Beer bellies, stretch marks and lots of dangly bits were on full display yesterday when hundreds of naturists took part in the Cape Town leg of the annual World Naked Bike Ride.
Among them was retail worker Patricia, who rode with a mask on.
“My husband doesn’t want my face in the papers,” Patricia laughed. She asked that her surname not be used. “This is my second Naked Bike Ride; I also took part last year.”
She was riding for body positivity. “The ride shows people that freedom comes in all forms. Being naked is freedom. You don’t have to be shy about your body,” Patricia said.
She loves the initiative, but is a naturist at heart. “It is a wonderful initiative. I will stand for being a naturist in all forms.”
The event is billed by organisers as part of an international protest movement against fossil fuel dependency and consumerism, but also as a “protestival” to celebrate feeling positive about our bodies, our planet and its people.
The dress code is come-as-bare-as-you-dare to attract attention to the cause.
Juanita Pretorius, 51, one of the Capetonians who took part in the city’s first world-famous ride-sans-clothing in 2008, loves taking part in what she calls “a profest”.
“I was one of four people who took part ... and I was eight months pregnant! The ride is a protest and a festival in one. We ride against anything from body shaming to fossil fuels — but every rider can ride for any cause.
“We are one of 74 countries in the world to host the World Naked Bike Ride.”
The route on Saturday was the same route taken the previous 16 times the World Naked Bike Ride visited Cape Town — starting and ending at the Colin Eglin Sea Point library.
“Every one, even American President Donald Trump included, is welcome. Come to think about it, he could do with some direct sun and a bike ride. He has that glow-in-the-dark kind of whiteness about him,” Pretorius grinned.
Pretorius’s husband, Marthinus, 58, took part to celebrate his Khoisan heritage.
“I believe in the freedom of expression and in the power of heritage,” Marthinus said on Wednesday. “We all must know and respect one another. And also know and respect one another’s heritage.
“Everyone in this country has a little Khoisan genetics in them. We all come from the first mother.”
Marthinus wants children to be proud of their origins.
“I taught at a primary school and the kids see it as an insult if someone calls them Khoisan. This needs to change.”
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