On the day hundreds, or even thousands, of people are preparing to cycle through the streets of major cities, including London, naked for the World Naked Bike Ride, we also want to throw a light on a development in the world of naturism.
Our Real Naturists of the Year 2017, Belgian couple Nick and Lins, are already famous for their blog Naked Wanderings, relating their naturist trips around the world, which recently also hit Thailand.
While moving around California and Mexico, they still found time to launch a new initiative: NUDE, or the Nudist's Ultimate Destination Explorer.
Both owners of naturist 'areas' - could be hotels, B&Bs, campgrounds, anything that once used to be known by the oddly historical term of 'colonies' - and their visitors can register and offer suggestions, descriptions, comments on one website - https://nudexplorer.com.
The aim looks like being a kind of online version of world naturism guides - a list of naturist accomodations and areas around the world including relevant details, about location and transportation, whether "clothing optional" is allowed, and other useful information for a potential visitor.
In my personal experience, there are always surprises: at some naturist resorts, the restaurant is textile - which means you have to go back to your room and dress or undress before and after each meal - in my humble opinion, an annoying waste of time. Some naturist hotels also allow visitors from outside to live as a naturist during the day for a fee, which is useful if say, you already have your own place in the neighborhood but no official naturist beaches, which can happen in places like Thailand.
All in all, any initiative like NUDE deserves our encouragement.
If you are cycling today in one of the many World Naked Bike Rides, good luck to you, but you can also think one step further - and plan a total nakation, a weekend, or a week, or two, when you don't have to be concerned about wearing clothes at all.

Naked Wheels and the Return of Lady God1va

June hails  the advent of summer, of the summer holidays,  at least in the northern  half of our Earth. That's why it  is also a popular time to start taking  those clothes off and launch naturist and half-naked events. One of those is the 6th edition of Natcon, starting today, as the most popular naturist event in Asia, based in Thailand.

Not purely naturist, but gaining popularity worldwide, is the World Naked Bike Ride, with several locations around the world this Saturday, including London.

The event is not just nudity for its own sake, it’s a protest against energy overconsumption and against ‘car culture.’

As to myself, I am a naturist and I love cars, visiting the Taipei Motor Show every year. I have nothing against cars, but I am of course against people who think they don’t have to respect other road users just because they drive a car, a certain type or brand of car. All road users, including cyclists, should respect the rules and the rights of other road users, especially the weakest among us, the pedestrians.

In the margin of the World Naked Bike Ride, it is nice to hear again from a naturist activist, the British woman who used to be known as @ladygod1va and whom I chose as my Real Naturist of the Year 2016. She was banned for life from Twitter, even though there was no reason to do so. She has always been a true naturist, even though on Twitter you find many fake naturists who post pictures that have nothing to do with naturism, yet they never get banned.

You can find Lady God1va’s latest message at https://ladygod1va.wordpress.com/2017/06/04/london-wnbr-10-june-2017/ and the World Naked Bike Ride at http://wiki.worldnakedbikeride.org/

Each location seems to have its own separate page with routes and times, so browse around online and get naked on wheels.

(Photo by Paul-in-London from Wikimedia Commons)

Real Naturist of the Year 2016: Lady God1va

(Photo credited to @nigelwill2001 by Lady God1va, World Naked Bike Ride 2012).

Each time around this year, I name someone who has promoted the cause of naturism as my Real Naturist of the Year. Unfortunately, this is just an honorific, there is no fancy artistic statuette, no impressive sum of money.
Past awards have gone to founders and owners of naturist hotels and resorts, and even to a country association.
This year, I am naming a person who has been promoting the cause of naturism on- and offline for many years.
Known as @LadyGod1va on Twitter, she has not only tweeted and blogged about the cause for naturism, she has also been active in organizing World Naked Bike Rides in London and has promoted the cause during an appearance at The Fourth Plinth, a public speech project on Trafalgar Square in 2009. As said here before, while WNBR is not a specifically naturist action but an environmental protest against the dominance of motorized traffic, its use of public nudity helps to promote the notion of the naked body as non-sexual and public.
Lady God1va has also played a crucial role in the naturist movement because she is a woman and a non-Caucasian, two categories that need to be persuaded to join naturism.
It was after I was already looking into her as my main candidate to become the Real Naturist of the Year 2016 that I found out she had been banned from Twitter, due to an avatar that was reportedly "too naked." I never saw the picture, but due to her naturist convictions, I am certain that there was nothing offensive about it. Social online media such as Facebook and Twitter claim to be the new vanguard, but their views on nudity are still hopelessly out of date and simply wrong.
Choosing Lady God1va as my Real Naturist of the Year 2016 is not just an award and a recognition of her years of work, but also a plea for more tolerance. Yes, you, Twitter, bring @LadyGod1va back.
Her blogs, which date back some time, are at http://ladygod1va.wordpress.com and http://ladygod1vadaily.wordpress.com
Lady God1va about her appearance on The Fourth Plinth: https://ladygod1va.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/the-plinth-hour/

On Your Bikes, Downunder!

The coming March 5-6 weekend marks the opening of this year's round of World Naked Bike Rides. Since a measure of warmth is needed to appear on the streets without clothes, the Southern Hemisphere will be the first to start off the activities.
The major Australian city of Melbourne will host a ride this Sunday, March 6, but both this and the weekend after, several locations in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil are expected to form the stage for naked cyclists.
The movement is not just about cycling in the nude, and not all participants have to be completely naked.
The first World Naked Bike Ride started in the Spanish city of Zaragoza in 2001, and then as now, the main aim is to defend the weaker road users against irresponsible car drivers, the waste of energy, pollution, and related 'green' or environmentalist topics.
You know my stance on using naked bodies to protest - I think nobody should feel offended, so that might take away the purpose and effectiveness of a protest. While I do think speed limits should be respected and energy should not be wasted, I also believe that cars can be beautiful design items that should not be demonized, while under public pressure, carmakers are already looking for alternatives to oil.
Having said that, the World Naked Bike Rides could be one of the most effective ways to have
the naked human body be accepted by the public at large. The participants are not all completely naked, and many of them are covered in bright paint, making the rides a carnival-like event full of smiles and beauty.
Some countries are still touchy about allowing naked or semi-naked men and women ride bicycles in city centers in broad daylight, but on the whole, the World Naked Bike Rides have been well received and have been spreading around the world.
Once the cold of winter and spring subsides, early June will see the World Naked Bike Rides fan over across the Northern Hemisphere, with major events taking place in some of the world's most famous locations in North America and Europe.
For the time being, if you are a naturist in the southern half of the world, it's time for you to get nude and get on your bikes!