My sister lives in Brighton. It’s a really cool place to live and we’ve had many good times there. Bright and colourful it’s a place where anything goes as long as it’s not hurting anybody else. We love it.
This morning, as she sat in the hairdressers minding her own business, her eyes flicked absently to the window then back to the magazine on her lap, then back to the window.
You see, in that momentary glance, when her thoughts were elsewhere and her eyes were scanning her surroundings without actually looking at anything properly, she thought she saw…
..wait for it, she thought she saw a naked man on a bike.
So like any normal person would, the moment her otherwise engaged mind received the message from her eyes, and registered “man, bike, penis,” she awoke immediately from her thoughts and looked back through the steamy glass, expecting of course to see a man in a flesh coloured cycling outfit, or with an awkwardly placed bicycle pump.
But instead she saw, man bike penis, man bike penis, man bike penis, again and again and again.
All shapes, sizes, ages and colours were peddling happily past the salon’s large frontage. (And that was just the bikes.) Some were hairy, some were shaved, some were tanned, some were pasty or red, others were painted brightly, but all were naked.
Frankly it was a bit of a shock. She glanced at her stylist in the mirror. They laughed. Swapped a couple of, “Blimey, you don’t see that every day do you?” type comments and as Claire later told me, she didn’t know if her “cheeks were red from the drier or from all the naked flesh.”
So why the naked blokes on bikes? I asked her, giggling down the phone.
And she explained that it was something to do with cyclists riding to be noticed, the idea being that if you notice them nude then you should be able to see them at other times, kind of a call for motorists to be more aware of cyclists on the road. And I thought to myself, ‘That is so cool but it would only happen in Brighton.’
But, I was wrong, apparently this is happening across the UK, AND, the rest of the world.
This is so cool, yet worries me just a little. I mean, I have in my head dangly bits and bicycle chains…Ouch.
It doesn’t seem to be worrying this man though.
I can just hear him, “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”
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June 7th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
OMG!!
June 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
LMAO!!! The picture is hilarious!!! I think the naked bike ride in our city is next weekend. What a thing to do…and I just have to say ouch. (shudder)
June 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Okay, my bad it was this weekend, but someone told me it was next weekend. Dang it, I missed it! (not that I would have gone anyway, just sayin.)
June 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
surprisingly that’s not such an uncommon thing in Portland, the naked bike riding that is…
June 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I met my wife in Brighton.
She wasn’t nude on a bike though.
June 7th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Brighton must be much like San Francisco. Want to get nude, have a marathon or a bike race, or maybe just paint up your body and climb a tree.
June 7th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
LOL oh my….that is a crack up. Thosre riders are definately much more ummmmm comfortable with their bodies than I am.
can you imagine trying to explain that sight to your child? tee hee…..so glad Sugar and I weren’t there. She’d still be talking about it while she rides around the house on her trike naked. tee hee
June 8th, 2008 at 1:13 am
lol, I’m in Brighton and I didn’t know it was happening. I went to a car boot sale instead.
I like to live on the edge…
June 8th, 2008 at 1:17 am
LOl I did a double take for a minute when I saw those boots my hubby has a pair and he told me he was going to Oxfordshire yesterday!!
June 8th, 2008 at 1:47 am
It’s the flapping of dangly bits that really disturbs me…oh all the flapping!
June 8th, 2008 at 5:42 am
Don’t worry about the dangly bits – that’s what bicycle clips are for! (If you’re hung like a donkey,obv.) Great pics – they’ll keep me chuckling all day. Did your sister’s haircut turn out OK? Not wonky or anything?
Mya x
June 8th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Oooooer that’s the first I’ve heard of that!
June 8th, 2008 at 7:24 am
You may be able to see the naked male bike riders, but you hear the females, sounds a little like a baby suckling. Ha ha ha! (sorry, I just couldn’t resist)
June 8th, 2008 at 9:53 am
that would have neem the Brighton version of the World Naked Bike Ride..I’ve lived in Brighton most of my life, and now I can say I have seen it ALL!
there are plenty pics on flickr, or even yahoo groups- search for ‘wnbr’. have posted a copule of pics from the start.. sadly my canera packed up so no more!
June 9th, 2008 at 1:44 am
ROFL…and still ROFL ;-D
June 9th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Ah yes. They were supposed to ride here too… although it wasn’t such a nice day. I wonder if anyone actually turned out? I haven’t heard.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Wow! That’s ballsy. Pun intended!
June 9th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
you know, if you’d have told me that you could put a picture of naked men up and i wouldn’t be turned on, i’d have said “bwah!!! you don’t know me!!!”
sadly, you do…
June 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
which is to say i’m *not*, just to be clear…
June 10th, 2008 at 4:41 am
What fun! Jo, thanks for posting this! I went looking and it turns out my state capital, Austin, TX, is participating at the end of June and so is my sister’s town of residence, Asheville, NC. Now I’m wondering if I can find a reason to be in Austin on the 30th. LOL
Joy!
Lee
June 10th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I am SO laughing .. and over at http://travellingbutnotinlove.blogspot.com/2008/06/blazin-saddles.html
there’s another tale about naked bike riders ..this time in Paris!
June 10th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I can’t imagine it was any fun for anyone when they went over a hole in the road. Bounce, Ouch!
June 11th, 2008 at 8:10 am
AOJ, I aim to please.
Erin I am so sorry that you missed it. Better uck next year sweetie.
Cami, I am loving the sound of Portland. It sounds like a good place.
Dan, I believe you…;)
Daddykaos, it does sound a little like that. It’s a really cool place.
Corey I bet it was hilarious. To be honest though, kids take stuff pretty much in their stride. We’ve been there for Gay Pride weekend and it’s fantastic. We just smile and wave and tell the kids they’re just people doing their thing. There’s never anything explicit as it’s a fun day for everyone and families are welcomed.
Rob, carboots are cool too, hee hee.
chrisb, do you think..possibly..maybe??
Lilacspecs, maybe they had some kind of clips for the dangly bits???
Mya, snort, her hair was ok. Luckily she was at the drying stage my sweet.
Akela, I bet you’ll be looking out for it next time though hee hee.
WT, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Terri thanks, I’ll have to go and see the pics. Don’t you find cameras always break when you need them the most.
21st CM, yay. Laughing is good.
Maureen, I love that this is everywhere. How did I not know about it before?
Lori, roflmao.
Lee you have to go. How could you possibly risk missing something so fabulous.
Daryl oh I need to go and see that.