On Walking Alone

[jbeegoode]

I got what to me was an unusual comment about an old post that got me to thinking about naturist walks alone, compared to with others. I wrote a response on the blog, which is called "On Walking Alone."

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2021/12/27/on-walking-alone/

I tried another video to illustrate. It's got DF strolling through the forest, seemingly alone. It took hours to get it straight from a sideways rotation, trying different video tricks and editing learning and experimenting. I figured that it would be easy....

Anyway, your thoughts on the matter are appreciated. So many of us are hiking solo, most of the time.
Jbee
 

[Greenbare Woods]

Most of my nude walks are alone.   And my nude bicycle riding.  It's hard to find compatible friends. 

[jbeegoode]

I know of those old train track trails that are good to ride bikes and assume that is where you have been doing your riding. Are there other locations that you like to bike? Do you take backup clothing? How far a ride do you generally go? Encounters?...this looks like a bike riding thread!
Jbee

[Davie]

The vast majority of my naked walks are solo. I admit to being more wary than when I'm walking with a group. Strength in numbers is a confidence booster. I've had encounters which have never been a problem. One was when I was actually still dressed and a lady asked if I was one of the naturists who walked in the are. She was fine about it.

Many agression stories seem to involved men protecting women who are actually OK with nudity. I also find it easier to be put walking naked further away from home, less chance of meeting people you know so less change of wagging tongues which might be misinterpreted although I do walk across fields just over a miles from home.

Davie 

[Peter S]

I'm a lone walker, too.Couple of times I've reached out to other local naturists with a view to sharing a walk but never heard anything back. Like Davie I'm usually a few miles away when I get my kit off, but I've also experimented with territory closer to home, including a couple of times a dawn walk naked from the front door to the nearby racecourse and round the fields there; by the time I'm coming back the dog walkers are appearing and the roads are getting busy so cover-up discretion takes over from naked valour!

[Greenbare Woods]

I know of those old train track trails that are good to ride bikes and assume that is where you have been doing your riding. Are there other locations that you like to bike? Do you take backup clothing? How far a ride do you generally go? Encounters?...this looks like a bike riding thread!
Jbee

Good questions, Jbee.  I have found that most of the "rails to trails" around here are still covered with course gravel that makes bike riding or barefoot walking problematic.   At best they are kind of boring with very gentle slopes and very wide corners.  Anyway I have found other places that are more accessible, even with encounters. 

Last summer my favorite place for naked bicycle riding was a location called Cheney Wetlands Trail.  Its about 4 miles around.  There are ponds which mostly are the Cheney sewage disposal ponds, but have been adopted by a wide variety of birds and aquatic plants. 

This area has several sections where the trail gets too steep for me to ride so I have to get out and walk.  It has a section where it gets up hill away from ponds and meanders through the woods.  The Cheney Wetlands trail does not have a parking lot.  To get there you have to go to one of those abandoned railroad trails and either climb through the fence, or follow the (paved) section of the Cheney- Fish Lake trail (State Park) for about 1/2 mile and then turn off on a gravel side road.  Up that hill gets you to the sign board map in the above picture.   Those pictures are from 2020.  I have replaced the bicycle helmet with my cap from  Cap d'Agde.  It keeps the sun out of my eyes without the funny helmet.  I guess I'm not totally naked. 

I often encounter other (clothed) hikers, dog walkers, and birders while riding the loop.  On a typical weekday I may pass 5 or 6 clothed people.  Sometimes I stop to chat if they seem friendly.  Last fall I stopped to chat with a clothed couple and the woman wanted me to pose for a picture.  I don't mind being photographed.  I assume that someone is going to photograph me naked as a given for going out naked in public.  Nobody has ever complained about me being naked on a public trail.

Last fall I also branched out to another part of the Fish Lake Trail, the part that starts in Spokane.  There is about 2 miles missing between parts so the Spokane side doesn't actually extend to Fish Lake.  It has a parking lot and 3 road crossings.  Much of it is through the woods, gently uphill away from Spokane, and downhill returning.  I didn't get any photos on this trail.  It's hard to take pictures when riding alone. 

My public trail practice so far has been to wear shorts going away from my car, and then ride naked on the return.  My thinking is if anyone gets "offended" and calls police or something they cannot sit there and wait for me to get to the other end and come back.  I end up having the shorts with me, and wear them in the parking lot on my return.  The "offended" person also can't wait and hit me with a stick or something on my return.  Riding naked back toward the parking returns me to my "escape" before the textile people can do something offensive.   I pass a dozen or so clothed people on the paved trail.  I have also ridden naked on the Cheney-Fish Lake section too.  Nobody has ever complained as far as I know.  If I had someone to ride with I would venture out to other trails. There is safety in numbers or so it is said.   I end up riding alone. 

I have started a social media page for Naked in Spokane on MeWe.  A couple of people have said they would enjoy riding naked together next summer.  We will see what happens. 

