Messages

1

Free Range Naturism / Re: On Walking Alone

« on: January 06, 2022, 11:08:27 AM »

I have accumulated many miles over the years. Eight World Naked Bike Rides on tarmac roads. Four holidays in Fuerteventura during which I rented a bike and mixed it with the surfers on rough lava and sand roads. A couple of rides on dirt roads on a sheep station in New Zealand. What must be hundreds of short rides in my local forestry plantation on earth tracks.

A wide selection of saddles, and not a trace of a problem or any sign of others suffering. I suspect that most of the WNBR participants do not indulge in naked cycling very often.

Their loss!

Neil

2

General Naturism Discussion / Epiphany and Anniversary

« on: June 01, 2020, 03:13:50 PM »

Here in the UK the June sun is beating down. It was on such a day many years ago.....

It was an unexpected afternoon off from college. I loaded up some reading homework  and cycled off the few miles to a friendly wooded area on a high chalk ridge with magnificent views. At that time I had not learned to swim, so a swimming costume did not feature in my wardrobe. Not expecting to be seen, an open backed athletic supporter was the least cover I could manage.

In a secluded area I stripped down to the minimum and read on.

After some time I stopped reading and enjoyed my surroundings. I thought 'It is very warm and I can't be seen by anyone. Why am I wearing anything?' Finding no good answer, the supporter came off, and I became a nudist. it really was an epiphany, as I have tried to avoid clothes ever since.

The Anniversary? It was sixty years ago today.

Does anyone else recall their first nude experience?


Barerider

3

Free Range Naturism / Re: The Secret Naturist Handbook

« on: November 07, 2019, 08:33:52 PM »

How about five World Naked Bike Rides, a couple of sheep station solo rides in New Zealand. Quite a few coast track rides on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, and, over the years, a great many early morning short rides in a forest area a couple of miles from where I live.

I love it!

Barerider

4

Free Range Naturism / Re: Hiking skirt (and other clothes quick to change out of)

« on: August 12, 2019, 02:36:20 PM »

My 'M' size RunningKilt is 14" long, my 'L' size is 16". (I bought the two just in case the sizes did not work out and the postage was the same!).

I feel comfortable cycling in the L size with nothing underneath, it is long enough to tuck back between my genitals and the saddle in case I need to cover up. The M size is too short for that.

For more public wear, I combine a RunningKilt with a 'backless' pouch from Kiniki. This consists of a shaped pouch with a waist band but no rearward connection. The two together resemble a pair of shorts, and the pouch is easily removed upwards when appropriate.


barerider

   

5

Suggestions and announcements / Re: Karla! ANYBODY! I can no longer click to read comments since my last visit!

« on: December 14, 2018, 08:25:28 PM »

At the risk of starting an avalanche of 'Me toos', I too have lost the 'last post' option, about a week ago. My system is reasonably modern with Windows 10 and Edge.

barerider

6

Free Range Naturism / Re: How was your month for Free Range Naturism?

« on: July 30, 2018, 08:39:36 PM »

This is an attempt to get this topic back on course……………
Summer began well with a holiday on the island of Menorca. We stayed at a beachside hotel with nudist beaches about forty minutes walking in either direction. The route to our beach of choice was mainly a cliff top path with the sea on one side and fields on the other. It cried out to be walked naked, under the morning sun in a clear blue sky. My wife was amused by my attempts to do just that, but the path was slightly too popular to be able to stay naked all the way.  When we tired of the beach, our hotel balcony faced the afternoon sun and was not overlooked.
So, back home with an all-over tan. The first excursion should have been the Bristol World Naked Bike Ride.  Unfortunately, the record-breaking UK summer of 2018 had not started, and I decided that an indifferent weather forecast for the day did not justify a speculative 200 mile round trip. In the event, it stayed dry but not very warm.
Then summer arrived. It is probably the hottest I have known, as I was living in South Africa at the time of the legendary UK summer of 1976.
Our garden can be overlooked by one set of neighbours when they are in their garden, so casual nakedness is not possible when they are home. However they are constitutionally incapable of leaving their house without their cars, so a glance out of the window shows us when they are both out. When they are not there we can stretch out in nude comfort on our patio. Our garden (read ‘my wifes’) produces quite a lot of fruit, and it is one of my simple pleasures in life to process broad beans, gooseberries and jostaberries while naked.
Then came the Exeter WNBR, and the weather was perfect with a light cooling breeze. Perhaps because of the weather, participant numbers were well up this year. Some forty of us, including seven ladies, roamed through the centre of Exeter for a couple of hours. One brave participant was on a tall unicycle with an off-road tyre!The ladies included several teen/twenties who took the dress code literally. No police cycle escort this year, but it was obvious that they were keeping an eye on us. Halfway round we took a rest, and quite a few riders took the opportunity to take a dip in the adjacent River Exe. The reception from the public was the same as ever, lots of cheering and amusement and picture taking as we went the full length of the main street on a Saturday afternoon.
 I did not notice too many misguided parents covering their children’s eyes as we passed, always a sad thing to see. We were accused of being “all paedophiles” at one point, we wondered if the speaker could actually spell it…yet alone recognise one.

