UPDATED UPDATE: Wow, just found out about Austin on 6 June.
The announcement that WNBR New Orleans is going ahead with this year’s ride has prompted some changes in the list of North American rides in 2020, published here in March. Only NOLA, Portland OR, and Philadelphia turn up in the research as definitely proceeding on schedule. Other rides in the US, Canada, and Mexico are canceled for this year—e.g. Saint Louis MO—or postponed until a date to be determined.
WNBR fans may have seen on Facebook or elsewhere that PDX alt-weekly Willamette Week reported that the big ride there was canceled. That appears not to be the case: Portland organizers have simply rebranded it as Ride Naked Day: They’re asking participants to ride naked wherever they may go on the 27th, rather than in the herd of 10,000 typical for the Rose City.
The facilitators of WNBR in H-Town are not have decided not to have the ride as planned in June. We have not yet ruled out a ride in August if conditions allow it.
Furthermore, the consensus of the H-Town group is not to endorse participation in the NOLA ride, despite the precautions the NOLA crew are recommending:
- not congregating in a park before the ride
- assembling at home or in a safe meeting place insteade
- riding in small groups of people with whom you have shared space during the pandemic
- maintaining adequate physical distance between cyclists
- wearing masks during the ride
- reporting rides and routes to the facilitators at least a week before the ride
We would not also recommend traveling to a distant city just to participate in a naked ride. That goes against WNBR’s message of minimizing use of fossil fuels. If you happen to be in Portland or Philadelphia at the time of the ride, that’s different. Keep in mind, however, that the quarantines and lockdowns are as much about keeping you from unknowingly spreading COVID-19 as about keeping you from getting it. Even if you don’t have symptoms, act as if you are carrying the virus because you might be.