'My abiding memory of these events is the smiling - whether from the bike saddles in front of you or people in the street smiling (possibly even laughing) when confronted with so many bums and willies.'
WNBR: London, 2011
Due to the number of stops and starts people are taking pix of each other pretty much the whole journey especially at the tourist attractions. One thing that amazed me on my first ride was the fact that the route goes through so many main thoroughfares and tourists sites. A typical route leaves Hyde Park, goes down Piccadilly through Piccadilly Circus, through theatreland, around Trafalgar Square, down Whitehall passing Downing Street, across Westminster bridge passing the Houses of Parliament.
Different cyclists go along the Southbank and across Tower Bridge - always a great place to take pix, or across Waterloo bridge, up the Strand to St Paul's cathedral. My favourite bit is going through Covent Garden watching all the tourists eating their outdoor lunches suddenly realising what it going on.
Then cycling up the Mall right up to the gates of Buckingham Palace with the unamused face of Queen Victoria looking down on you. 9 times out of 10 the ride takes place on the same day as trooping the colour (which finishes around 2pm) and there was always that thought that the royal family were still in there peeping through the net curtains maybe wishing they could join in the fun.
My abiding memory of these events is the smiling - whether from the bike saddles in front of you or people in the street smiling (possibly even laughing) when confronted with so many bums and willies. Generally the ride is escorted by police who maintain a presence on the busier parts of the route. Just occasionally there is a disapproving scowl from people that think public nudity either should be, or is, illegal - it isn't unless its deliberately seen as a show of exhibitionism intended to offend - hard to argue this when there are 1000s of nudies of all ages shapes and sizes clearly just showing a bit of body confidence and having fun.
Some of the taxi drivers get a bit irate on their horns as well Onlookers and clothed cyclists are encouraged to join in along the way and sometimes do - to lots of cheering. Open-top double decker buses get a great view and its always fun to go past them.
Look for more of Andrew's WNBR images over the summer on FH:
No comments:
Post a Comment