Yes, Summer has finally arrived! Our first World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) Seattle event of 2012 is this Saturday, July 7, 2012! Temperatures are expected to reach 76° F!

Every year, in cities around the world, thousands ride bikes naked to celebrate human-powered transport and the power and individuality of the human body. WNBR demonstrates the vulnerability of cyclists on the road and offers a simple, cheap, healthy + fun alternative to car culture. We hope you can join us!

Check out the uncensored version of the 2012 WNBR Downtown Seattle Day Ride Photomontage. (Smaller options, HD: 720 or 4K)

While we encourage riders to "bare as you dare", it is two days before Nude Recreation Week afterall, nudity is not required or expected. Just come ride with us dressed for fun and spread cheer and inspire others with our pro-cycling message! You are always allowed to strip down as much as you like, when you feel comfortable. A swimsuit or undies are recommended if you want to go in the water without being naked. Remember, nude is not lewd! Looking for ideas? See some examples on our international WNBR Flickr photo group.

This is a grassroots, collaborative, D.I.Y. event, so bring your own body paint (and supplies), creative wearable art, musical instruments and bike art supplies. Things can go much smoother when you bring your friends to help out! Tell them to bring their bikes and they might even ride along with you! Check out our preparation page for resources for body art, bike art, as well as other things you should bring to the ride to be fully prepared.

As always, the latest scoop on the WNBR Seattle rides can be found on our WNBR Seattle Wiki Website.

Check out the uncensored version of the 2012 WNBR Downtown Seattle Day Ride Internaional Fountain Poster. (Smaller options, HD: 720 or 4K)

Launching human-powered awesomeness from the Olympic Sculpture Park Beach, featuring beach access + a sweeping view of Puget Sound + the Olympic Mountains!

The WNBR Downtown Seattle start and end location is at Olympic Sculpture Park Beach. (Please refer to Olympic Sculpture Park Map). The address of Olympic Sculpture Park is 2901 Western Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121. If you look at the map, the beach is located at the North end of Foster Foundation Path, on the South end of Myrtle Edwards Park, off the Elliott Bay Trail/Terminal 91 Bike Path. Please note we will not be going into the main areas of the park naked. Please stay minimally-dressed until right before we leave and stay off the pedestrian/bike trail until we are ready to leave.

The start location is hosted by the Seattle Free Beach Campaign (SFBC), dedicated to promoting clothing-optional and topfree use of local beaches through social and advocacy events. Join the SFBC Facebook page (new as of today), Seattle Beaches Yahoo! Discussion group (founded in 2006) and check out their SFBC Naked Wiki page.

The Ride Starts at 2:30 PM!! The ride will be an amazing tour of the urban core of Seattle! We will go along the Central Waterfront, through Pioneer Square, Downtown, Pike Place Farmer's Market, the Pike/Pine Coridor, Capitol Hill, Belltown and the Seattle Center International Fountain (video) and back to the OSP Beach to finish off the day with a Seattle Skinny dipping Record Attempt and small after ride chill time!

Please bring a creative minimum amount of clothing for the ride (undies, loincloth, sock, pasties, loincloth or thong) in case you need it.

Don't forget to have your bike tuned up, tires pumped and make sure your bicycle is properly fit to your body size.This is all very important to having an enjoyable experience!

Please use the restroom before we start the ride at 2:30 PM! Leave plenty of time and plan ahead for this! (See map for restroom locations closest to the beach).

Tourists + Seattleites alike love the creativity, exuberance + spontaneity of the naked cyclists!

Please consider decorating your body and your bike with WNBR themes or bring musical instruments! Preparation resources

View WNBR Downtown Seattle Ride 2012 in a larger map

The Pre-Ride Party formally commences at 12:30 am and ends at 2:25 PM for a 2:30 PM beach departure.

The beach is a great place to body paint, decorate your bike, finalize your handmade costumes, adjust your helmet, tie your shoes, use the restroom one last time, inflate your tires, find helpful people to answer all of your questions, check the latest information about the route, take soom cool snapshots of your ensemble and meet other like minded free-wheeling folk! Yes friends, it's all that and so much more!

If you don't want your picture taken in the public areas outside of the building or on the ride while naked, please consider wearing a disguise, sunglasses or wearing clothes. There are many reasons people may not want to go naked but still ride with us in solidarity. Please also see our photography policy. Aggressive or predatory photography will not be tolerated by riders.

