No, not me. Sorry (?).
For a conservative government city, Ottawa has many little quirks. For instance, Four-Twenty aka National Pot Smoking Day is celebrated on Parliament Hill and there is a yearly Zombie Walk. We also have interesting alternative places such as the Prince of Wales Bridge… and let’s not forget about “Maman,” the huge spider.
I’ve just added one to the list—Saturday was Naked Bike Ride Day. And by “naked,” I don’t mean without a helmet. I mean naked.
Okay, not French “naked” (which would have been really naked), but North American “naked,” so nether regions were covered. Apparently, participants actually started naked but the police gently reminded them that being naked in public is against the law. On a side note, sadly, the police escorts chose to stay in uniform.
The bikers still took Rideau Street and the Byward Market by surprise. The look on people’s face was priceless—I think some bystanders were more embarrassed than the cyclists.
I’m always surprised to see how nudity or even partial nudity is controversial in North America. Remember the Janet Jackson Super Bowl scandal? All that for a nipple? I’m pretty positive it would have been a non-event in France. I mean, we all tan topless anyway, it’s not like French men haven’t seen breasts and nipples before.
Actually, breasts and nipples are usually the first thing I notice when I go to France, on the cover of magazines, on advertisements, in the media… Every time, it reminds me that culture is quite different from one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other.
Some people are more conservative than others and I completely respect that. I grew up in an artsy family and lived in hostels when travelling so I’m pretty cool with my body and I’m not exactly modest. This doesn’t mean I walk around wearing skimpy skirts, expose a visible thong or show a plunging neckline every time I step out of the house. But let’s just say I’m perfectly fine getting dressed/undressed while having a conversation with a close friend or family and I master the art of changing clothes quickly on a packed beach.
Biking naked? Nope. The naked part doesn’t bother me but there is too much traffic in downtown Ottawa. Plus let’s face it, all that pollution can’t be good for the skin, can it?
Alright alright… pictures of the event below. If you are at work, make sure your boss is not peering over your shoulder!
That’s brilliant! I love it!
Ireland is quite similar to North America for that; people are not comfortable getting changed in front of others. On the other hand, girls have no problem wearing vulgar tight and short skirts.
Sure, we were well used to that in Jules Verne with the mixed changing rooms for PE, weren’t we?
I remember a Canadian girl being amazed for changing in front of her and a guy in the dorm. All I had done was to put on a pair of trousers while still wearing my skirt!!!!
I used to skip PE all the time so I don’t really have memory of changing in the lockers 😆 I do remember the smell, it was awful.
😀
Haha, the first line got me laughing. You should probably start the post with NSFW for those poor souls who open this at work.
Ah, since the pictures are way down at the bottom, I figure people had time to figure it out 🙂
That is not naked!
You and your titles… you should work for The Sun!
No, please, not The Sun!
But you still clicked and read… so I guess I did something right 😉
Topless, not bottomless, at least. Speaking of nudity, I once heard, in terms of movies and their ratings, Americans think it’s worse than violence, Europeans think violence is worse. Candians think them equal. One of Quebec singer Mitsou’s music videos was banned by MuchMusic because it showed topless women. She got really angry and blasted them for showing violent videos but censoring what feeds babies.
Most Europeans are fine with nudity, it’s just not such a big deal. Yes, violence is frowned upon… but generally speaking, I think there is less censorship. For examples, bad words are never ‘biped out”!
hmmm… interesting…
That was pretty much the look on people’s faces 😆
why is it that the people one sees naked are the ones you’d least want to see naked?
viva la france.
and what do you mean france has no states? there’s umbria, sardinia, tuscany, lombardy.
chee zhu, don’t you know anything??? liore, marne, rhone, savoie… provence!
is’t kansas in france too?
Not states, “départements” 😉 And they have no power compared to states/provinces, everything is centralized in Paris. Which is fine I guess because France is about the size of California. Gosh, we don’t even have different timezones, that how small France is! Shame, shame, shame 😆
these activities will not exist in this region for a million years! Haha. even overtly intimate affections between lovers are censored on tv and mags. go figure.
Yeah, I don’t see that happening anytime soon in Malaysia 😆 Too bad, you have the weather for it!
and btw, naked is the wrong term for the guys! they ain’t naked, at all! LOL
I like the photos! Nudity doesn’t really bother me either. I don’t understand why in ads you can see a woman’s breasts but not her nipples. Weird.
Will you come with me to the next Zombie walk? It would be more as photographers than zombies.:) (Unless you want to dress up, which is cool too)
I’d love to come to the zombi walk with you! Last year, I just stumbled upon it and this year, I want to actually follow it. I ain’t scared but two gals are better than one to fight the zombie invasion 😆
They have the same thing here in Vancouver and Victoria but I think they really are naked, unlike that show where they are completely dressed as far as I’m concerned..
But it definitely is interesting.. Not sure it really does anything for sharing the road.. lol
Vancouver is probably a bit less conservative than Ottawa… I know they started off naked but the police told them to cover up.
Riding a bike naked, that is too uncomfortable for me, I need a little bit of cushion 🙂 In heartland Mexico that would have caused an uproar for sure, people are very conservative and they would shun anyone who would take part of an event like this one.
I miss the diversity of events and happenings of a bigger city, you do not see anything like it in New Brunswick.
I remember people bathing topless in Puerto Angel on the West Coast. I guess despite a conservative side, Mexico isn’t that conservative… but in the heartland like you said.
Oh and riding a bike naked must be a bit uncomfortable, I agree 😆
I’m pretty sure that an event like that wouldn’t get very far in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA but maybe it should.
Maybe you should start it…? 😉
The university in my town used to have a Naked Mile run every year around spring finals. I guess they stopped it because it was getting out of hand. I don’t know, I feel like naked exercise would be pretty uncomfortable, but hey, if that floats your boat, go for it! I kind of laugh that it’s Canadians who are doing the naked bike ride because of course in the US the stereotype is that you all live in log cabins in the woods and wear lots of flannel 🙂
From my cabin, wearing flannel, I’m waving saying “these stereotypes are so wrong!” 😆
It’s a global event.
We’ve got it in London too.
Too bad, I don’t have a super long zoom! Ha ha 😀
I didn’t have the zoom lens, I just got close!
Oh, the Naked Bike Ride Day! I recently heard of this in Twitter, and apparently it happens in many different cities around the world!
Yes, it’s a global event. Not in Buffalo…? 😉
No, apparently Buffalo is not on the list.
Haha, that’s funny. I’m thinking of running in my underwear for a fundraiser here. Even for that I have to mentally prepare myself, because it’s so weird!!
Aw, wearing underwear isn’t so bad, I think I could do that. Totally naked… probably not.
Hey Zhu,
long time no read 🙂
It’s funny coz we have had a naked bike ride today in the Netherlands. Not to be pickey btw but the nakedness of it all is a bit disappointing. D
Some bare breasts but no full monty’s as far as i could spot. And what about the men? I know, biking is not the most comfortable thing to do prolly when you are naked, but why is called the naked bike ride then?
HOpe all is well!
I agree, it should be called the “I wanted to be naked but I couldn’t bike ride” 😆