World Naked Bike Ride Generalized but Specific How To Guide and Plan
Andrew Bedno - World Naked Bike Ride Chicago - 2009.01.20
The following is a generalized version of Chicago's annual production checklist for our running of the World Naked Bike Ride.
Since it has gotten rather long, I'll reiterate the absolute keys for first-timers:
The World Naked Bike Ride coming to / happening in a city I believe typically goes through several distinct phases over the course of years. This was true for Chicago, and I gather from reading was similar in others. I mention this so new rides can address appropriate needs and expectations.
First year and before is usually championed by an individual, and a few dear cycling friends. This is MUCH easier if a Critical Mass monthly ride already exists. If it doesn't, that should be established as well, perhaps first. Champions probably are notably comfortable with their bodies, and local nudists may aid. First year may simply be flyer printing, word-of-mouth, and under a dozen turnout. BUT AT LEAST precedence is established.
Second and third years are about familiarizing the city and cycling community with that the event will happen, and has happened before. City becomes familiar with the name. Helps if prior year photos are posted and good painting was done. Do heavier flyer printing, word of mouth, and PR. For rides under a hundred, route can be informal and start/end as simple as someone's yard.
By third year, cyclists+hipsters will expects the event in advance. Press will readily publish it in event listings and may ask for photos. Expect several times the prior years riderships; in smaller cities be prepared for dozens, larger should hit hundreds with proper publicity. At this level a planned route is required, start/end points become significant questions, and legal observers and police liaison should be engaged.
By fourth year the event is a serious sustained production, where all the matter in this How To comes to bear, and a considerable team of facilitators is required.
As of fifth year Chicago ceased pursuing increased ridership. With the mass long enough to fill the biggest streets for miles, we have the luxury of concentrating on safety and message, and the new challenges of such a colossus.
Chicago has been notably successful due to the current good level of organization built through experience. BUT another key to success is that work is appropriate to development year. Chicago currently pursues an optimized balance of maximized safety, message, fun and comfort, with minimized friction, management and cost. A first few years ride however could simplify down to get lots of riders, have fun, and don't get arrested.
FIRST-TIMERS:
JANUARY:
FEBRUARY:
MARCH:
APRIL:
MAY:
JUNE:
DAY OF:
AFTER:
The following is a generalized version of the actual production supplies checklist used by Chicago:
Admin:
Site:
Food:
Setup:
The following is a generalized version of the actual donation gift items and quantities consumed by Chicago's ride. These were given away on site, some on honor system, at a donations table. For other cities the quantitites can be scaled, but the items are sound.
Also gifts for leading volunteers:
Production staffing for a large event can be seen as several largely independent teams. The following are titles Chicago uses, their descriptions, and approximate number on each in 2008:
The following are typical pre-ride "stations" (activity areas) during the gathering phase of Chicago's events.
Check-In. Gate. Support.
Donations and concessions table.
Roaming donations and concessions.
Body painters.
Body painting DIY.
Drum Circles.
Bands.
Music Trailers.
Bike decorating.
Coolest bike contest.
Roaming photographer(s).
Stationary photographe(s)r.
Autographable event banner.
Bike related art.
Performance: joust, extreme, tall, dance, ...
Play: chalk, hoops, poi, frisbee, ...
Water. Snacks.
Potty.
Major subjects related to body painting for the World Naked Bike Ride Chicago.
Newbies, please visit the example photos page.
Introductory face painting tips for the experienced artist. Andrew Bedno - 2008.09.24
These hints presume you can already paint with acrylics and render most any form on demand, such as flowers, planets, buildings...
As an example, here's my (outdated) online face painting flyer: http://bedno.com/drizzle/Andrew_Bedno-Face_Painting.pdf
There’s some detailed pictures of paints I’ve tried here: http://bedno.com/photo.php?c=20080418&i=20
Also see notes for WNBR-C painting team.
Review WNBR hints page online.
