‘Nude before traffic’: cyclists riding without clothes to demand safe infrastructure

A distinctly picturesque scene took place last summer in Westminster, London. As on every second Saturday in June, horses, carriages and soldiers escorted King Charles III and Queen Camilla in a ceremonial procession that passed through Wellington Arch. Waiting among the crowd were the day’s other protagonists: a group of nude cyclists who several hours later took over from the royal procession, riding down the flag-lined avenue on their bikes. The event was inspired by protests that began more than 20 years ago in Zaragoza, Spain.

The London edition of the World Naked Bike Ride — the international protest movement that organizes naked cycling events in more than 200 cities — is one of the largest in Europe, and this year it brought together 1,000 people. “Besides promoting a healthy lifestyle, it may be the most fun experience you can have on two wheels,” the organizers say. The number of demonstrators in the English city is, however, tiny compared with the world’s largest, in Portland, Oregon, where some editions have reached 10,000 participants and it is one of the city’s best-known events.

In Spain, naked-bike protests are currently little more than a murmur, despite the fact that the movement began there in the 2000s as a joke among friends. “We used to cycle and sometimes fool around by pedaling naked, just spontaneously. People were surprised; it was a lot of fun,” recalls David Arribas, 45. The joke turned serious when Arribas and Zaragoza-based cycling organizations realized that the new Traffic and Transportation Plan for the city that authorities were preparing did not include the measures they had been demanding for years.

The fictitious group Coordinadora de Colectivos Ciclonudistas de Aragón secretly called the world’s first naked-bike march in June 2001 under the slogan “nude before traffic.” Around 40 people took part, and it was an overwhelming success. In 2003 Arribas noticed a naked-bike ride was being organized in Vancouver, Canada. A Zaragoza–Vancouver alliance was then forged that the following year promoted simultaneous events in different countries. Thus the World Naked Bike Ride was born, and Zaragoza appeared on newscasts around the world.

It was — and is — not only about demanding safe cycling infrastructure. Many people also take part to “enjoy the liberation of undressing in public,” Arribas says. “It is a case of what the philosopher Judith Butler calls political resistance and empowerment based on vulnerability. It has helped change how participants’ bodies are perceived,” he notes.

At this year’s call in Madrid only about 30 people showed up, and Zaragoza’s naked-bike ride stopped being held in 2015. Organizers say that is partly because of the exposure that smartphones bring, and partly because of progress made to integrate the bicycle into public spaces. But there is a contrast that is hard to ignore. In cities that are models of sustainable mobility these rides continue to draw thousands. In others, like Madrid, where the bicycle still occupies a precarious position, the movement seems to have lost its pedals.

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