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NUDE WALKING & CYCLING
ALSO DRIVING AND FLYING
I've written down some stories about my experiences with walking, cycling, driving, and flying nude. They were in .TXT file format, and sometimes wouldn't open in the browser (it would pop up a download prompt for some reason, at least on my browser). So, those old links are gone and this page is here now.
Over the years I've had some great experiences with nudism while doing those activities. Being nude makes anything feel so much more comfortable and free, especially when warm temperatures make clothing needless. Here's a few stories about going for walks, drives, bike rides, and even flying, nude.
(8-29-00) The night of Tuesday the 29th was warm and very humid (as anybody here living in Michigan knows). Lately I've been trying to get off my dead butt and be more active; last year I would frequently ride my bike and go skinnydipping at night, but this year I've been in too much of a computer rut. So that night I finally got off the computer around 1:00 am (now technically Wednesday) and went outside (nude, of course). With my cordless phone (in case my girlfriend called) and laser pen (fun for making red lines through the fog) in hand, I walked up and down the street several times almost from one corner to almost the next corner. The warm humid night really felt great! After a while, however, I decided it was getting late. I really wanted to go for a bike ride and go for a skinnydip, but my lazy mind rationalized that it was too late, so I went to bed.
As I laid there trying to get to sleep, I realized that (1) I couldn't sleep, (2) it was so warm and humid I was sweating despite having no coverings whatsoever, and (3) this was exactly the kind of night I've been waiting for all summer. For the most part our Michigan summer has been fairly cool so I'd been avoiding bike rides and swimming, and it was ridiculous of me to pass up the opportunity. So I grabbed a bottle of water, a small towel, and readied my bike.
I've had a few mildly successful-to-unsuccessful attempts at nude cycling this summer, so it was nothing new for me this night as I left my driveway with my shorts draped over the handlebars. I got about 3/4 of a mile down my street when as I was approaching a street light, I saw a man jogging out of his driveway for a nighttime jog, heading straight for me. My initial reaction (something I really have to work on) was to turn around immediately and head for home. I went about 100 feet towards home when I thought to myself, "this is ridiculous, I'm not going to ruin my night because of one jogger". So I turned around again and continued on my way. Just as I got to him, that's right when he decided to cross the street and go the other direction. I wasn't expecting this and passed about 5 feet from him. I was still nude, but it was dark out and I wasn't very close to the street light. The jogger (who was fully clothed) said something like, "What's up, man?"; I replied with a cheerful "hello" and rode on past. I don't know whether or not he knew I was nude, but it wasn't very long before I was passing under that street light, making my bare butt on the bike seat quite visible.
Since he was right next to his house when I went by, my paranoid mind kicked in and imagined all kinds of things, such as him calling the police because of "some naked guy riding down the street", and the thought that there might be a cop car right there around the next corner. So just to be safe, I stopped and put on my shorts to go around the next well-lit corner. A short distance after the corner where it was dark again, I removed my shorts to continue along my way. So far I traveled only about a quarter mile while wearing clothing.
I continued the rest of the way to the park where I like to skinnydip. I made my way in and had a short-yet-enjoyable visit. For the first time I didn't have any clothes to remove when I got there! The water was a bit cold so I only waded out waist deep. After a short wandering around, I got my stuff together and headed for home. I got most of the way home before a car started approaching. I pulled off in a driveway so I wouldn't be blinded by the headlights. Once they passed, I continued for home. I decided at the last minute to go ahead and proceed nude through that well-lit intersection at the end of my street. I eventually got home, in the house, and into bed, all without having to put shorts on. It was the first time ever that I've gone from the park to home, nude the entire way.
I looked on the street map the next day, and estimate that the entire round trip is about 7 miles. So for 7 miles, being nude for all but a quarter mile of that is pretty good!
[A late note added to this: while reading another story I wrote about a different nude ride, I found that I had measured this distance with my car. It's 4.4 miles one way, so I was nude for nearly all of 8.8 miles.]
MC
Last Thursday (5-4-00) the temperature was finally warm enough to let me return to my nude trail walks at night. Some time last summer I was out enjoying the warm night air, nude of course, when my wanderings took me over to a bike trail that I used to ride on all the time as a kid. The trail used to be much more lengthy, but due to developments and houses everywhere (which I am strongly opposed to), the trail has been cut way down. However, I'm still able to walk back on it about a half a mile, one way, before I start getting to the yards of those new houses. The trail cuts through some vacant land that lies between the houses along a dead-end street to the west, and an apartment and condo area to the east.
Leaving my clothing, just a pair of shorts, back at the house, I set out for my trail. The trail I mowed brings me pretty close to the bike trail so I don't have to walk through thick weeds and grasses very much. The sky had stars but no moon, and a lot of reflected light from the city to the north. A few paces back on my trail, I stopped at the glow of a railroad worm on the ground. I tried to find it using only a pocket blacklight to preserve my night vision, but couldn't find it. So I stood up and continued my walk. How I've missed this!