Chicago after years of experience and pro discussions compromised down to simply Palmers brand. Palmers is bottom of the line but an IMPORTANT grade up from simply using any non-toxic acrylic. Palmer's is designed for skin, handles well enough, and is available in large bottles inexpensively. As with most brands, the red may stain, and there is a very low but potential risk of allergic reaction.
Chicago also compromised down to mostly foam brushes, from 0.5" to 3". These work well enough for broad and high volume and DIY. Altering angle with these can give any stroke width. Plus a selection of inexpensive conventional synthetic fine paintbrushes (#2-6).
To create a a painting area set out paints and brushes. Sometimes cheap tarps where necessary, but for best results paint where everything including tables chairs and ground may get splashed. Add stacks of paper cups, some plates, rolls of paper towel, and some water bottles.
To handle high volume, assign leaders, and define specific recommended artwork (as opposed to anything anyone wants). Hold back refill quantitites of all supplies, rather than setting everything out at first.
Seek out actual working face/body paint artists, such as clowns. Especially seek out air-brush body painter artists (sometimes overlaps with tattoo). Working body painters will often bring their own professional grade paints and favorite brushes. And may hope for some compensation. Such professional artists may volunteer for the cause or for kicks, and can be encouraged to hand out cards as enticement, or may reasonably solicit tips.
Palmer standard colors, 2oz, $1.85
Logical buying criteria:
Containers per painter = Number of hours * number of paintings per hour / paintings per container
( 3 * less than 20 ) / more than 20 = less than 3 = 1-3 bottles per painter
Therefore one bottle of each color for each painter will well more than suffice.
Red
Blue
Turquise
Green
Purple
Pink
Magenta
Orange
Yellow
Brown
Black
White
Radios / walkie-talkies / other ride-day live communications solutions is the subject of extensive discussion. Bottom line, don't skimp. If a ride is tiny to small just yell or use phones. At the 150-500 level GOOD walkie talkies are a BIG help. Buy more than two of the highest power and distance allowed by law. At the 1000 plus level we're debating PTT rentals as the only reliable for distance.
More details will be posted here when finalized.
Collected notes and links on common CB/FRS/GMRS technologies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-way_radio
CB: 40 Channels, 4 watts, 26.965-27.405 MHz, 162.400-162.550 MHz, AM modulation.
The maximum legal CB power output level, in the U.S., is four watts for AM and 12 watts (peak envelope power or "PEP") for SSB, as measured at the antenna connection on the back of the radio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_band_radio
GMRS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMRS
5 Watt 40 Channel with Up to 30 Mile Range
Name Lower frequency (repeater output) (MHz) Upper frequency (repeater input) (MHz) Motorola convention Icom F21-GM convention Notes
"550" 462.550 467.550 Ch. 15 Ch. 1
"575" 462.575 467.575 Ch. 16 Ch. 2
"600" 462.600 467.600 Ch. 17 Ch. 3
"625" 462.625 467.625 Ch. 18 Ch. 4
"650" 462.650 467.650 Ch. 19 Ch. 5 Use not permitted near the Canadian border.
"675" 462.675 467.675 Ch. 20 Ch. 6 Suggested nationwide emergency and road information calling. Nationally recognized coded squelch for 675 emergency repeater operation is 141.3 Hz.
"700" 462.700 467.700 Ch. 21 Ch. 7 Use not permitted near the Canadian border.
"725" 462.725 467.725 Ch. 22 Ch. 8
This second set of frequencies shows the interstitial ranges shared with the Family Radio Service services. These frequencies can only be used for simplex operations.
