Miami World Naked Bike Ride

By Michelle Rada6/9/2010

Miami will particpate in the (in)famous World World Naked Bike Ride along with San Francisco, Barcelona, Mexico City, and a slew of major and not-so-major cities worldwide.

Priding itself as the “craziest, wildest, most insane event of the year,” World Naked Bike Ride is an environmental cause at its core. WNBR essentially asks participants to “face automobile traffic with [their] naked bodies” in order to raise awareness about the dangers of depending on nonrenewable resources, such as oil.

The ride also hopes to promote safety for pedestrians and cyclists.  Miami coordinator Miriam Cruz hopes the act will  promote “independence from oil and car culture,” and serve as a protest to the effects of the recent oil spill on the Florida coast.

No need to ride completely in the buff,  the Miami event encourages participators to express their “concerns about the spill through body paint and creative costuming.” The protest allows for a sense of humor to be mixed in with the seriousness of its cause, welcoming inventiveness and looking to put “a smile on the faces of all those people lucky enough to encounter this curious flotilla of protesters.”

The ride will take place on Saturday June 12th starting at 4:30 pm. Meeting at the BP gas station on 10th Street and Biscayne Blvd, bicyclers will ride through Biscayne Blvd to the Venetian Causeway. At 14th Street and Ocean Drive riders will be joined by the Be Proactive group, who will be walking alongside the beach to Southe Pointe Park. The Be Proactive participants will be wearing black in protest of the plight of animals suffering from the oil spill. This event is also open to anyone wanting to participate.