Floyd A. O'Reilly Blog: Everything you need to know about this year’s World Naked Bike Ride

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Everything you need to know about this year’s World Naked Bike Ride

Water Avenue was a sea of flesh at the start of the 2012 WNBR.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

In about five weeks 10,000 people will fill Portland streets on bikes wearing nothing (or next to nothing) at all. The 14th annual Portland World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) will happen June 24th. And while most of you haven’t even thought about it much yet, the organizers have been working for months to make sure the ride goes smoothly.

Portland bike culture ambassador Meghan Sinnott (you might have seen her on stage during Filmed By Bike a few weekends ago) is one of the people working behind the scenes.

Sinnott recently shared an update of the ride with fellow bike fun activists on the Shift email list. (Shift is the all-volunteer group behind Pedalpalooza, the month-long festival that starts June 1st!). Her update was a request for help from the community. It also gives us several ways to plug-into the fun.

Did you know you can buy WNBR merch? Or that you/your company can sponsor the event? For more insider gems, check out the updates below:

Mark your calendars – June 24th is this year’s #pdxwnbr. We’ll be announcing the start location on May 24th.

The organizers of this year’s ride need your help. Here’s what you can do:

**Invite People to WNBR**
We know not all of you are fans of Facebook, but for those of you who are on it, please RSVP on this year’s World Naked Bike Ride official Event Page and invite others to RSVP, as well. If you’d rather direct people to pedalpalooza.org to show them the event on our Shift Calendar, you’re welcome to do that. And for those of you who hate convenience, you can can follow and share this link to our website: pdxwnbr.org.

**Donate to WNBR**
We’re in the hole by $1,500 for this year’s ride. Some day we hope to not have to rely on our core volunteer coordinators to front the expenses for the ride (like permits, etc.) on their personal credit cards in hopes of getting paid back after the event. To help incentivize giving, we have some really amazing swag (including FANNY PACKS) you can soon purchase from Buy Olympia, but for those of you who just want to give back to the community and don’t need any more bike stickers, you can DONATE. If you donate more than $25 to the ride you can write it off on your taxes. YEAH. Donate before the ride and know you’ve give us more than money — you’ve given us a little peace of mind.

**Sponsor WNBR**
Sick of seeing your bikey friends scrape their pockets and dig under their couch cushions every year to fund #pdxwnbr? Send potential sponsors our way, or, better yet – reach right out to companies in the community that you know “put their money where their mouth is” and let them know that if they sponsor the World Naked Bike Ride there are major perks… For $2,000, for instance, their name will be printed in the Mercury and their logo will be placed on our website with a direct link to their website.

**Volunteer**
The entire event is organized by volunteers. Some of us spend months and months making sure the ride happens. Some people donate an hour or two of their time before the ride. WE NEED EVERY POSSIBLE HELPING HAND WE CAN GET. If you want to be sure you can get a shift on the day of the ride that allows you to be naked and still join the ride, then we’ve got you covered…errrr… we’ve got a job for you. Please sign up today.

**WNBR Video**
Don’t want to do anything other than bike around naked? Why not do it in front of a video camera and be a part of our 2017 promo video? We’ll be filming in NW on May 21st at 9am. WE NEED A WIDE VARIETY OF BODIES. Please email theworldnakedbikeride@gmail.com if you’re interested in helping out by riding in this film. The more, the merrier.

As a veteran of many WNBRs over the years, I highly recommend doing it! It’s one of the most inspiring nights of the year and it always renews my faith in humanity — something I find I need to do as much as possible these days.

If you haven’t done it and have questions, I’ll be happy to answer them in the comments below. See you there!

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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