Columbus, OH World Naked Bike Ride 8/5/23 Observations
I was in Columbus for the WNBR on my way home from Western / Central NY Trip. Here are a few observations.
First and foremost, Since I am not on Facebook it is just about impossible to get information. There is an email address in the WNBR main site, but I sent 2 emails explaining my situation but received no reply.
I had 8 people from this and other sites who I will not name say they would provide information once it was released. I got 2 responses, one with the wrong address and 1 at about 6pm.
Fortunately There was a guy staying at the same motel that I was staying at was there for the ride. I saw him working on his bike on Saturday morning around 9am and walked over and struck up a conversation. He said he noticed the license plate on my car, even took a picture of it and told me he was there for the ride too. I explained my situation of not being on Facebook and asked him if he was. He said he was so I gave him my number and asked him to text me the location once he got it. I checked out of the motel about 10:30 since I intended to drive home right after the ride. It turned out he was from Buffalo but did not do the ride there since he was out of town that weekend. They finally released the location around noon and he texted me immediately. Whew! If it wasn't for him, I may have missed the ride.
Once I arrived at the launch location, I was chatting with a few of the participants and one of them pointed out a couple women that were the organizers of the group. I walked over to them and explained my situation as far as not being able to get any information since I was not on Facebook. I told them that the Buffalo ride has their front page on Facebook publicly viewable and that might be a good idea. They seemed to be pretty receptive.
Overall it was a nice ride and seemed very well organized. They had several riders that would speed ahead and block intersections. One problem I saw was sometimes they could not get to the next intersection in time to block it since there were riders riding to the left and blocking their way. I suggest making an announcement prior to the ride to keep to the right, and leave room to speed by.
There were not a lot of spectators, but given the secrecy of the place the ride was and that the route was not announced that seems to be a trend.
The ride ended at the site of the after party that was about 1-1/2 mile from the start point I was going to head back to the parking lot and met a young lady that was heading there too. We both decided that we would ride back nude and one other guy rode clothed. It turns out she was joining the organization group and wanted the ride to be more open. I gave her my feedback about the other rides I was in. I wish her luck.
At that point I loaded up my bike and started my nude drive home.
It sounds like the Columbus route might have been changed shortly before the ride began, due to heavy traffic, in the restaurant area, where they usually ride. . . I was on their Facebook page. . . and I didn't learn about the starting point until late in the afternoon, so there must be another source if information about the ride data. My guess, is based upon what I saw, when I was in that zone of some previous rides. It was bumper to bumper cars and sightseeing coaches. Nobody seemed to mind that I was a lone NAKED rider. I wasn't lost. . . I just didn't know where the other WNBR pack was. . . In fact, it was so crowded that I stopped riding, in the street, and walked my bike on the sidewalk, for awhile, instead, which was also very crowded. Even so, I only heard a few comments about my lack of clothing - - - and those people were smiling :-)) . . . Every WNBR event is similar, but personal experiences can be quite different. I would like to hear some more personal stories about the rides in this, or other cities.
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