all it the mark of a changing Bend. Call it a load of fun, or a load of hooey, but we're pretty sure you have an opinion about the World Naked Bike Ride that came to Bend July 8. Organizer Lief Bamberg—who's quick to point out that he's not from weird Portland, but from weirder Austin, Tex.—told us he planned the event to promote body positivity and human-powered transport; the same reasons others have held WNBRs worldwide for coming on two decades.
Since it's held after 8 pm, we question the people who worried about "protecting the children." Shouldn't your kids be in bed? And shouldn't you be more worried about the health of the planet you're leaving them?
Lief and his compadres on the WNBR win the staff pick nod for Best Excuse for Public Nudity. BTW, here's a rundown on ORS 163.465, Oregon's public indecency law:
"A person commits the crime of public indecency if while in, or in view of, a public place the person performs:
(a) An act of sexual intercourse;
(b) An act of deviate sexual intercourse; or
(c) An act of exposing the genitals of the person with the intent of arousing the sexual desire of the person or another person."
Bamberg said: "If you were uncomfortable by the 15-20 naked cyclists that rode the streets, if you don't understand why it is important to combat shame, to be vulnerable and weird in a traditional or conservative town, if you don't understand the outlandish link between riding a bike and being nude, then join us next year."
