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Portland is a bicycle riding town, to be sure. Many Portlanders commute to work on their bikes daily, rain or shine. In fact, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau, Portland, Oregon has the distinction among large cities as having the highest percentage of bicycle commuters. Approximately 3.5 percent of Portland€™s workers pedal to work, about eight times the national average of 0.4 percent.

Here are the other cities that ranked in the top 10:

1. Portland (3.5%))
2. Minneapolis (2.4%)
3. Seattle (2.3%)
4. Tucson, AZ (2.2%)
5. San Francisco (1.8%)
6. Sacramento, CA (1.8%)
7. Washington, D.C. (1.7%)
8. Oakland, CA (1.5%)
9. Honolulu (1.4%)
10. Denver (1.4%)

However, the bicyclists I have seen in Portland ride with their clothes on - until recently.

You may (or may not) have heard of the World Naked Bike Ride (link warning - nudity alert!). Well, a couple of days ago hundreds of Portland bicycle riders were seen riding, en mass, over the Hawthorne bridge and through downtown, NAKED.

Why you ask? Good question. What started as a protest campaign against oil dependency in 2004 has turned into a world-wide event. Portlanders were not the only ones baring it all; folks in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Seattle joined in the event. I have found a video clip of the event, but be forewarned, this is for mature eyes only, should probably not be viewed at work and yes, most of these people are naked. If you would like to see a video click here.

Well, all I can say is, “Whatever floats your boat.” It just shows how diverse Portland is and reinforces the mantra of many Stumptown dwellers - “Keep Portland Weird!”.

Photos by bikeportland.org; used under creative commons licensing.

Technorati Tags: Portland, Oregon, PDX, bicycle, nude, naked, World Naked Bike Ride, bike commute, bike to work, Portland ranks highest, US Census Bureau

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