You don't need a reason to bike in the buff, but it helps -- especially if a lot of other people are doing it with you. That's the idea behind the World Naked Bicycle Ride, a global exercise in critical mass and mass nudity taking place today in progressive enclaves around the world. From So Paulo to Seattle, throngs in thongs will take to the streets to protest everything from the war in Iraq to high gas prices. The goal is to simultaneously call attention to the evils of American car culture and the beauty of the human body. In Boulder, where toplessness is legal but full nakedness isn't, nudie riders will loop the Mall, the Hill and points in between, starting at the North Boulder Community Gardens at 4 p.m. The event comes on the heels of the death of Scott Kornfield, a Thornton cyclist killed on Highway 36 in late May; organizers hope to use their bodies to make a point about the perils of bike travel.
"A clothed cyclist is effectively naked before a speeding car," says Scot Colburn, who helped launch the ride in Colorado. "Riding naked will make that vulnerability more obvious. If people ride bikes naked in Boulder, maybe more people will think about riding bikes."
And, Colburn notes, riding naked is fun -- a rare chance to cruise the Pearl Street Mall with the wind at your backside -- if a tad uncomfortable at times. "My worst moment came when I fell over after jumping a curb," he says. "I realized just how valuable clothes are as my body was heading for the ground."
On your mark, get set, strip!
For more information, visit www.worldnakedbikeride.org/boulder. -- Laura Bond
First and Goal
Get out of the armchair and into a referee's uniform.
WED, 6/15
"Hey, ref, you need glasses! What are you, blind?!"
For years, these words have been spit from the depths of our country's football stadiums as one frustrated fan after another has taken his anger out on the zebra-striped men on the playing field. Yet few of these loudmouths would ever dream of donning the whistle and stripes themselves.
Those interested in putting their money where their whistle is should set aside Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., tonight through July 27, for the Colorado High School Activities Association's football referee training sessions, which are being held at the CHSAA headquarters, 14855 East Second Avenue in Aurora.
Veterans can stop in at any or all of the sessions for a complimentary refresher course. Newbies, however, must commit to the entire seven weeks in order to break down the game's mountains of rules. There is a one-time $70 fee to cover dues, rule books and licensing for the upcoming fall season. For more information or to sign up, call Tony Giardina at 303-866-3729 or visit http://officials.chsaa.org.
Play ball! -- Cub Buenning