Name Frequency (MHz) Motorola convention Icom F21-GM convention Notes
"5625" or "FRS 1" 462.5625 Ch. 1 Ch. 9
"5875" or "FRS 2" 462.5875 Ch. 2 Ch. 10
"6125" or "FRS 3" 462.6125 Ch. 3 Ch. 11
"6375" or "FRS 4" 462.6375 Ch. 4 Ch. 12
"6625" or "FRS 5" 462.6625 Ch. 5 Ch. 13
"6875" or "FRS 6" 462.6875 Ch. 6 Ch. 14
"7125" or "FRS 7" 462.7125 Ch. 7 Ch. 15
TriSquare TXS 300 ten billion channels eXRS
eXtreme Radio Service (eXRS) two-way radios use proprietary Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) in the ISM band (900 MHz frequencies). This FHSS system combines the power of digital technology with narrow band FM modulation technique. Merging the two technologies facilitates a radio communications system that maintains a narrow band base signal to ensure for maximum usable range within a given dB power budget, comparable to traditional fixed frequency narrow band FM radios, but with the added benefit of wide band digital security and privacy provided by the frequency hopping spread spectrum algorithm. Maintaining the information signal as narrow band FM modulation centered on discrete frequencies allows for a large pool of non-overlapping hopping frequencies to draw upon within a given section of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum. The pseudo-random drawing of the hopping frequencies spreads the total signal power equally over the entire bandwidth of the RF spectrum used, which ensures minimal interference between many simultaneous, independent users.
Interference Free is a major advantage that eXRS has over existing FRS and GMRS radios. Based on a contracted study from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of a major university, more than 100,000 eXRS users within talk range can enjoy uninterrupted communications. Whereas, FRS/GMRS quickly becomes unusable with just a few tens of users within range of each other. Bottom-line is that the eXRS two-way radios provide private communications in areas where FRS/GMRS conversations can be congested or impossible.
Under the same environmental conditions and regardless of power, the TriSquare eXRS radios usable talk range will be equal to or greater than that of other portable UHF two-way radios in most cases. Coverage within steel and concrete structures should be better with eXRS radios. Multiple independent tests indicate that the eXRS products always exceeded the performance of the FRS/GMRS products advertising the longest ranges.
eXRS radios are free from any Federal Communications Commission (FCC) user licenses, can be used at any age and for any purpose (personal or business), unlike GMRS radios.
http://reviews.ebay.com/FRS-GMRS-EXRS-or-CB-WalkieTalkies_W0QQugidZ10000...
The Family Radio Service (FRS) provides a series of 14 channels in the 462 and 467 MHz range set aside by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). FRS is a personal radio service that uses frequencies in the UHF band, and thus doesn't garner the interference effects found on CBs, cordless phones, toy Walkie Talkies and baby monitors. FRS uses FM instead of AM, and has a greater reliable range than most license-free radios. These radios are ideal for sportsmen and their families, free of interference from business and government agencies.
FRS portables use little power and are ideal for communicating with hunting partners, family members back at the campground, or for overall peace of mind. These band radios require no special license by the FCC to use and the range of use can be up to two miles. New FRS radios can be very practical for short-range communication devices that are made available to the general public.
GMRS is an acronym for the General Mobile Radio Service, which is a series of specific frequencies in the 462 MHz range set up by the FCC. Again, it depends on terrain, but these radios can have a much broader range for talk, extending up to five miles. While a bit larger than an FRS Walkie Talkie, GMRS radios will give you increased range in a unit that you can virtually take anywhere. One thing to note, however, is that to be able to use the 10 available channels on the GMRS band, you must obtain a license from the FCC. But besides that, the main difference here is that this service allows you to discuss your personal business or commercial activity. This is not your typical hobby radio. This is intended for purposeful communications only. No matter what brand they'll all be dependent on Watts to transmit. Most FRS radios are limited to 0.5 Watts, while GMRS radios are often limited to 2 Watts, yet some models can have up to 5.
Channels 1-7 are solely for use with the FRS/GMRS system. Channels 8-14 are solely for FRS and 15-22 is for GMRS. Some radios will only give you one channel option where some will give you seven. Consider a 14-channel unit if you plan to use your radio in a large, urban environment where GMRS is already popular.
Professional Mobile Radio (also known as Private Mobile Radio (PMR).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Mobile_Radio
Real World Ranges for CB, FRS, GMRS and MURS Radios
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2003/0815.htm