Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride takes a 1-year hiatus

Organizers of Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride have announced that they will take a year off from programming the massive ride.

“Because it has become so large, because people love it so much, because people come in from all around the world … there’s just so much more that has to go into the messaging, to the communications, to the deep planning and there’s a bajillion bits and pieces,” says longtime organizer Meghan Sinnott.

The ride began in 2004 as a protest against the global dependence on fossil fuels, and has grown to as many as 10,000 participants for the annual summer event.

Sinnott points out that not only are participants in this ride more vulnerable because they don’t have clothes on, many of them are often participating in a large bike ride for the first time, or may even be infrequent cyclists.

“The capacity for the organizers and for the city to make that as safe as possible is … there’s nothing quite like it,” she said.

Related: Portland Lets Loose At 2017 World Naked Bike Ride

Sinnott listed off some of the many considerations volunteer organizers have to take into account when planning the ride’s path: “making sure the route doesn’t ride along tracks, making sure there’s no obstacles in the way, making sure it’s not too steep of an incline or decline … making sure that you don’t stop public transportation for too long, making sure that you don’t trap drivers (in) a circle,” among other considerations.

Organizers are asking for volunteers to join a brand new planning committee to start working on 2025′s World Naked Bike Ride.

Sinnott points out that there are plenty of other, smaller rides people can go on this summer to get the feel of riding naked.

“There’s full moon rides, there’s a fig leaf ride, there’s … a naked zombie ride,” she said. “So don’t worry, you will get your opportunity to ride naked if that’s your thing.”

Meghan Sinnott spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. Click play to listen to the full conversation: