1. 17 more accumulated post-ride postings follow... In date/time order. If
I missed any, tell me.

2. I've got a first 50 photos from Rob, and a dozen of my own including
video clips of the times we circled to take over some major intersections.
But sorry, due to other demands it may take me until next week to post them.
I'll at least put up a Harpo shot promptly.

3. The break-away pack, or two, was due largely to the fact that a good bit
before 9pm, Wicker Park became OVERWHELMED by something... It became
impossible to communicate with arriving cyclists. There was literally a
thousand people, like shoulder to shoulder, like 20 rows deep around the
fountain. It was crazy. Cops told me they didn't know what was going on,
but thought it might simply be entirely people hoping to see the ride,
having read that location in publicity. Wow. My thought on that is next
year we need more volunteers at check-in, better cell phone contact, and
pick a check-in point that we can ride by and maybe pause at to inform the
masses.

4. The "compromises" we made with police to avoid arrests, was to stress
"bare as you dare", and to immediately take the ride out of the 14th
district. That's why this year we didn't hit Damen/North/Milwaukee.

5. This is hard, because I know I'll miss someones, and where to draw the
line, but I MUST give some special exceptional thanks: To Aurora (the Native
American) for bringing the ride here and for her magical spirit, to my
dearest Susan (tall/skinny skater) for being her usual breathtakingly
reliable and efficient and loving self, to my dear bud David Greene (big
kilted skater) who came through at the last moment to be our primary
check-in handler and get repeatedly mistaken there as the leader of
everything, to Jerry Boyle AND the other National Lawyers Guild observers
without whom the ride quite probably would've been stopped by authorities,
to Joseph Lawrence for the trailer (which played on CAN-19 TV) and other
volunteering despite broken bones, to Stephen (flag wrapped) for many
services and joyful nature, to Howard big time for being the rear guard and
for major publicity assistance, to Doug and Kathy and Ben and A.Dutch and
others for body painting, to Rob and Zack for photography and Barb and
Baramesi for videography, massive thanx to Travis for PERFECT route
planning, to Exit for the after party and bike shops for the advertising,
and especially to KEVIN and roommates for volunteering the pre-ride spot!!!
Also big big thanx and congratulations to the many very brave men and women
who dared to bare all.

6. Next year'll be even better!


Andrew@...
WNBR-C co-coord
http://worldnakedbikeride.org/chicago


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subject: (Windy City Cycling Club) RIDE REPORT: World Naked Bike Ride
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2006 09:47:22 -0500
From: Marc

Brian B. and I went on the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) last night. It was
a lot of fun despite the cold, rainy weather and terrible ride leadership.

WHERE: We arrived at Wicker Park's fountain at about 9 p.m. where a large
group of gawkers and photogs were standing around waiting for naked people.
It turns out that they were going to have to wait a long time because the
riders were directed to other locations. I suspect that there were several
mini-rides starting from different locations because the guy who redirected
Brian and me said there were two locations. Ideally, all the groups would
have met up at some point especially since our particular group was too
small (about 40), but that didn't happen.

WHY: To protest our "addiction to oil" and negative body image. I wore an
"Addicted to GAS" sign on my back with a down arrow. I had planned to
change the sign as the night went on, but the ride broke up. Other ideas
for signs were: "Addicted to A$$" "Alt Fuel Source" "Cheap Gas / Great Legs"

WHEN: Our mini-group left at about 9:15 p.m. The police had just rolled up
and warned some guys to cover themselves. They did, and we were off!

WHAT: A very light rain was falling as we departed. The person who led our
group apparently hadn't done so before. She rode relatively fast, and
didn't leave time to group up. There were riders who had real clunker bikes
that were clearly hard to pedal. (You could hear how dry those chains
were!) I wanted everyone to feel welcome so I held back to block traffic
and let the end of the group join us.

One police car followed us and blocked some traffic, but the last time I
saw them was at Chicago/Ogden/Milwaukee. They appeared to have enough of us
after that.

Only a few blocks later at Chicago Ave. and the river, the group was too
dispersed to cohere. By the time I reached Michigan and Chicago, there were
only four of us left! It was very scary because the rain had picked up and
the streets were slick. I didn't have my lights, and I was angry that the
group had lost many participants. By 10 p.m. I had lost the group. I called
Brian, who had stayed with the front of the group. He stopped, and I caught
up with him at Michigan and Wacker. (Thanks Brian!) He gave me a
much-needed hug.

We still wanted to find the party. I had a hunch that the people at the
HandleBar would know where the party was. I was tired so I took the El back
to Damen. Interestingly, I noticed four plain clothes cops on the Damen El
station's O'Hare platform, and they weren't getting on the train. I think
they were monitoring the WNBR. One of them took a note as I passed by with
my bike. You'd think we were terrorists or something!

