the existence of naked people. If you don't want to read that, please don't.)
Chicago Naked Bike Ride - Pic-a-Day 8 June '13
Copyright 2013 (The copyright holder of this image is my partner Danaeris. Thanks sweetie!)
I wasn't sure at first whether I was going to totally strip down for the ride. I also knew it was going to be cold, so I brought thigh-high socks to wear on the ride. Along with them, I had my choices of nothing, the boxer-briefs I usually wear, or a black frilly skirt that Danae lent me that would be a little more costumey. I packed everything into the panniers on my bike, rode over to Burger King for a quick bit of food, and then got on the CTA at Davis. The ride from the Purple Line to the Red Line to the Blue Line to UIC took about an hour and a quarter and from there I quickly found the meetup spot. I and others were forwarded on from there to a semi-abandoned looking plot of ground where a thousand or so people in various modes of dress and states of undress were finding places to lean their bikes, queuing up for photos with the official photographer, and having a big damn party.
Finding myself in the middle of a huge crowd of whom a significant portion were without a stitch of clothes, I felt confident enough to go ahead and join them. I stripped to shoes and socks, stuffing my clothing into the bike bags. Now, this was the first time that I have been nude in a public space. Since I'm doing a lot of seeking out of novel experiences these days, that was pretty nifty. I was also a bit surprised at how casual it seemed. Lots of unclothed people walking about, chatting, and having fun isn't that much different from clothed people doing the same thing. On top of that, there was lots of really great costuming and paint. It felt a bit like the trip that my mother and I took to the National Rainbow Gathering years ago. In fact, I thought of that gathering a few times, and wished that I'd been a bit more socially capable back then; it would have been a fuller experience. I'll have to go again some time.
Anyway, after I'd gotten my stuff packed up and rubber-banded a small towel onto my bike seat to sit on, the time finally came for everyone to get on their bikes and roll onto the streets. Things were a bit clunky and jerky at first, what with there being over two thousand people to coordinate, but eventually things got moving. There was a slight mental barrier to overcome as I left the semi-private lot for the public streets, but I was surrounded by so many people doing the same thing I was that it only seemed like a big deal in passing. Soon enough, we were heading east toward the loop.
There were people lining a lot of the route. One guy with a big telephoto lens was out near the start, and lots of folks were shooting pictures and video on point-and-shoots or cell phones. I expected this of course. If you're doing something odd in public, people are going to take your photo. There are certainly dozens, or hundreds, of nude photos of me out there now. I did think about that consciously before doing the ride, and I decided that I'm ok with that. I was probably unelectable to higher office anyway, and I think helping to break down body taboos is a pretty cool thing. And it was a hell of a lot of fun!
Our path led us right down Wacker Drive in the north Loop, with tons of well-dressed businessmen and restaurant guests awe-struck at the site. Public response was pretty positive, both there and along the whole route. I high-fived about fifteen or twenty people during the spans that I rode along the side of the road. Some of my favorite reactions will remain in my head for a long time:
"Ohhhh myyyyy goooooood....." -commented a woman in one group of people
"Thaaaat's a penis." -said by someone looking at me as I coasted through a turn on the outside of the crowd.
"You guys are the shit!!" -I didn't see who said that one, but I heard it.
And people in general were shouting, clapping, waving, honking car horns, and generally cheering us on.
As one of the pre-ride communications from the organizers noted, I really did feel like a little like a rock star. Even when I ended up stopped in the middle of an intersection with tons of people around (the whole ride, especially the early part, was a bit start-and-stop), I wasn't phased. I did a lot of waving at onlookers and cheering back at them. The adulation was thrilling. It makes me want to do it again.
Another fun part of the night was a ten minute break the group took at a park about halfway through the ride. As I ate a protein bar, I watched a quite-pleasant-to-look-at guy do some spinning of glow-poi. He was really good! I told him so after he was done, and confirmed that I had, in fact, seen him before at the Full Moon Fire and Drum Jam. Of course, he'd been wearing more clothing the last time I saw him!
The biggest problem of the night was the cold. It was about 60 degrees, and occasionally windy. I wasn't cold where you might expect; it was primarily my arms and legs. I kept pulling my thigh-high socks up when they'd slip down to preserve a bit of warmth, and I had an occasional shiver or chatter of teeth. But for the most part, the buildings blocked the wind, and in still air it was quite manageable. We'd started at about 8 o' clock and once we reached the end of the 13 mile route about 11:30 or midnight, I felt great! In fact, I thought briefly about staying for the after-party, but I'm glad I didn't. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down on the Blue Line with my bike, but after sitting for a few minutes I realized that I was exhausted!
I texted Danae on the way home to let her know I was coming. She demonstrated her wonderfulness yet again by ordering some pizza that was ready once I got there, and then let me tell her all about my ride. I don't think I can express too often or too fully how wonderful she is and how much I love her.
And with that, I think I'm going to get back to some work I still have to do today. I'm so looking forward to next year!