As I got further back I started down through a shallow valley along the way. I could feel alternating patches of warm and cool air, which I thought was really neat, and it made me appreciate even more the feeling of the night air flowing across my body. Going up the other side I pass through a large clearing, which combined with the starry sky and my state of undress to create that exhilarating feeling of freedom we all know and love. While in this clearing, a deer a few hundred feet away in the trees lets out a snort, scaring the crap out of me. I instantly recognize who it is, calm my nerves, and continue walking over to the bike trail.
Shortly after I get on the trail and round the bend, I trip over some mounds of dirt that are new to me; no doubt the work of kids having fun with their bikes. As I continue down the trail, I'm looking around to see yard lights peeking out from behind the passing trees. There's not much of a breeze this night, which is good because the air is a bit cool. The quiet night and sound of crickets greatly add to the feeling of peacefulness and relaxation.
Offset from the relaxation, however, is my paranoid mind whirring away, wondering what changes I don't know about could have been made since last year. Could somebody have put up trip wires or barb-wire fencing anyplace? Could there be neighborhood kids around here who happen to know I'm coming and want to cause trouble? Could there be other nocturnal pedestrians out here who would be offended or even hostile about my nudity?.....These are all probably just first- walk jitters, because walks since then have been much more relaxed. Does anybody else have such cautious and paranoid thoughts?
Of course I never came across such people or things. As I got to a crossroads, which goes off to the apartment/condo complex in one direction and who-knows- where in the other direction, I continued on. A little while after this time, I hear rustling both to the right of me and to the left. It's just bedded deer, disturbed by my presence. As I get to the end of the line and start heading back, those deer did something I never saw before: the one to the left and the one to the right of the trail start snorting back and forth at each other. It was like they were talking back and forth about who I was and where I was going. They were making such a racket that I was afraid they'd wake up people in the surrounding houses. They eventually quieted down as I continued walking back towards home.
Interesting point here: I'm at the end of this trail, I'm nude, and I'm about a half mile away from my shorts, with no cover-ups should somebody else come walking along. I know some people go even farther from their clothes, but I think this is pretty good too. In a setting like this, why should anybody need their clothes?!
While walking back, I start thinking about my girlfriend, wishing she was here walking with me. I imagine we're walking hand in hand, breeze flowing across her body and through her long hair, bringing her the same enjoyment and relaxation it gives me....aaahhhh, wonderful thoughts! Also along the way back I can hear a whippoorwill off in the distance, adding to the ambiance of the night. All along this walk I'm thinking about how all people should be able to enjoy such simple pleasures. More on that later.
After I got home, I filled my water bottle, grabbed my shorts, and hopped on my bike for a first-of-the-year spin. I only went a mile, where I stopped and debated strongly with myself about riding home nude. I decided against it, because of the ever present "just-in-case". After getting back, I realized that I could have very easily rode back nude. I don't consider riding nude in the first direction because there's a few locations along the way that serve as parking spots for police speed traps. I don't need cops putting the kibosh on my naturism this early in the year.
A few days later, on Sunday night, I went for another walk along the same trail. The only real differences between this walk and the first one is that tonight is slightly warmer, and there's a faintly-orange hazy crescent moon low in the western sky. Also I'm much more mentally relaxed because I found the trail to be clear and open a few nights before. This night, however, I made a horrible discovery:
The MOSQUITOES are out already!!!! I wasn't bitten but heard them buzzing in a few places. The beginning of may seems a bit early for mosquitoes to be out, so this seems to be an indicator that they will be extra thick this year. Oh well....there goes my two-year streak of no insect repellent.
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Here it is Monday night, and I'm planning another walk along the trail. This night I'm carrying a cordless phone that I wanted to test the range of. As I get to the top of the hill past the valley, I seem to hit the limit of the phone (which is about 100 yards farther than the cordless phone I got for Christmas!). I figured I'd just carry it on the rest of my walk so I don't have to return back home to drop it off. However, the phone had its own plans for me. As I get further along the trail (actually I'm in that clearing mentioned earlier, not on a trail), the phone starts beeping at me. It turns out it checks itself for range, and when you get too far it lets you know about it. I don't want to be walking through the quiet woods with a beeping phone, so I have to cut my walk short and go back home.
I tried another test of the phone by walking down the street with it. Still a great range! Anyway, I had been walking nude down the street many nights in a row now; this wasn't the first time of the year. I tried this last year, for walking in both directions. The street corner to the east, where I was headed, is only about a tenth of a mile from my driveway, so it's not much of a walk when it comes to hiking or exercise. What I do is limit my distance to a street sign near the corner for me to turn around, so I don't get right under the street light at the corner. It's the same when walking the other direction, but that's about 2 tenths of a mile.
After I got home, I got my water bottle and bike again and went for another ride, a mile away to the same stopping point (a small building next to the railroad tracks). After about a 5-second debate with myself, I decided I could and should ride home nude. So I slipped out of my shorts and folded them across the handlebars. As a truck rounded the corner and passed, I left that little building and headed for home. There is a street light right there that I pass directly under; no biggie. As I'm riding for home, I'm reminded how much more comfortable cycling is nude rather than clothed. For example, I didn't need all the "masculine adjustments" that I do with shorts to remain comfortable.
