Some were artists. Some were students. Some were senior citizens. Some were professional office types. Some were families with kids. A good number had beautiful bodies and a lot didn’t. But nearly all of the people gathered for the 10th World Naked Bike Ride — a global protest against automobile traffic, which celebrated its Mexican event on June 13 — had one thing in common: They were either nude or wearing fewer clothes than usual for a public bike ride (the photos here on LatinFlyer.com are edited and cropped; you can order a copy of my complete photo book of the World Naked Bike Ride Mexico event, uncut, with prices starting at just $5.99 for the electronic version).
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DON’T MISS: Order your own copy of the full “World Naked Bike Ride Mexico” photo book — electronic edition starts at just $5.99!
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Every large city hosts events that attract tourists and travelers as well as locals. But Mexico City, one of the three largest cities in the world and Mexico‘s capital, is unlike any other place in Latin America, with its own array of unique happenings that can make travel even more interesting. A great example of this is the World Naked Bike Ride Mexico.
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More than 300 participants — most on bicycles, but some on roller blades, skate boards and even jogging — attended this year’s World Naked Bike Ride in Mexico City. Just as interesting as the diversity of participants was the artistic expression that went into being naked. Starting at 9:30am on a sunny Saturday, 50 artists from an art collective called Encuentro de Maquillaje Corporal Fonámbules gathered at the staging site, near the Monumento a la Revolución, to offer body painting to any participants who wanted it. Body art that ranged from phrases (“¿Ahora sí me ves?”) to graphic splashes of color to paintings worthy of framing soon covered the bodies of various cyclists as they awaited the beginning of the event.
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Participants who rode nude were overwhelmingly male. “That’s probably because there is still a problem here with violence against women,” said Nolberto, a friend of mine who lives in Mexico City. “A lot of women wouldn’t feel safe being nude in public here.” Men and women who didn’t feel like going nude were welcome to participate topless or in underwear (far from being solely about nudism, the event is not simply a gathering of nudists).
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Spectators are welcome too; get there early if you’d like to see the body painting. Even foreign visitors can easily join the ride by simply renting a bike (some Mexico City hotels have their own bike loaning services, and there are public bike programs as well). The ride itself took just over two hours, running to the Zócalo (the city square in historic downtown Mexico City) and down Paseo de la Reforma, the city’s grandest boulevard. It’s this type of alternative, artsy event that shows Mexico City’s unmistakeable creativity and spirit.
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I’ve included some of my favorite photos of this year’s World Naked Bike Ride in Mexico City. Of course, to get the full experience you need to see the full body photos, complete with the intricate body painting. Those shots obviously can’t appear on LatinFlyer.com, but they appear in a special edition of Mundera, my collector’s book/magazine hybrid (it’s very different from Mundera issue 1, which focused on Morocco).
To see a preview of the World Naked Bike Ride Mexico book and order your own copy (the electronic edition is less than $10), check out Mundera, Issue 2: World Naked Bike Ride Mexico City.