Brian decided to bike to HandleBar. We arrived at the exact same time! We
had a few drinks. Birthday 'Marc'aritas for me! That place was hopping on a
Saturday night. There was some nice eye candy. ;-)

We asked the staff for info. on the ride party. They informed us that WNBR
had attempted to hold the party there, but HandleBar refused the offer for
many reasons (keeping their permits, running a business, etc.). They didn't
know where the party was. We stayed there until 11:30 p.m. or midnight. No
riders appeared except for one smoker who told us that the location was
still uncertain as of the previous Wednesday, which made us think that
there was NO PARTY!

WEAR: Fabulous outfits!!! We saw someone with long green hair and green
body paint. Mexican wrestler masks were popular. It being my first WNBR
(and pretty cold) I wore regular bike clothes including my WCCC jersey! I
liked the simplicity of the guy who wore a bathrobe and red sparkle boxers
that looked like they were purchased from Cupid's Treasures. I thought it
would have been humorous to wear a flasher's raincoat.

RECOMMENDATION: This ride gets a 'thumbs up.' It was exciting and should be
fun with better weather.

-Marc

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subject: (Windy City Cycling Club) RIDE REPORT: World Naked Bike Ride
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2006 13:12:45 -0500
From: hnk
Marc et al,

I thought I'd fill out the picture a bit.

I wasn't directly involved in the organizing, but I did want to volunteer
to be in the rear and do jail support/interference/observation if
necessary, so I knew about the start location and was able to skip Wicker
Park. I was running late and about 2 blocks away when the ride went by at
about 9:10 PM, eastbound on Chicago, so I was lucky enough to be able to
hop on the back.

Apparently I was in the group you never found. It looked like about 150
riders to me. There was a printed route which, except for an odd little
diversion to the DePaul campus, was generally followed. There was a lawyer
in the back, a few leaderly types with the ride on roller-blades, and we
actually had a car trailing us if needed.

There was almost no police interest, and no known arrests.

The route took us through areas dense with bars, including Lincoln Park,
North/Wells, and Division/Rush streets, and people came out and whooped it
up. The southernmost apex was an excursion through Millenium park, over the
twisty metal footbridge.

There were many piggish comments from passersby as can be expected, and it
appeared people in cabs were actually ordering the drivers to try to push
into the ride for their entertainment value, but there was also a
tangeable reaction from many who just thought it was great, and wished they
were on the ride.

There was a substantial amount of full nudity for most of the ride, but
also plenty of riders fully clothed.

Hope next year's ride is a little less confusing! I suppose I'll find out
at some point how there came to be multiple start locations and how they
came to be so poorly coordinated.

Howard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: John Loftus
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2006 6:31 pm
Subject: Chicago ride

Hello and thanks for posting..

I rode in Chicago NBR last night, plenty fun.
Is there anyone who has a few pics they can email, or is there a site that
will post them?

I am especially interested in obtaining a picture of our multi-person
decoration of the Harpo Oprah studio sign...

I am interested in helping with next year's ride.

The word "compromise" with the police was interesting, maybe I can find out
more? The police acted politely, what did that take?

Thanks for good ride, it was a unique look at Chicago. Especially enjoyed
the roundabouts at major intersections.. very powerful

Good work,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: havamartini
Date: Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:18 pm
Subject: Re: Preliminary post-ride report...

Hey!
We were part of the renegade pack and it rocked!At one point there were only
6, grew to 10, then about 35, and when a head on collision at Diversy which
grew to 70! We have some pics and video of the posse. If you were part of us
and stopped at The Exit for the potty/drink break and are interested in pics
drop a line here.

Love, Sparkly Thong And Pink Panties!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Arlington Dutch
Date: Sun Jun 11, 2006 10:31 pm
Subject: Re: Preliminary post-ride report...

Travis D. here, I was pretty satisfied to ride with you all, thanks for
watching my back to those who rode the rear guard trailer and the convenient
rickshaw, did anyone have a breakdown even?

Hope you all had as much fun as I did. I was almost naked through much of it
so I look forward to be embarrassed by some of the images that might have
been taken.
-t


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Christopher Jones
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 07:26:33 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WNBR

Thanks for organizing. The ride could have been warmer, but was so much fun.
You and Aurora did a great job keeping people informed. Mr Monahan was
generous in letting us claim his property for a base camp.

The line of us walking our bikes across the Ghery bridge towards the end of
the ride was beautiful. I hope the photographers got some great shots.

My input would be as follows:
Route should go through neighborhoods with bars a little more. Much more
visibility and cheering.

We should limit the number of minutes or revolutions we commendeer an
intersection. Otherwise it seems abusive and unorganized. I believe the
statement this all makes should be light-hearted and noticable while being
as peaceful and non-aggressive as possible.

