Renek Gaszewski [Blog]

Just a couple minutes before the scheduled start, Halifax’s edition of the World Naked Bike Ride was a flaccid affair.
About a dozen cyclists, all fully clothed, and maybe twice as many voyeuristic spectators, had gathered by the fountain in the North Commons. Then the contingent from a body-painting party arrived, and things perked right up.
The naked bike ride takes place twice a year, once in the southern hemisphere and once in the north. Cyclists took to the saddle Saturday in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Drumheller, Alta. It’s aimed at drawing attention to the fact that riders are at risk from cars, to protest the use of fossil fuels and to celebrate the human body as nature intended.
“I think a lot of people are going to have a lot of laughs,” said organizer Tom MacDonald, clothed in only a helmet, scarf (around his neck) and body paint. “I got a few on the way here, and also we’re hopefully going to allow people to see the fun side of biking, and that we’re exposed when we’re on the roads here in Halifax. That’s sort of what the whole thing is about, showing how exposed we are to cars.”
MacDonald did some of his body paint himself, but enlisted help to have the slogan Less Gas, More Ass written on his back. He said riding a bike in the nude is actually more comfortable than you’d think.
“When you think about it, you have less between you and the seat so you can distribute your weight better,” he said. “No chance of a wedgie.”
Body paint from the art supply store Loomis was applied with brushes.
To examine the art work displayed by four topless young women, you had to look right at their breasts. Danielle Hebert, artist, model and cyclist, wasn’t bothered by the stares.
“I didn’t really think twice about it. I travelled in France for a while and spent a lot of time on the beaches there, and they’re all at least half naked. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me,” she said pertly. “I really wanted to do some body painting. I really like painting and some people were interested in showing off some body painting so I thought that would be really fun.”
“We were painting at a friend’s house right around the corner, so we just came right over, but the baseball guys over there really enjoyed it.”
As the cyclists prepared to leave on their ride, spectators who’d gathered on nearby bleachers moved in for a better look. One of them, Joan Curtis, stopped to watch on her way to church and had told her daughter where she was going.
“She said: ‘Mom, you are crazy, the silly things you can do.’ I just wanted to see if they really would do that, because I know if you get naked and go on the street the cops are going to arrest you,” Curtis said. “I thought it was funny, but kudos to them. If they want to encourage people to leave their cars, because that’s what I think the whole idea is, then fantastic.”
In fact, two Halifax police officers on bicycles stopped by shortly before the event. They remained in uniform throughout.