Naked ambition of green cyclists (From York Press)
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Naked ambition of green cyclists
8:30am Monday 9th June 2008 in News By Press reporter
Cyclists make their way over Lendal Bridge during the naked bike ride through York
EXHIBITION Square was given a whole new meaning when the third annual naked bike ride cycled through York.
Almost 100 people - either fully or partially disrobed - took part in the ride late on Saturday afternoon to protest against the world's dependency on oil and the car culture.
The nude cyclists started at Memorial Gardens and wound through the city centre, before heading to Millennium Bridge and then back through the city to finish at the Museum Gardens.
Organiser Kay Watkins said numbers were up 50 per cent on the first two events. "The number that was going around was 89," she said.
"It was a little disappointing not to reach 100, but it was a very good turnout and the thing that was most impressive was that there were loads of people in the Memorial Gardens who came down to cheer us on.
"To have people wearing clothes coming to support a lot of people with their clothes off was a bit different."
She praised the police, whose cycle officers escorted the nude riders around the five-mile city centre route. Participants cycled nude to highlight the vulnerability of cyclists on city streets.
