200 nude bicyclists (pics/video inside!)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Sports
CrystalRaindrops — 1 year ago(June 18, 2024 04:54 AM)
Less than a year after lawmakers in the state Capitol attempted to ban it, the World Naked Bike Ride made a triumphant return to downtown Madison on Saturday.
About 200 participants rolled toward the statehouse around 11:30 a.m., soliciting cheers, high fives, waves, cellphone photos and causing some adults and children to look away.
Many take part in the ride as an expression of body positivity and as a protest of greenhouse gas emissions. Other participants say the ride helps their confidence and mental health, or attend after surviving breast cancer and having mastectomies.
Holly McEntee, who has participated about seven times, had seen the ride happen in the past but was struck when she saw a short film about it.
"I was not feeling great. I was really unhappy with my job, I had gone through a breast cancer diagnosis," she said. "And I was watching this film, and everybody was so happy. Let's face it, it's kind of silly … and I thought to myself, 'I'm going to do that.'"
"No one really knows I do this," said Larry, another longtime participant from the Chicago suburbs. He takes part in the ride for body positivity and sees it as a "liberating and freeing experience. Something different."
Nicholas Wootton, who made the short film and is working on a documentary about the ride, has participated in Madison's ride every year but one.
"Some people say it's really crazy. But for a certain subset of people, when they're on the bicycle and they're naked and they're riding, they're like, 'This is me. This is who I am,'" Wootton said. Wootton was once arrested at the Chicago World Naked Bike Ride, but there aren't many legal risks to participating in Wisconsin.
https://jsonline.com/story/news/2024/06/15/naked-bike-ride-returns-to-madison-after-legislation-to-ban-it-failed/73983853007/