[nuduke]

Yes, I too always walk alone except for one occasion with Yeldew.  I would love to have a naturist friend to accompany me on my very rare outings these days.  But sadly I don't know any other naturists in the vicinity.

here are ponds which mostly are the Cheney sewage disposal ponds,

Reminds me of Hymie's walks round treatment plants many years ago.  "Hello Hymie" if you're still there!
I presume, Bob, that Cheney has some sort of natural way of innocuous sewage disposal, otherwise doesn't it smell bad when you cycle round it!?

One thing I've never understood about naked cycling, which I have never done btw, particularly for those who are a bit 'broader in the beam' so to speak, is why it isn't fiendishly uncomfortable as the saddle works its way between your buttocks!  Logic tells me it can't be bad but I still wonder if the ride isn't a bit punishing on the anus!  Your comments invited in a genuine spirit of enquiry!
John

[Greenbare Woods]

here are ponds which mostly are the Cheney sewage disposal ponds,

Reminds me of Hymie's walks round treatment plants many years ago.  "Hello Hymie" if you're still there!
I presume, Bob, that Cheney has some sort of natural way of innocuous sewage disposal, otherwise doesn't it smell bad when you cycle round it!?

I'm sure they do some kind of treatment before it goes to the ponds.  Then the plants and such do more processing.  Doesn't smell. 

One thing I've never understood about naked cycling, which I have never done btw, particularly for those who are a bit 'broader in the beam' so to speak, is why it isn't fiendishly uncomfortable as the saddle works its way between your buttocks!  Logic tells me it can't be bad but I still wonder if the ride isn't a bit punishing on the anus!  Your comments invited in a genuine spirit of enquiry!    
John

I bought a padded seat.  I also have some padded bicycle shorts, but I prefer not to wear them.   I think it gets better as you get used to it.  It's the lower muscles that take the weight. 

[ric]

al my naked excursions are solo , i tend to go locally on spur of moment or when travelling and spot a likely looking spot....usually a small parking spot with a footpath or bridleway leading off .  wife isnt really into cycling or hiking.

i havnt done a lot of naked cycling but dont find it a problem , i guess the legs actually take a lot of the weight if youre actively pedalling.

[jbeegoode]

I've never liked those thin stiff racing seats, with our without pants. They have been uncomfortable right from the start. Ive always found a larger padded seat. Springs, if I can get them. A suspension system works for comfort and back issues.

If I'm riding in the dirt, I'll spend lots of time standing up for the challenges of uneven trails, of terrain. I used to spend hours riding around, mastering trails and finding air. But not nude.

My sole nude bike excursion of any length was with painted on pants to avoid detection. It was an evening asphalt run along the river walk. For that, on a borrowed bike, I wrapped the seat in cloth. I sat the whole time. It was probably less than 20 miles round trip. I took an hour or two and not much stopping, if I did, I sat stopped on the bike. It was nearly 20 years ago, so I don't clearly remember the details.

I got no chapping. The smooth seats are not much different than opposing smooth thighs. Oiled thighs might be helpful with some seats. I didn't return bull legged, but may have felt slight rash the next day. I haven't been riding, but on occasion, the last thirty years or so.

So style of seat, how thick the thighs and duration, must be key factors for comfort.

I intend to get a bike for the river ride, etc. since I've become urban. I'll certainly get to figuring strategies for minimalist attire once that hobby kicks in. I've thought of Velcro wraps, G-strings in some of the more remote areas of the biking system andevening full moon rides in paint.You can river park ride it all over the valley, linking in every direction and what is rated as on of the most bike friendly cities in USA.

Can a WNBR person supply us with more details? None of those people seem to be concerned, with anything but paint on the seat. I have seen pics of paint rubbed off.
Jbee

[barerider]

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

[nuduke]

Thanks for the saddle comments, everyone.
Obviously comfort in the saddle isn't an issue with buttock spreading!
Shows up my lack of cycling experience nude or clothed.
I did have a eat up old electric bike once that was handed down from my brother.  That had a very wide padded saddle so comfortable in all circumstances.
I never rode it nude though.
John

[Fuert]

I hike alone when on holiday at Fuerteventura.
I like the solitude and relaxation from hiking naked.
I sometimes think that it would be good to have company sometimes
but it's not easy to find like minded people on holiday.

[Greenbare Woods]

On my bicycle I replaced the rat trap steel pedals with some hard rubber pedals comfortable for bare feet.   I replace the seat with a padded seat.  I never did like those hard add racing seats even when I was young. 

[jbeegoode]

My wrists like those suspension systems, my butt does, too. But a comfy seat with springs in it, especially, does just fine. I can always stand up.

On walking alone, I'll be publishing a lone walk, sometime. It was in the Tortolita Mountains after a lot of rain. Things were responding to the water. Water was flowing. just the nature of a place is so captivating, that there is no way to feel alone. Being in a wilderness alone raises the alert and fears and thus the senses of feeling alive.

There is a loss of having someone to share the experiences with, to be and feel alone, but there is also the wonderful feeling of being alone, with oneself, no distractions. I take a camera. I can always share the experience later.
Jbee