And today it is raining. Where are my clothes?

barerider

7

Factory Farmed Naturism / Fuerteventura = Hotel Gran Natura

« on: July 23, 2018, 05:50:53 PM »

Apparently the rumours are true, and the Hotel Gran Natura on the Canary  Island of Fuerteventura has closed its doors. Not because of a lack of custom, but the site owners have doubled the rent, and a planned refurbishment would have cost 2 million euros. The upgrade was certainly needed - the rooms were not the most comfortable or well equipped that we have come across. We will miss one of the unusual features of the site in that it was possible to leave by the back gate naked, directly onto the foreshore of the Dunes national park, where public nudity is commonplace. No clothes required! Just as it should be.

Barerider 

8

Free Range Naturism / Re: Posting on this site

« on: June 05, 2017, 08:30:49 PM »

My thanks to all three responders. I have now managed the pasting process.
All I want to do is post text, nothing exotic.

barerider

9

Free Range Naturism / Posting on this site

« on: June 05, 2017, 09:33:59 AM »

Can any of you savvier-than-I-am members explain how to post a Word (other software is available) document in the message space that I am typing this in?

Thanks

barerider

10

Free Range Naturism / Re: Naked Bicycle Riding in Seattle

« on: July 10, 2016, 03:51:59 PM »

Yesterday I turned out for my fourth World Naked Bike Ride, in Exeter (UK, that is). Leaving home the temperature was 17C with very misty conditions. Forty miles on, on the lee side of the intervening hills, it was 23C and sunny. Perfect conditions for a naked ride. My wife left at home was prepared to feel sorry for me being out in such weather, but there was no need.

The event was sadly not well attended, with 24 participants, as opposed to 31 last year. The ride was curtailed for reasons that were not immediately apparent. It was probably because there was a great deal happening in Exeter that day - regattas and rugby matches as well as us. We had a great reception as usual with a great deal of smiling, waving and clapping, especially when we rode down the main shopping street in the midst of all the Saturday afternoon shoppers. I only heard only a few negative comments and saw only a few children with their eyes covered.

It would have been nice to venture out of town on such a lovely day, Exeter has many canal and riverside cycle routes. However, the basic premise of the WNBR is a protest against oil dependency and also to emphasize the need for more awareness of cyclists by motorists, and it would be hard to justify the ride if we were away in a more rural area. As it is, most riders, including myself, just see it as an opportunity to ride naked in public without the threat of any repercussions.
 
I suffered no chafing or other discomfort during the ride, and am looking forward to 2017s events. London perhaps?

if you get the chance - try it!

barerider 

11

Free Range Naturism / Re: Naked Bicycle Riding in Seattle

« on: June 22, 2016, 11:13:58 PM »

As someone with, I suspect, more experience of bare bums on saddles than most, I have never experienced any discomfort or soreness relating to the fact that I was naked. This applies to both my own bike and several that I have hired in Fuerteventura or borrowed in New Zealand. Thinking of my fellow WNBRers, I would imagine that a majority neither rode naked often nor rode very far on a regular basis. My genitals rest very comfortably on top of the saddle, but this could of course vary depending on one's conformation.

I ride regularly with only a one thin layer of polyester between my skin and the saddle, and with nothing there as often as I can. I am extremely fortunate in that there is a Forestry Commission wood only a couple of miles from where I live, in which naked riding is possible early in the morning using a route with hilly access as remote from the car parks as I can get At this time of the year 'early' means 05 30 to just after 06 00. This year a cuckoo or maybe cuckoos have been very vocal. It is a lovely time of day.
Tomorrow morning is looking promising - warm, humid and dry. All I have to do is wake up in time!

barerider

12

Trip reports / Re: World Naked Bike Ride, London 2016

« on: June 17, 2016, 09:45:31 AM »

I have found myself on most of the published videos of the rides that I have been on, whether any acquaintance would recognise me from the fleeting images is doubtful. I don't have a problem with being recognised, and have always admitted to being a naturist if asked or it has been relevant to a conversation. My bike has discrete frame stickers saying 'Nacktradfahrer' that have never been queried.

Would I take part in a WNBR in my home town?  Probably.

barerider

13

Trip reports / Re: World Naked Bike Ride, London 2016

« on: June 16, 2016, 12:17:42 PM »

Unlike John P, I participated in the 2016 World Naked Bike Ride series, in Bristol. It was my third ride, having done Bristol and Exeter last year. We were a jolly crowd, officially 204 in number, doing two laps around the Bristol city centre, passing down pedestrian precincts, through parks, past the marriage registry office, to the amusement and apparent encouragement of most of the onlookers, of whom there were many on a Saturday lunchtime. Legally, a column of cyclists is one long vehicle, so once the front has passed a green traffic signal everyone can follow through any subsequent red phases. This disrupted the car and bus traffic very nicely, but nobody seemed to mind.

