--- title: World Naked Bike Ride description: World Naked Bike Ride is this weekend and we looked at the health risks of naked sports canonical: https://time.com/2861368/world-naked-bike-ride/ author: Abby Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-14T12:00:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:21:54.146Z article:section: Health og:title: Here's What Happens When You Bike Naked og:description: Thousands of cyclists will ride naked in cities around the world this weekend. Is that really healthy? og:url: https://time.com/2861368/world-naked-bike-ride/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e65330a56cc57a/69869757f983e7214b04e607/world-naked-bike-ride1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4256 og:image:height: 2394 og:image:alt: World Naked Bike Ride in London on Aug. 6, 2013. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Happens When You Bike Naked twitter:description: Thousands of cyclists will ride naked in cities around the world this weekend. Is that really healthy? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e65330a56cc57a/69869757f983e7214b04e607/world-naked-bike-ride1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Happens When You Bike Naked > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Abby Abrams](https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Jun 14, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  World Naked Bike Ride in London on Aug. 6, 2013. World Naked Bike Ride in London on Aug. 6, 2013. PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images by [Abby Abrams](https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Jun 14, 2014 12:00 PM UTC This weekend, thousands of bikers will take to the streets sans clothing as part of the annual World Naked Bike Ride event. The rides take place in more than 75 U.S. cities and more than 20 countries around the world. Good fun! But considering biking is a sport that often comes with specialized gear like padded shorts, sun-protective tops, and helmets, are there health risks that come with biking in the buff? “Ouch,” says sports physician and avid biker Jordan D. Metzl. “There’s a nerve called the pudendal nerve, which basically runs right in the area where you put pressure on a bike seat. That’s why people who ride bikes all the time sometimes get numbness,” he says. “A little bit of padding can help that, but if you have no padding at all and don’t have clothes there, and are riding for a while, that can cause a lot of issues.” Metzl also said that sunburn could be something to watch out for, particularly on areas of the body that don’t normally get a lot of exposure. While the [official 2014 ride date](http://wiki.worldnakedbikeride.org/index.php?title=List%5Fof%5Frides) is June 14, some cities hold rides on different dates—[New York City’s](https://www.facebook.com/events/1470386783194951) ride is this Friday, June 13, for example. With the slogan “bare as you dare” the rides are technically clothing-optional, and many cities use the rides to protest or support various causes such as free assembly, free expression, and positive body image. On that note, Joschi Schwarz, who is the co-owner of Bold & Naked Yoga, a studio that offers naked yoga classes in New York City, says the naked bike ride sounds healthy to him. “One of the big benefits, when you talk about bike riding, when you do things like this naked, you load yourself, your skin and body with vitamin D,” Schwarz says. (It’s important to note that public health officials do not recommend sun exposure of any kind without SPF; D is best gotten through diet and supplements.) He adds that riding a bike without clothing can provide similar benefits to doing yoga nude: increased circulation, relaxation and body positivity. As for Metzl, he has three pieces of advice for participants hoping to ride naked this weekend. “If you’re gong to do this, don’t fall, use a lot of sunscreen, and pay attention to the aches and pains. 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