Naked bike ride in Canterbury cancelled because organisers couldn't get insurance

One of Britain’s biggest naked bike rides has been cancelled because organisers were not able to get public liability insurance.

Canterbury’s controversial naked bike ride was scheduled to go ahead on 26 May but has been called off because public liability insurance was not in place in time.

The ride was also impacted by a planned bus lane scheme on the outer edges of the Kent city which would have pushed extra traffic onto roads used by the cyclists.

Campaigners have argued the event, which would have seen stark-naked bikers pedal past Canterbury's iconic cathedral, “stinks of exhibitionism”.

Organisers insisted the decision to call it off was unrelated to any criticism, and was solely as a result of an inability to find a suitable date.

The demonstration is part of the World Naked Bike Ride, an international protest against the overuse of cars and consequent dangers to cyclists.

Barry Freeman, who has been behind all five previous anti-car and traffic pollution protests, said it was a row about a bus lane which ultimately curbed the scheduled ride.

The ‘fallback’ date on the evening of 29 June was also a non-starter, because despite the fact insurance was available, it clashed with planned roadworks for the new bus lane.

Many participants tend not to wear helmets while taking part, increasing safety fears on congested roads.

“I therefore decided, for the safety of would-be participants, not to hold a naked bike ride in Canterbury,” Mr Freeman said.

“After I’d made my decision, Kent County Council then called off the planned Sturry Road bus lane works, ironically stating there was too much traffic and it would cause chaos.

“Yet Canterbury remains one of the worst cities to cycle safely within or across, despite some good outer city routes for cyclists.

“Pollution levels are unacceptably high and to even consider another multi-storey car park shows how little thinking exists within the city council’s traffic management department.”

Conservative councillor Neil Baker, who chairs the council’s community committee, has questioned how genuine the event is. He also argued some of the participants were too large in physical size to be regular cyclists.

“If they were actually regular cyclists making a protest about air pollution issues, they may have a point,” he said on the East Kent Civil Society Facebook page.

“But given the state of some of them, there is no way they are regular cyclists. You can spot a regular cyclist by their calves due to lactic acid build-up. There may be some who join in, but it stinks of exhibitionism to me.”

However, Mr Freeman hit back at him and said the decision to cycle naked was directly linked to the protest’s cause.

“The reason why we ride naked or almost naked is to underline that cyclists are vulnerable, flesh and blood,” he said.

“Motorists tend to notice naked cyclists more than those wearing hi-vis clothing. So the message remains, ‘See cyclists when they’re not naked’.”

Additional reporting by SWNS