Living in Peru : your everyday companion

When I received the flier in my inbox about the 4th annual "Ciclonudista Lima" which transpired last Saturday, I knew that I had to go and check it out. Who can resist the prospect of snapping a few scandalous photos of a bunch of young men and women that have decided to display themselves for all the world to see? Yes, I knew that the Ciclonudista was to support some cause or other, but let's face it, it's the nudity that people are interested in. No matter how technologically advanced we become as a society, a naked person gliding gently by on a bicycle is always...always...going to turn some heads.

by

Ben Jonjak

The event was scheduled to take place at the Bajada Balta Cuadra 1 de Miraflores. However, on Friday night, a mere handful of hours before the Ciclonudista was to take place, I received a message in my inbox indicating that the event had been moved to the intersection of Arequipa and Aramburu. Right away I could feel the momentum for the Ciclonudista coming to a screeching halt. You simply can't change an event's location just a few hours before it is to take place, and such changes are especially damaging to a nude event (which require huge crowds to buck up everyone's spirit).

I arrived at 8 in the morning (as the original brochure indicated) only to find a group of about four fully clothed men straddling their mountain bikes nervously. A couple hundred yards away, a guy had set up shop with his airbrush and was awaiting the arrival of human canvases on which he could paint messages of peace and cycling harmony (no doubt he would have preferred a few nubile young female canvases, but you take what you can get I suppose).

At 8, the only group that had arrived in force was the police, who occupied themselves by writing a mountain of traffic tickets. Although I never knew it before, it's prohibited to make any kind of left hand turn off either Arequipa or Aramburu at their intersection. However, the presence of the signs indicating this law made not the slightest difference to the scores of motorists who passed through and instantly attempted to make the prohibited maneuver.

I stood and watched as the cops managed to pull cars over armed with nothing but a sternly blown whistle. They'd simply point at cars and give one angry whistle and the cars would stop! Sometimes the drivers pretended to ignore the police and simply continued on their way. When this happened, the police would walk after them with that slow, inevitable stride of authority, whistling away in an accelerated, angry cadence until the cars eventually did pull over. I wanted to see what would happen if somebody ignored them (would they radio a helicopter, or initiate pursuit from a hidden motorcycle they had stored away?), but nobody did.

Seeing that the Cyclonudista wasn't about to begin, I wandered off for a coffee and a sandwich. Returning about 10:30, I was pleased to see that a fairly large crowd had accumulated. However, the advertised "nudity" was not in full effect. There were a fair amount of people that had painted themselves (a painted body is still by definition "nude" but the anonymity is intact, thus making the event heartily festive), but most of them had on a pair of bikini briefs or something.

Look! If you're going to organize a "nude" event, you've got to have some truly nude people there. I mean, come on! It was your idea after all. And if you're too afraid to go completely nude, then at least wear flesh-colored bikini briefs so people might momentarily think you're nude for a moment before realizing what you've got on. You want to provoke the following conversation in the casual spectator's mind:

"Is that guy NAKED?!? I better look away! Wait a minute, maybe he had shorts on! I'll take a another look...no, I'm too embarrassed to look...ok, I'm looking now, but it's just one quick look behind my hand...ohmygod, he is naked!...better look again...No, wait...those are flesh-colored shorts...hahaha!"

In fairness, there was one guy who went pretty much the full monty, but even he draped a sock over the nether regions (maybe it was to avoid sun burn...good thinking actually).

Although advertised for 10, the actual ride didn't begin until after 11 (which was kind of irritating), but all in all the event was fairly successful. I have lived in a few cities around the world that encourage cycling and it does have a major positive effect on a place. The temperate climate of Lima makes this an ideal city for cycling, but the traffic and the lack of paths make bicycle transit prohibitive. This year's Ciclonudista wasn't enough to turn the tide of the battle, but maybe it was the first snowflake in the avalanche. I guess we'll just have to wait for next year to see if the organizers can drum up a few more participants...and if they can actually get all of them to bear it all for the good of the cause!

