Support the World Naked Bike Ride in Cork on July 28th 2012 at 3.00pm

cork | environment | event notice Saturday May 26, 2012 12:00 by Joe Collins - World Naked Bike Ride Cork myrebelcounty at gmail dot com

On July 28th 2012 at 3.00pm, cycle naked (or as bare as you dare) in the streets of Cork with a hundred or more cyclists. This is a protest against car culture, and the dangers cyclists face on the roads. It is also a celebration of the human body and the importance of body acceptance regardless of shape or size, and something which we can see as beautiful in a non-sexualised context. Lastly we cycle to draw attention to the need for more serious support for this most sustainable transport option which leaves zero carbon footprint.

The World Naked Bike Ride is a worldwide protest which started in 2003 in Spain and Canada, and now takes place across 189 cities in 82 countries. This unusual protest has grown in popularity each year. We held our first one in Cork in 2009 when just eight brave people took part. Last year we were nearly one hundred, even though it was in daylight hours on a freezing evening in July. We protest against car culture, against the dangers of cycling on the road, and against the damage to the environment caused by carbon emissions.
We support body acceptance. We promote sustainable transport solutions, of which the bicycle is the most elegant and beautiful.
The reason we cycle naked is to emphasise how vulnerable the human body is. Many of us get bodypainted on the day of the ride. We use our bodies as a canvas on which the message of the ride can be painted as a transient work of art.
Anybody who supports the goals of the protest can join us by emailing myrebelcounty at gmail dot com
If you support our goals but cycling naked is not for you, you could still help by being one of the stewards who have to be clothed for legal reasons.
N.B. as a way to avoid attracting voyeur photographers, we do not publish the meeting point nor the exact route of the ride. Participants are given the meeting point (somewhere in the city centre) just before the ride starts by email and text.