The World Naked Bike Ride 2023 is scheduled to roll at 5 p.m. on Saturday (June 10) through the Bywater, Marigny and French Quarter, according to a post on the event’s Facebook page. Look for the route at the bottom of the story.
The WNBR is an exercise in bicycle burlesque in which riders bare it all — or most of it, anyway — in the interest of boosting road safety awareness. As cyclists can tell you, the term bicycle safety is an oxymoron on the streets of the Crescent City.
We, of course, are too bashful to join the unabashed cycling safety activists, but based on our purely journalistic observations of past Naked Bike Rides, here are some popular accoutrements.
1. Nothing whatsoever
The World Naked Bike Ride is no misnomer. Attendees of the event will witness plenty of pedaling Adams and Eves who left the fig leaves back at the garden.
Cyclists ride through the French Quarter during the annual World Naked Bike Ride Saturday, June 11, 2016. Some riders were slightly dress, others honored with white body paint or bits of white clothing those bicyclist who have died on the streets of New Orleans. The ride started and ended in the Bywater, traveling through the Faubourg Marigny and French Quarter.
2. Slogans
Riders often use body paint to transform their torsos into public awareness posters. We've seen "Give me 3 feet," "We R Traffic," "Now you see me?" and the rhyming "Less Gas more A --." The theme of the WNBR is "Can you see me now," implying that if drivers notice naked riders, maybe they'll pay more attention to the clothed ones. Scroll through the top photo gallery to see more fleshy slogans.
Two participants use their bodies as message boards as dozens of riders gather at the beginning the 4th World Naked Bike ride. The bikers in the buff started their ride at Mickey Markey Park and Piety and Royal Street, travelled through the French Quarter and returned to the park by way of Bourbon Street to promote biker safety and protest oil dependency. Shot on Saturday, June 9, 2012.
3. Glitter
Reflective flecks are ALWAYS appropriate, of course. But never more so than during the attention-gabbing WNBR, where a twinkle of magical audacity and amusement is everywhere.
Participants go for a breezy spin during the annual World Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans, Saturday, June 11, 2022. The event highlights bicycle safety awareness for cyclists and drivers who share the road.
4. Crazy wigs, tiaras, feathers and such
Below the neck, riders may be mostly au naturel, but above the neck is still the province of costume and couture. Many prudent, though certainly not prudish, riders wear a helmet.
The annual World Naked Bike Ride rolls through the French Quarter in New Orleans, Saturday, June 12, 2021. The "Bare as you Dare" ride brings attention to the vulnerability of cyclists. Burlesque performer Bella Blue led the annual ride through Bywater, Marigny and the French Quarter.
Regina Berry wears ghostly makeup to represent a ghost rider for the 8th annual World Naked Bike Ride New Orleans to promote bike safety and awareness of riders and promote the reduction of pollution by commuting on bicycles in Mickey Markey Playground in New Orleans, La. Saturday, June 11, 2016.
5. Bikinis or bikini bottoms
These scanty swim suits, named for a Pacific atoll where the atomic bomb was tested, are preferred by some to wearing nothing at all. Get it, atoll/at all? Clever, huh?
Hundreds of nude and nearly nude cyclists roll down Decatur Street in the French Quarter during the 10th annual World Naked Bike Ride to increase bicycle safety awareness on Saturday, June 9, 2017.
Tourists look at naked bike riders on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans, La. Saturday, June 14, 2014. The Sixth Annual World Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans is part of rides worldwide intended to promote cycling safety and to raise awareness about issues concerning humanity.
6. The classic Crown Royal bag
The elegant purple pouch that comes with every bottle of the top shelf Canadian booze has long been the repository of Mardi Gras doubloon collections, marbles, and loose change. It is also the go-to riding gear for gentlemen who feel the need to draw the line somewhere.
The classic Crown Royal bag
7. Sunscreen
Even in New Orleans, the degree of exposure seen at the World Naked Bike Ride is beyond the norm. And the brutal sun can turn the bike ride into a lobster boil, unless the proper precautions are taken.
8. Cowboy hats and boots
Many riders turn up in Stetsons and Western footwear. In between, they adhere to Cole Porter's plea "Don't Fence Me In." Shrimp boots and bucket hats are a bayou variation on the cowboy look.
Participants go for a breezy spin during the annual World Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans, Saturday, June 11, 2022. The event highlights bicycle safety awareness for cyclists and drivers who share the road.
The World Naked Bike Ride took place on the streets of New Orleans on Saturday, June 13, 2015. Two riders gathered at Mickey Markey Playground made costumes out of cast nets.
9. Band-aids
Among bicyclists, adhesive bandages are most often seen on the knees and elbows. Except during the WNBR, when they are sometimes employed to hide the particulars. Pasties, Xs made from electrical tape and other such stick-on obfuscations are also common among the marginally modest.
Cyclists including Maria Treme, center, and a man, who gave the name George Country Club, get ready for the Naked Bike ride in Mickey Markey Park in New Orleans, La. Saturday, June 14, 2014. The Sixth Annual World Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans is part of rides worldwide intended to promote cycling safety and to raise awareness about issues concerning humanity.
10. Pride symbols
The World Naked Bike Ride has nothing whatever to do with the annual Pride parade that takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday in the French Quarter. The former is a plea for motor vehicle driver attentiveness; the latter is an expression of LGBTQ+ identity. But there is always some symbiosis, as WNBR participants let their rainbows shine.
Burlesque performer Bella Blue leads the annual World Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans, Saturday, June 12, 2021. The "Bare as you Dare" ride brings attention to the vulnerability of cyclists. The annual bike ride rolled through Bywater, Marigny and the French Quarter.
The Naked Bike Ride 2023 Route
The ride begins at 5 p.m. at Mickey Markey Park at the corner of Royal and Piety Streets in the Bywater.
It follows Royal Street toward the French Quarter, turns left on Franklin Street, and right on Decatur Street.
The ride continues on Decatur Street into the French Quarter, turns right on St. Louis Street, right on Burgundy Street, right on St. Ann Street and left on Chartres Street.
The ride follows Chartres back toward the Bywater, turns left on Desire, and left on Royal, returning to Mickey Markey Park.