Go to jail or bare it all, what would you do?
Bicyclistswho bare it all could be arrested, city warns
By Tom Beal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.06.2008
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You might want to cover your "naughty bits" if you plan to ride in Tucson's first naked bike ride Saturday.
A flier promoting the Tucson World Naked Bike Ride suggests you go "as bare as you dare," but lawyers warn that if you dare to bare it all, you may end up in jail.
City Attorney Mike Rankin said Thursday that totally naked riders would be subject to Arizona's public-indecency statute, though he knew of no city plans to crack down. It was the first he'd heard of it.
Rankin said the statute covers exposure of genitals and anus for both men and women, and exposure of the nipple or areola portion of the breast for women. "Those are the naughty bits you must cover," he said.
The crime is a misdemeanor, unless the exposure is in the presence of a child under age 15, Rankin said.
Erik Ryberg, whose law practice specializes in representing bicycle riders, said he was contacted about the legality of the ride by people who planned to participate.
He said he sent them the statute (ARS 13: 1402) and a court case in which a man who was seen urinating in a city park by two young girls was cited with a Class 6 felony.
"If the Police Department wanted to, they would probably be able to go after felony charges for these people," Ryberg said.
Ryberg said he doesn't plan to join the ride, but "I support what they're doing."
"I am an advocate for bike safety, and one of the points is to … demonstrate how fragile and vulnerable people are when they ride their bikes," said Ryberg.
"There is no criminal intent in this bike ride. It's a celebration of the bike and the body, and I hope the Tucson Police Department understands that."
The flier gives an e-mail address but does not list organizers or sponsors of the ride. It tells riders to gather Saturday at 7 p.m. at North 10th Avenue and West Fourth Street.
Employees of two Downtown-area bike stores said the flier simply showed up.
A flier was also posted at BICAS, the community non-profit centered around bicycle salvage, repair and education.
BICAS is not connected to the ride, volunteers there said, but a man at BICAS offered to call a guy he knew who had a friend who might know something.
That resulted in a return call from "Kyle," who said he was not an organizer but a facilitator of the ride.
Kyle said he and the other facilitators did not want to talk about the ride in advance because of concerns about safety. He said they wanted to "minimize spectatorship."
The World Naked Bike Ride Web page lists 129 cities that have held rides or scheduled them. The Tucson ride is not listed.
Conrad Schmidt of Vancouver, B.C., is credited with starting the movement, though he downplays his role. "I just set up a Web site, a very bad Web site," he said.
"People as a collective across the world created the Web site and created the ride," he said.
Schmidt said the ride attracted 2,000 riders in London last year and 1,000 in Portland. Arrests have been made in some cities, Schmidt said, though none in Canada or Europe.
In Seattle, where the rides are preceded by body-painting festivals, two naked rides are scheduled this summer. Judging from photos on the Web site, shoes are pretty much the clothing of choice.
If I rode in that, I would want friends standing by in a getaway car in case the po-po got nasty about things. I'd wear good running shoes, too.
In Tucson, my first concern would be sunburn...not cops. Ouch!
Quote from: Nitewaif on June 06, 2008, 05:52:17 AM
If I rode in that, I would want friends standing by in a getaway car in case the po-po got nasty about things. I'd wear good running shoes, too.
Oh yes they call him the streak... [laugh]
JM
There are better thing to do naked than ride a bike.
Quote from: spolic on June 06, 2008, 09:32:15 AM
There are better thing to do naked than ride a bike.
not if you take the seat off.... :-X [laugh]
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2555780029_bf76ac5345.jpg?v=0)
Quote from: Vindingo on June 06, 2008, 09:58:59 AM
not if you take the seat off.... :-X [laugh]
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2555780029_bf76ac5345.jpg?v=0)
That belongs in the WTF thread! [puke]
Here I thought I wouldn't have anything to do this weekend. That part of town has a lot of bicyclists and a lot of "flamboyant" people.
Quote from: GTA on June 06, 2008, 06:54:07 PM
Here I thought I wouldn't have anything to do this weekend. That part of town has a lot of bicyclists and a lot of "flamboyant" people.
It's going to be a hoot. [laugh] We will see how many people show just to watch.. I would go just to see if the cops will be giving them all a hard time. Wont be showing much of this on the news.
Quote from: 695LAM on June 06, 2008, 07:00:13 PM
Wont be showing much of this on the news.
Unless you watch FOX. [roll]
Dug this one up to see if anyone participated/watched this year's wnbr. I happened to be in Pdx when thousands rode by sans much of anything. It was pretty crazy, and the cops blocked off the streets to help facilitate their ride. It was pretty cool.
Where was it supposed to be held? UofA? Sounds like a 4th Ave. affair?
I've been down in Tucson the past couple weekends..(un)fortunately missed it.
Thongs and pasties FTW [cheeky]
http://bikeportland.org/2010/06/20/an-estimated-13000-take-part-in-portlands-naked-bike-ride/ (http://bikeportland.org/2010/06/20/an-estimated-13000-take-part-in-portlands-naked-bike-ride/)
I was at third and burnside (at Dante's) when they rode by. I don't know Portland all that well, but it wasn't a short ride as they cut across town.