With a focus on the the male form, FH has been spotlighting World Naked Bike Rides, (WNBR) for many years. Usually I focus a s sexy cyclist that's caught my eye, and haven't done many pieces on location specific events. That was until this year. This past May, FH virtually visited this year's WNBR in Melbourne Australia, and in San Francisco in the US. I did so, after seeing images that two site collaborators, had posted on their social media site.
We joined model Axie has he headed out to ride in Melbourne, (HERE:) and with photographer Joe Mazza, when he headed to chronicle this years San Francisco ride. (HERE:) Of course I was drawn to the visuals, and the naked men and women taking it all off for a cause, and for the fleshy fun associated with the day. I was also curious about the behind the scenes details, and the personal experiences of attending, and being a part of such an iconic public nudity event.
When I saw that photographer Andrew Bowman had also recently posted some images from WNBR, I knew it was time to virtually visit the London event. I've loved featuring Andrews images of the male form, (HERE) and was excited to see what he captured while at WNBR. The images Andrew posted however, were not from the June 2025 event, but were shots that he had taken during the many times he attended the events over the last ten plus year.
Andrew sent on several sets from various years, so I decided to start back with the first two years that he sent, 2011 and 2012. These visuals are from the 2012 event, and Andrew's images from the 2011 event can be found on PAGE THREE HERE: As always, I threw some questions to Andrew about his time at WNBR over the years. The rest of the rest of the story are Andrew's images, with his own words and experiences while attending the WNBR events.
WNBR: London
I first came across the London naked bike ride in June 2008 when I came out of a pub on the Charing Cross Road to see 100s of cyclists, almost all of them nude, and most of them men, waiting patiently for the traffic lights to change colour. At the time I didn't realise it was an organised event which had actually been going since 2004.
Of course i just happened to have my camera on me and I took a few snaps. I had expected to see something about it on the news but there was nothing. I googled and found out it was an annual event which takes place around the world aiming to draw attention to the vulnerability of cyclists on the road versus car culture and oil.
I pretty much intended going on the next event and attended every ride as a participant every year between 2009 and 2015 wearing nothing but trainers, a shiny helmet and a smile 🙂. Every event is in the middle of June and except for one year which was a bit wet most years are hot and sunny.
Almost all of the London events start somewhere in Hyde Park, sometimes Marble Arch or Hyde Park Corner, although for diehards there are meeting places in London suburbs which start earlier and join the main event later on. The main route is roughly 6 miles and takes around 2 and half to 3 hours to complete with random stops and starts at traffic lights.
The stop and start of the ride is always a lot of fun although it can feel a bit intimidating getting your kit off surrounded by fully clothed photographers most of whom are unofficial and basically just perving. Lots of participants come prepared to daub themselves with body paint either to disguise themselves (typically as animals) or with slogans against oil and traffic pollution.
Inevitably this process attracts attention, especially for the relatively few women that attend and can be really annoying. I hate photographers sometimes! Generally speaking I only take pix when I am fully naked and and therefore one of the willing participants. But if anyone puts their hand up to indicate privacy I would always respect that. Over the years more and more participants come with their own smartphones - at the last event I attended in 2015 I think I was one of only a few that was still using a 'proper' camera although even I was taking pix and video on my iPhone - just much easier for taking grab shots.
Check out more of Andrew's story, and more of his WNBR images, on the FH HERE:
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