‘As Bare As You Dare’ World Naked Bike Ride Returns To Chicago

CHICAGO — Shed your inhibitions and liberally apply sunscreen for this off-the-charts bicycling event coming up on June 24 in Chicago to celebrate World Naked Bike Ride.

Dates vary for the clothing-optional bike ride and stretch into August, but at least 70 cities in 20 countries are hosting what is billed as the “craziest, wildest, most insane events of the year.” In the United States, events are planned in about a dozen cities.

While World Naked Bike Ride does appeal to and include people who are part of public nudity groups, it doesn’t actively promote social nudity, according to organizers.

The first events in the early 2000s drew a tangential connection to the “indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create,” but have since evolved to tout the health benefits of cycling and promote positive body images.

In Chicago, the ride is scheduled to take place between 8 p.m. and around 10:45 and the exact route, as in years before, will remain under wraps until the day before the event. Last year’s 15-mile ride included fan stations in the neighborhood formerly known as Boystown and in Wicker Park, where the ride was scheduled to end around 10:45 p.m.

Past World Naked Bike Ride events have attracted more than 2,000 riders to Chicago.

Go “as bare as you dare,” organizers say, which means local ordinances regarding nudity may still apply. However, the organizers say on the FAQ page that there’s “safety in numbers” and even if the local law prohibits nudity, “police typically won’t take action to cite/arrest riders participating in a large group ride.”

For the record, anyone over the age of 17 can be charged with indecent exposure under Illinois law if they commit “lewd exposure of the body with the intent to arouse or satisfy the individual’s sexual desire.”

In fact, on the brochure for the 2022 Chicago event, organizers encouraged riders to obtain legal counsel if they got arrested or into trouble with the police. Organizers also included the contact information for the Cook County Public Defender's Office and the Illinois Lawyers Guild.

However, according to a website explaining Illinois law, a criminal charge of public indecency is one that is often left in the hands of a police officer’s discretion, which means that not all public lewdness charges will be treated in the same way.

Plans are underway in about a dozen U.S. cities, including Chicago; Madison, Wisconsin; Milwaukee; St. Louis; Buffalo, New York; Montpelier, Vermont; Philadelphia; Houston; Los Angeles; New Orleans; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco.

New events may be added as summer rolls along. Photo galleries of previous rides, including this World Naked Bike Ride in St. Louis last year, offer a peek at what’s in store in host cities.

And, because we know you’re wondering, we looked up the answer on the FAQ page to this burning, and perhaps chaffing question:

Doesn’t riding a bike naked or nearly naked hurt?

The organizers say biking naked is more comfortable than many people expect, for both men and women, because the seams of their clothing aren’t constantly rubbing against their skin.

“So in some ways, naked riding is comfier!” they claim.

The ride is not a sans clothing version of the Tour de France, where endurance matters.

“Ride routes will often be chosen with less experienced cyclists in mind, so will avoid hills and be more leisurely in pace, increasing comfort,” according to organizers.