S4

Topic: World Naked Bike Ride in Portland, Oregon

Outline:

  1. Introduce Topic relating to advocacy
    1. World Naked Bike Ride
      1. What is it
      2. Where is it
  • How long it’s been happening
  1. What does it stand for/advocate?
  2. Motto
  1. Police Department and Bike Ride
    1. Enforce the law
    2. Oregon nudity law
  • Police and riders compromise
  1. Ride growth
    1. (Show chart)
    2. Explain chart decrease in 2016
      1. Why it was positive
    3. End on Jamie Hale quote

 

Write Out:

So since this section is regarding bicycle advocacy, I decided to do my speech on: The World Naked Bike Ride. What is it? The World Naked Bike Ride is a free public event that has been going on in Portland, Oregon for more than 10 years and it is the biggest naked bike ride in the world. It has been described as a celebration of the bicycle and the human body. But more importantly, it is a protest against dependence on oil and emphasizes the vulnerability of cyclists in traffic. Their motto is: As Bare as you dare. Meaning riders choose the level of nudity they are comfortable with like none, partial or total nudity. The first official year of the World Naked Bike Ride was in 2004. Which was a rather small gathering, about 125 people. Bret Barnum, who is a special events coordinator for Portland police, reported on how the police felt when the World Naked Bike Ride first began, which wasn’t very positive. He was a traffic officer at the time in 2004, and said the police department’s approach was basically the same as it was for Critical Mass, which was to enforce the law. However, since 1985, an Oregon law holds that public nudity is allowed as long as it’s a form of protest, and since The World Naked Bike Ride has always been a protest, the police have allowed it to go on. The biggest problem for the police, then, was not being informed of the details of the event. So after the 2008 ride, the Police Department approached organizers of the ride, and asked them to meet to discuss future events, which eventually settled the following deal: Portland police would block off traffic and offer a motorcade for the ride, if the Naked Bike Ride organizers agreed to run the route by city officials and cut back on the pre-ride drinking. And as the years followed, it turned out the assistance by the police was very necessary. That same summer the ride grew again, from 2,000 to 5,000 riders. In 2010 it grew to 7,000 riders. The amount of riders peaked at 10,100 riders in 2015 This only meant one thing, that Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride was the biggest in the world. However, if you look at the numbers, there was actually a decrease in 2016, which was very much planned. The organizers for that year decided to start the Naked Bike Ride much farther into southeast Portland, specifically at Mt. Scott Park, hoping to draw a smaller crowd. An organizer of the event, Meghan Sinnot said, “We’re the largest ride in the world and we never meant to be, 10,000 is a really awesome number, we don’t need any more.” And her concern was backed by the Portland Police department who had announced they would be cutting back staffing on events, which officials of the bike ride said could have negative effects if it got to be much bigger. And since their move to Mt. Scott Park, attendance for the ride has been lowered and no problems have truly been created. The organization reported that yes, the record-setting crowds were nice for the ride, since it is officially a protest with several causes, but this year’s decrease is seen as good news within Portland’s nude cycling community. And to end, Jamie Hale who is a writer for Oregonian, a daily newspaper based in Portland, wrote about his experience in the ride and this is a part from it: “When I told people I was going to participate in the World Naked Bike Ride, most of them shook their heads. “Good luck,” they’d say. “I could never do that.” I get it – used to think the same thing. But as the crowd of 10,000 smiling faces reached the end of the ride Saturday night, I felt like a fresh convert into the religion of naked cycling. It was an incredible experience, and as it turns out, the bike seat feels just fine.” Lastly, if you’re interested, the next ride is June 24th, 2017!

 

Works Cited:

http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/06/world_naked_bike_ride_portland.html

https://pdxwnbr.org

https://www.facebook.com/PDX.WNBR/

http://www.kgw.com/life/date-set-for-portlands-2017-world-naked-bike-ride/412963406

One thought on “S4

  1. Wow, cool topic! Never heard of the World Naked Bike Ride. You did a great job presenting this information and made it entertaining.

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