Volunteers are encouraged to show up ahead of the body painting party around 12:20 pm to help set up. We're not doing an elaborate setup so let's make sure we leave the beach spotless! Contact us if you can help!

Seattle Center International Fountain

**Please note** we will be entering the Seattle Center from a different entrance this year, the North. Please follow instructions from ride marshals before and during the ride. In the past we have entered on Harrison Street, near the North side of the Experience Music Project. (See Seattle Center WNBR Event Map - note it does NOT show the entrance for this year)

When we enter the large International Fountain (video) area, we must all get off our bikes and walk with our bikes into the fountain area. Bicycles are not permitted down into the water area. Lock your bike, walk down the ramps. We will spend no more than 15-20 minutes in the fountain. Please also be very polite and vocal (or ring bells) when passing around adults and children in the area. We have also been asked not to use amplified sound such as megaphones in this area. The Seattle Center puts up signs to alert sensitive people to the presence naked people. Thank you for ensuring a safe and fun Seattle Center experience for everybody!

By the way, the Seattle Center has no problem with us washing off our body paint in the International Fountain. They explained to us that they actually have a very thorough filter system because of all the messy kids (+ fun-loving adults!) Better to wash off in the fountain than in the Puget Sound! Keep it clean!

For those who want to get dressed at the Seattle Center, you can easily throw on your undies until you reach the beach after rinsing off your body paint in the fountain, if you wish.

Post-Ride Beach Wade-in + Light Social Potluck

Inspired by other WNBR wade-in traditions such as at the end of WNBR Vancouver (BC, Canada) and WNBR Brighton & Hove (UK), we're planning a second record for skinny dipping at a Seattle beach! Last year's wafe in was a hoot! So stick around with us after the Seattle Center! See the photos in the WNBR Seattle 2012 photomontage). We recommend beach shoes or sandals for the beach since there are lots of small stones.

After Party Anyone?!

We may later hit a bar for a clothed social and after ride decompression (Belltown, Fremont, Queen Anne?) One thing we've learned over the years is that many naked cyclists like to drink beer and chill after the ride to recall what happened during the ride, plan for the future and meet like-minded creative, fun-loving folks like themselves. We also are putting together a WNBR Seattle Collective to help build our ride for future events. We want you to help make this ride even more awesome!

More info

For those carpooling/driving, limited parking is available in the area (see map). We encourage you to take the bus, walk or bike to the start location! Even better, come with your friends, family and co-workers! A bathroom is located up the Elliott Bay Trail, within the Elliott Bay Park (probably ~6-8 minute bike ride away), at the OSP facility, Cal Anderson Park and the Seattle Center (see map).

Your generous support and donations help make good things happen!

Please consider making a generous donation to offset our expenses, whatever you can afford. $5 - $30 sliding scale is suggested, but nobody will be turned away for lack of ca$h because we love you and we don't want any obstacles for you to join in the fun! We do have hundreds of dollars of expenses such as renting the art space and promotional expenses (multiple web domains, registration + other promotional expenses). Thanks!

Please visit our WNBR Seattle wiki website for the latest details on the ride, or see contact info at right.

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Seattle Critical mAss

Show your support for cyclists' rights and help us beat last year's July record for underwearing, decorated, naked + topfree participants! Do not miss this HUGE + CRAZY RIDE with hundreds of cyclists! The monthly Seattle Critical Mass Bike Rides historically have had a small but crazy group of artistic, naked, underwearing and topfree participants during warmest months to add to the massive amount of creativity and excitement Critical Mass already has in the summer!

Friday, 27 July 2012
Friday, 31 Aug 2012

Meet 5:30 PM at Westlake Park, Ride at 6 PM
401 Pine Street, Seattle, WA

What & Why:
"on the last friday of every month in over 100 cities around the world cyclists congregate together to ride in demonstration and in celebration. critical mass has no leaders and no set agenda and people come together to ride for many different reasons.
just a few of those reasons are... to assert cyclists right to the road, to promote bikes as a fun, healthy, viable alternative to cars, to build a greater sense of community, to get more folks on bikes, or simply to celebrate bike love and ride in solidarity with other like minded individuals and have some fun!
overall the ride is what you make it!"

(from the Seattle Critical Mass Website)

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