So much fun. I hope the amount of time and energy you put into this was
worth it to you. It was appreciated by 250. I'll see you next year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Joseph Lawrence
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:07:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WNBR Chicago ride - great success!!!

Andrew & Aurora,

Both of you deserve kudos for the organization and execution of another
successful WNBR ride. Even though I couldn't ride due to my rib injury,
volunteering at the check-in point was fun just to meet friends from last
year and make new friends who share the same attitude about body acceptance.
I even had a decent chat with Officer Doyle who processed my arrest last
year.

...

Joseph,

Sharing Nature on Its Terms. Naturally!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: grimmlyn
Date: Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:59 am
Subject: Re: Preliminary post-ride report...

I didn't know there was a route, and from what I gathered there were several
splinter groups randomly riding around (I think my group met two). Though I
think it only added to the visablity of our cause.

NIL

PS
If anybody has pictures of a guy in shiny red boxers and a black bathrobe
riding a Haro- send them my way so I can post them on my blog where friends
and relatives can see them and feel ashamed (a lot of my family is
conservative)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Daniel J. Byrnes
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:29:30 -0500
Subject: Re: Preliminary post-ride report...

Andrew, did you hear the bike ride listed during one of the WBEZ breaks
during Car Talk--as if protesting big oil and gas guzzling cars while riding
the streets naked was just another thing to do in Chicago this weekend.
Congrat's! And let's make it so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Rob
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:59:52 +0000
Subject: Photos from WNBR

...

Richard Roeper made a half-assed reference to us in his column in this
morning's Sun-Times: (amidst a bunch of short anecdotes about kids in
accidents and bad calls by umpires)

"On an infinitely lighter note, about 200 nude and semi-nude bicyclists
pedaled through Chicago last Saturday night as part of the "World Naked Bike
Ride" movement. Good for them. They have a cause, and they're willing to
strip and pedal for it. But what is that cause? Does anyone out there know?
Anyone? Answer later in the column."

***

"Oil dependency. Those cyclists were riding naked to protest our
automobile-crazed culture and our dependency on oil."

(Makes me think--once again--that we really need some fliers to pass out to
the crowd during next year's ride)

Thanks again to you both for all your hard work!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Rick
Date: Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:53 pm
Subject: Post Ride Comments

Glad to hear the main contingent of the ride faired so well. I somehow
managed to find myself in that "renegade" group that started early. I was
at Wicker Park where there was a very large police presence when one of the
organizers told some of us it would be a good idea to be at Chicago and
Damen at 9:05.

A few of us made our way out of Wicker Park and down to Chicago Ave. After a
while there were about 30 -50 of us standing around the bus stop. A paddy
wagon was parked across the street at McDonald's, so I figured it was not
quite time to get naked. However, at least one brave soul decided to get
completely naked while waiting for the ride to come by. A few minutes
later, 3 squad cars pulled up and all 6 officers stepped out of thier
vehicles. They walked along looking at the crowd. Most of us were
scantilly clad, but still legal. When they spotted the the one guy who was
naked, they told him he would need to put something on. He obliged and
reached into the bag on the back of his bike for a pair of shorts and put
them on. The police did not make any arrest even though he was completely
naked on a very busy public street. (It may have been a different story had
he not obliged the police request to put something on).

At this point a couple people to appeared to know what was going on said we
should get startted and began to ride. Those of us (myself inlcuded) that
didn't know where the start location was, when we would actually be
starting, and what route to take joined them.

So 50 of us took off expecting to join the main contingent.

I was wearing only a pair of shorts to be legal. Once the ride got started,
I pulled over removed my shorts and rode the entire ride completely naked
execpt for my bike helmet (I always wear a helmet when I ride).

Unfortunately, we never joined the main contingent and I never made it to
the after party (hope it was a lot of fun).

Our renegade group ended at Exit Bar (1335 North Ave), one of the locations
Andrew mentioned had offered to host the after party. Most of the group was
hanging around outside, so I proceeded inside (still completely naked and
sans helmet at this point). I only had time to order one beer and proceed
to sit down, when I was told that due to liquor license laws, I would need
to put on some shorts. So my night of nakedness ended there (a little
disappointed because in previous years, I stayed naked from the start of the
ride until the end of the after party at about 4am).

So that's my story. Sorry I missed the main contingent, but we still
managed to ride for about 1 1/2 hours and promote our cause.

Rick Stoll
Nudits/Naturist/Body Acceptance Advocate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Jen
Date: Mon Jun 12, 2006 3:02 pm
Subject: Thank you for the good time!

Hi All,

As a new WNBR lady, I just wanted to say thanks to the coordinators, and
everyone actually, for the great time on Saturday night!

A small group of us fell behind around Lincoln Park, but it was fun while it
lasted. : )

I, as well as a few of my friends, will definitely be joining you all again
next year. And thank you to Mr. Star Shorts for leading the wayward tots!