In one of the parks there was a troupe of drummers performing an apparently endless routine. We passed them twice, and both times there was a stop, which allowed  riders to abandon the bikes and indulge in a spot of naked dancing. This shows up rather well in the online videos that I have seen.

There was little police interest evident, not least because they were expecting trouble from a rally at the same time nearby, organised by the politically ultra far right English Defence League, an event which always attracts an opposing group looking for a fight. In the event, it  not come to very much.

We circled the city centre for over two hours, on a cloudy but just warm enough day. The participants were mainly male, 80% perhaps, and most of us were naked.  Slogans and body paint abounded. Mainly conventional bicycles, with a smattering of electric and recumbent machines, and one unicycle.

Participating in WNBRs feels to me rather surreal, being naked in a clothed world with none of the concerns that are inevitably at the back of my mind when indulging in Free Range naturism on my own. It is certainly enjoyable, being able to cycle with nakedness as an incidental. Of course, as a WNBR rider you are going to appear in online videos as well as on countless smartphones around the world  if that bothers you. But as an elderly male, I am not a subject as cameraworthy as a nude girl! I had my claim to fame many years ago when I appeared naked on the cover of an English woman's magazine

All too soon, it came to an end, and it would have been ideal to drive the hundred miles home naked. However, a summer Saturday afternoon on a motorway is not the right place, so I had to be content with an unbuttoned shirt and one of Scott's Running  Kilts tucked under my seatbelt unless passing high vehicles.

Here's to the Exeter event in a few weeks time!

barerider

   

14

Trip reports / Re: My Fuerteventura Holiday

« on: February 16, 2016, 08:05:02 PM »

JOhn

I like the idea of doing the entire north coast ride between El Cotillo and Corralejo. Do the local buses carry bikes?
I have not tried the southern route out of El Cotillo. The first section appears to be a flat, windy and featureless lava strewn plain. Does it improve further on?
Current thinking for next January is for two weeks at Monte/Marina/Playa in Morro Jable followed by a week in El Cotillo. But plans may change

Neil 

15

Trip reports / Re: My Fuerteventura Holiday

« on: February 11, 2016, 10:05:53 PM »

The week before JOhn arrived we were in El Cotillo, staying in an apartment in the middle of the village. It was my custom to go out in the early morning and cycle naked along the road towards Majanicho  I rented a mountain bike from the friendly shop near the football stadium. They lend you free of charge a helmet, pump, repair outfit and tools just in case....

On five consecutive mornings I left the apartment before dawn, timing the trip to arrive at the start of the Majanicho track just as the light was good enough to ride safely over the corrugated bits and the soft sand sections. The initial section of my route was through the centre of the village past the only big hotel, so some clothes were necessary, in this case a buttoned shirt and Scott's Running Kilt. One unusual item in my flight baggage was a set of easily mounted flashing cycle lights to warn any half asleep road users.

At the end of the urban area, the place marked as 'Los Lagos' on the map, the clothes came off and into the rack bag. The buttons came in here as my shirt could be removed without needing to also take off my helmet and glasses. My route then followed the curve of the 'D' on the map. This a curious place, a well surfaced road with non-functional street light standards. It was apparently the start of a now abandoned development authorised by the then mayor, who coincidentally had close connections with the developer.....

At the top of the 'D' I turned right onto the track. On one of the days I was too early for the light level, so I carried on up to the lighthouse, round the car park and back, still naked.

I then carried on as far as the mood took me. The sandy bits die out after about a mile and the riding becomes easier. It was still very rough, and I salute you, JOhn, for traversing the whole length in one go!

 The area was not deserted. At first light the surfers come out, charging along the track in their cars looking for the best waves of the day. They in general took no notice of a nude cyclist. I took good care  to keep out of their way when we met on the sandy sections. The one exception was when a car overtook me, then stopped. After I had passed it he then overtook me again, and I noticed that the passenger was taking pictures with his mobile phone. There was also the odd runner, and quite a few illegally parked motor homes/campervans, often situated near the 'No Camping' signs. Here I had the moral high ground as I was not breaking any laws!

On arrival back at the main road, if there was no one around there was a short downhill swoop obviously best ridden naked, to the start of a track following the straight section of the 'D'. This track was impossible to ride in the dark but traversable in the light. At the end of this it was time to dress in shirt and conventional shorts for the ride home past the houses. The Scott Kilt is a bit too revealing when cycling.

I managed the best part of an hour cycling without clothes each day, after which I would rouse my wife from her bed and we would prepare to go sunbathing on the beach up by the El Caleton apartments some forty minutes walk from our apartment.

We had perfect weather for the week. here's to 2017.

Neil