Ever wanted to join a naked bike ride but are worried about getting into trouble with the law? Well, you’re in luck, as the lawncare services marketplace LawnStarter has recently unveiled a ranking of the best and worst cities for naked biking, which can help you determine where your first naked bike ride will be.
To find out the best and worst places for naked biking in the United States, LawnStarter compared the 200 biggest cities in the country using 24 different metrics. Grouped into four categories (Naked Biking-Friendliness, Popularity, Safety, and Climate), these metrics include local legality of public nudity, severity of penalty for state public nudity rule violations, number of bike clubs, historical number of extremely cold days, and many others.
After LawnStarter calculated the weighted scores for each city in each category and averaged the scores for each city across all categories, below are the places that emerged as the best and worst cities for naked biking in America.
Best cities for naked biking
- Chicago, Illinois
- Portland, Oregon
- Seattle, Washington
- Austin, Texas
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- San Francisco, California
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Los Angeles, California
- Boston, Massachusetts
Worst cities for naked biking
- Clarksville, Tennessee
- Miramar, Florida
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Pembroke Pines, Florida
- Hialeah, Florida
- Enterprise, Nevada
- Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Stockton, California
- Cape Coral, Florida
Which city is the best for naked bike riding?
With the highest overall score of 63.29 (out of 100 possible points), Chicago, Illinois is the best U.S. city for naked bike riding. Chicago ranks number one in the Popularity metric category and is one of the U.S. cities that actually hosts a World Naked Bike Ride event yearly. According to LawnStarter, Chicagoans searched for “naked bike ride” more times in the past 12 months than Googlers in any of the other 199 cities it evaluated.
Chicago ranks number five in the Safety metric category, which means biking around the city is fairly safe. And even though Chicago is called the Windy City, it isn’t as windy as its name suggests. LawnStarter noted that the average wind speed in Chicago tops out at 10.3 mph. Strong breezes are a bigger danger in Boston, which is the actual windiest city in America.
Chicago, meanwhile, only ranks number 10 in the Naked Biking Friendliness metric category, meaning naked biking in the city can still get you in trouble with the law. Austin, Texas, which finished number four overall, is the most naked-biking friendly city in the U.S. According to LawnStarter, Austin has some of the laxest public nudity and bicycling laws in the U.S. In fact, the Bat City, also known as the Hippie Haven, is one of only four cities where total nudity won’t land you a ticket or jail time.
For more fun facts about LawnStarter’s ranking, check out the graphic art below:
What’s the point of a naked bike ride?
A naked bike ride is a form of protest. Every year people in some 200 cities across the globe participate in the World Naked Bike Ride, a bike event, in which wearing clothes is optional to demonstrate the vulnerability of cyclists on the road and to promote cycling as a cleaner and safer means of transportation compared to motorized vehicles and their negative impact on the environment. The event also celebrates body positivity and the power and individuality of the human body.
The World Naked Bike Ride, which was first held in 2004 in Canada, is the world’s largest naked event promoting cycling in history.
World Naked Bike Ride 2022
World Naked Bike Ride 2022 is a series of clothes-optional bike rides in different parts of the world that kicked off at the end of spring and will run throughout the summer. Like in previous years, World Naked Bike Ride 2022 celebrates body freedom, advocates for genuine rights for cyclists by demonstrating their vulnerability on city streets and demands measures to curb car culture and the world’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels.
Organizers of this year’s World Naked Bike Ride said that the event is open to everyone. “All are welcome,” they said, according to Forbes. “From the shy to the bold. Cyclists, rollerbladers, rollerskaters, skate boarders. All ages, sizes, and colors. Bring your family and your co-workers!”
The organizers added: “Don’t feel discouraged if you’re not willing to undress completely. As the motto [of the event] clearly states —bare as you dare — the ride is equally appropriate and comfortable for the shy and bold. Also, feel free to add some special features and create your unique style by decorating your body and vehicle.”