Jen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Brian
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 17:15:08 -0000
Subject: WNBR after thought

I just wanted to say I had a total blast. I have never met so many cool
people that share the same "lifestyle" that I do. I came from Lafayette, IN
and would do this again for the rest of my life. I wish there were more
events like this so that we could gather more often than just once a year.
Everyone was so nice in helping me find my way around. Wish I could have
stayed longer at the after ride party, but you can bet that next year I will
for sure. Basically I want to say "Thank You" for making this an event that
I will never forget.

Brian Freeman
Lafayette, IN
"See thru underwear w/glow stick around genitals"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: swimin2sky
Date: Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:07 pm
Subject: 1st WNBR

Hi y'all out there!

My first time at WNBR Sat. and it was great!...I had a blast painting people
and meeting everybody at the pre-party! I painted a radiating sun with cool
shades on Thee Mayor of Bucktown! and stars shining among the happy moon in
a galaxy on 'Starface'...you know who you are! Met alot of awesome ppl, alot
of Kevins too ...i think i met a total of 3, all unique...and Ben, who
air-spray painted a mesmerizing tribal sun on my forearm, which is fading
away with melancholy...my favorite design that was painted on me. Thanks to
John for the symbolic eye, and sun...didnt stay on too long b/c tempera
paint...but it was fun while it lasted. I took some pics on my dig cam and
im having trouble making it into an attachment to send out, i'm still trying
though... Thanks to all the coordinators, i think you all did a great job in
coordinating :) and rounding up the masses!

Kathy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Richard
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 05:21:25 -0000
Subject: Thanks

Thanks, Andrew, for a terrific time. I can't wait til next year. Do you ride
with the Critical Mass people as well? I may have to join that group as
well. It was just too much fun for words. Thanks again.

Richard
(old guy with long johns and loud-mouthed mask)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Richard
Date: Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:15 am
Subject: Wow.

I have no idea what posessed me to join you all last Saturday night. I
didn't know anyone else who was going; I didn't expect to see anyone I knew
when I got there. I imagined I might see some of the same people with whom
I've chatted briefly at numerous political rallies downtown over the last
decade or so--but none of those people were there either. Then I recalled
that a lot of those people were nuns...

So it was a great and welcome surprise to see and visit with my pal Kevin
there--aka AstroBoy--whom I've known for many many years--he wore the derby
and the white Elvis jump suit. He is off to The Burning Man next--should be
a great one this year.

This being my first "bare as you dare" bike ride, it never occurred to me
that I might be sorry if I failed to make proper arrangements for full
frontal, or at least full dorsal, nudity. I guess it never occurred to me
mostly because it the weather was supposed to be in the 40's, possibly
raining.. and besides, I'm nearly sixty years old--perhaps a little too old
for things like that. By "proper arrangements" for nudity (and this might be
something to include in next year's announcements)--I mean wearing a
decorated jock, or thong, under my sweats, or as I saw Saturday, modified
boxer shorts, with a robe, smoking jacket, something which can be easily
worn closed, (or if the mood strikes, open) for warmth (or exposure). I wore
bike pants this first time, which are too hard to get out of quickly and
gracefully, especially with long johns, which were humorous and warm, but
then... I have to admit I was sorry to be so overdressed, and as the ride
went on, I wished I had been prepared to take off more than just my
shirt--it was just so great to be out there with all of you, and what a
delight to watch the reactions! Next year--watch out! I'm starting my
preparations already, costume, bike decorations, music, chants and/or songs
that might be fun...

Thanks especially to the warm and friendly people who organized, supervised,
and in general did a knockout job putting this together and making it safe,
sane, yet insane--in a good way! Thanks Stephen, Andrew, and everyone else.
Great talking to you Aurora, Billy, Meghan, Kevin, Bob, and everyone whose
names I didn't catch...

Wow. See you all next year. I'm gettin' jiggy already.

Richard
(Old Guy with the loud-mouthed mask, bike pants, and long johns)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Jerry Boyle
Date: Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:38 pm
Subject: (No subject)

By coincidence, I found out what happened to that other group -- a guy at
the coffee shop I frequent was in it. They waited for a while at Chicago &
Damen, but a police officer told them the ride had already taken off down
Chicago, so they left, in an effort to catch up with us (they didn't know we
were behind them.)

Unfortunately, the guy I talked to didn't stay with the ride for long, so I
don't know its ultimate fate. He got separated at a light, and contnued for
a while on his own, naked. A passing patrol car spotted him, and the police
thought he was nuts (they didn't know about the WNBR.) So, they just asked
him nicely to put his clothes on, and he went home.

You could say that the police split the group. But you could also say the
groups split the police.

Jerry Boyle
(a/k/a the guy in the green hat)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~