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6 Comments

# A says :
19 March, 2009 [ 01:00 ]

nothing like it was back in the States, but ....

www.ciclonudista.com
www.worldnakedbikeride.com

# Barbara says :
19 March, 2009 [ 03:53 ]

Okay, how come I didn't get an email to this event?!

It sounds like Lima needs to schedule a do-over. As Ben points out, it's not a nude cycling event if people are wearing clothes.

How disappointingly tipico, the police using the event as an occasion to hand out tickets. Next time interview one of those guys or their jefe and ask them their rationale for using a fundraising event as an excuse to raise money for the police dept/municipality.

# athena kargeui says :
20 March, 2009 [ 07:55 ]

BEN! BARBARA! where are you amazing people? I've been in Peru for almost a year and I need to meet bicycle enthusiasts from Peru or from any other country who are here living in Peru, i'm one myself.  we should get together to schedule a do-over or something this is unacceptable! seriously!

 I strongly dislike the police in Peru, they're very very mean, unreasonable, don't care if there's a drunk bleeding man who needs help laying on the floor (just kicks them around and makes sure everyone just walks around the man,, i told the cop he was abusive, that was in Gamarra), some are perverted and i guess by their attitude think they have rights to talk dirty and TRY SO HARD to get physically close to every women here who walk by them at the bank, a restaurant, etc.,.  they don't respect street traffic, they do nothing except stand or sit all day and blow their whistle when they get bored, and they get paid!!!! and definetly have that, 'the police would walk after them with that slow, inevitable stride of authority, whistling away in an accelerated, angry cadence until the cars eventually ...' ,

The traffic is so terrible, and the micros, combis, taxis that pollute this country...
I need to and want to help out, but nobody here is motivated enough or is but wants to help and doesn't know how or where to get together to do so,  or get scared about what everyone else will say about them, (well so far the people i've talked to). Some Peruvians I know are so used to smelling the carbon monoxide, it's weird if someone tells them, 'hey, what's that smell, contamination...' and they just look at you like you're crazy, and say that you're spoiled (engreido)...

there are no bicycle lanes, and if there are lanes... they're in the middle of the damn street (wtf?) and if they are in the middle of the street, there are people sitting in the middle of it selling things, making it their property.

I want to do something about this, this is unfair to cyclists here, to the citizens of Peru, I'm not one, but it would be really nice to do something for them. Come on! Bicycling benifits society!

# Mark Butler says :
4 April, 2009 [ 09:57 ]

I wish I had thought of riding nude instead of coming home with  those horrible tan lines .I have been home for two weeks now and people are still laughing at all the odd tan lines .I biked 4 months solo in Peru this past winter but I chickened out in Lima ,the traffic terrified me and the air sickened me,so I took a cab through .I did have some experience with police and found them very helpfull .I also found it comforting to see them on just about every corner,but you probably know them better than I .Love Peru and am going back as soon as possible.   

# Joel House says :
8 April, 2009 [ 05:40 ]

I think cops in Peru should hand out more tickets! The way people drive here is stunning. Pedestrians are targets. Courtesy is what Peruvians are all about until you blind them with a windshield. Rules and red lights are just suggestions to taxi drivers.
I was bumped by a taxi as I crossed a street on a green light. I don't know why the driver felt the need to fill the space where I was walking, but he sure was shocked when I slammed my fist on his hood and left a noticeable dent. I also taught him some colorfull invectives in English referencing the marital status of his parents and his alledged mental capacity. I translated it for him and invited him to get out of his taxi.
The cop on the corner did nothing, the crowd on the corner looked shocked at first and then they broke into applause.
Peru could have much better roads financed by tickets given to idiots.
 If a taxi gets too close to you, kick it.

# mark butler says :
11 April, 2009 [ 04:23 ]

Hi Joel . I think I know the taxi that bumped you,it was probably the one that had so many stickers on the inside of his windshield that there was only 2 square inches of clear glass to see through and that was dirty.

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