OK, further to my previous 6/18 post, now I've finally uploaded video of the naked cyclists in Portland. It was quite impressive. Apparently this is the 3rd year and the largest turnout. Since it rained all day, it was good that it let up by nightfall. I can tell you it was visibly cold!!
Around 10pm we heard police escorts, and then the cycling began and lasted for about 20 minutes. The riders were primarily naked; most with shoes. A few had some form of clothing-- either shorts, lingerie, or body paint. Many, who obviously have a political career in mind for later, wore a disguise or face mask. Quite clever in this day of internet photos which are FOREVER.
There are a couple of key learnings from this experience:
1) Don't forget the patch kit. One poor guy was walking with his bike & flat tire; naked. Likely not the experience he was hoping for.
2) Don't fall; it has to hurt. Yet we saw a heavier guy fall, bad. He got up, but I got to think there was some road rash in some bad places.
3) Again, don't fall and don't have let one of your friends fall. One person had a bad crash; police & EMTs were on the scene. OK for the hurt person on the gurney, who was now covered up with a blanket. But it has to feel a bit odd being the friend, with no fellow riders around, only police/EMTs, and handling the situation.....still being naked, of course.
4) And lastly, be in shape and on time to stay with the pack. As we walked west on Burnside, there was a group of riders so far behind that there was no police escort and they were basically just in the bike lane, on their own, naked, and riding. Again, likely not the experience of freedom and revolution they were promised.
all in all, impressive.
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