The whole ride home was very comfortable and relaxing; peaceful too. I love nighttime! The only people I saw were a couple of dogs who let out a bark or two as I rode past their yard. I don't know why, but they bark at me only when I'm eastbound and never westbound, regardless of which side of the road I'm on. The only traffic I saw was just coming over the horizon as I got to my driveway.
Something I forgot to mention, which I continued to enjoy after I got home, was the lightning show in the sky from thunderstorms to the north and west. They were too far away to see any bolt lightning, so all I saw was the sheet lightning in the clouds.
Now something I mentioned earlier. As I continued to enjoy the night and lightning, and on all those previous nights, I was thinking about nudism, people, and society. Does anybody else do this? I was thinking about how ridiculous the anti-nudity laws are, and how society handles nudity. People have their rights protected when it comes to what they wear; somebody could have clothing printed with the worst insult or hate/bigotry slogans imaginable, and their right to wear such things is legally protected. However, a nudist could be the greatest person in the world, out enjoying nature, doing yardwork, etc. in their most natural outfit--their simple and beautiful skin. That simple and natural way of life could get that person charged with indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, lewd behavior, or whatever asinine law was used, and get them a fine and/or jail time. In some states (from what I've heard) they would be treated as molesters, pedophiles, or rapists, and be required to be on a sex offender registry. All this for choosing to not wear clothing. When I do yard work, I wear only shorts (in the front yard, anyway) which serve no practical purpose on a warm day, because if I should choose to not wear those shorts for that yard work, I'd be charged as a lawbreaker. That, unquestionably, is oppression. Put on nazi pants and a T-shirt that says uncensored "Eat S--- and Die, M-----F-----" (I saw a bumper sticker once that said that, but without the censoring) and you're good to go; take those clothes off and go about your life, and you will probably be arrested. This is the country based on freedom?
Anyway, those are some of the thoughts that run through my mind when I'm out enjoying the great outdoors in my skin suit. [Always fits, never out of style! Doesn't hold a stain, repairs its own cuts and tears, and has a lifetime warranty...what a great outfit!] As I think about this situation I and other nudists are in, and about how asinine, mind boggling, and even maddening such legalities are, I ask the question, "Why?". I for one can't come up with an answer that has any shred of logic or common sense, and I highly doubt that textile society can either.
Well, enough about my thoughts. This was supposed to be about my first few occasions of the year for nude recreation and living. I'll write more about nude cycling as I go further distances (I think next time, I'll remove my shorts where I did, then continue in the same direction and around the corner to some great back roads), and about the night time skinnydipping I enjoy at the park in the summer. If only everybody could try such activities to enjoy for themselves!
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Here's another update, as of 5-29-00. A couple weeks ago, I forget exactly when, I got the nerve to ride my bike down to the railroad tracks and back nude the entire time. I did the same thing of folding my shorts across the handlebars and riding. I remember that I was passed head-on by a truck going in the opposite direction. They never made the slightest indication that they saw I was nude, or even saw me at all for that matter. If this weather will ever warm up enough again to be nude at night comfortably, I will go for that fully- nude long distance bike ride. I can sure use the exercise.
On another topic, I've been planning a long cross country flight up to Sault Ste. Marie, MI (250+ miles one way, as required by FAA for certificate). I've been planning on making this a nude flight. First several times were canceled by the weather. Finally, a beautiful day is going to let me make the trip. I dress in shorts and T-shirt, nothing out of the ordinary, which I have worn for school flying many times before. After I get the plane checked out and gassed up, I'm almost ready to leave. I have to go in for a quart of oil, and as I get out to the plane, the head of the flight department comes out to me. It turns out, there is a rule that says long pants are required in the school's planes, in the event of a cabin fire. I can kinda see their point, but also I know that it is incredibly rare for a fire to break out. The odds are probably less than that of an engine failure. I have no long pants with me, and it's a 26 mile trip home, so I say "SEE YA'!" and cancel the flight entirely. I still have to make the flight, but if I'm wearing long pants, it will be difficult to remove them to enjoy the flight nude. I'll have to see what happens.
On another time, I had a night flight from school. I planned ahead, and threw a pair of shorts in the car. We got back later than expected, and I wasn't leaving until 11:45 PM. Mine and a couple others were the only cars in the parking lot, and I had parked earlier away from the area lights. I got into the back seat (for the leg room), removed my jeans, then stepped out the other side (shirt and shoes only) to get back in the driver's seat. Then I was able to enjoy a nude drive home, for the first time of the year. You can bet on it that I will be driving like that more often!
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Third update. Last Wednesday (6-7-00), I finally had good enough weather to take that long cross country flight. The day was warm with some high thin clouds, and I dressed in jeans and T-shirt. Because of the wind, the runway in use was the one next to the school and control tower, so I couldn't do anything there. Shortly after takeoff and once I was established in the climb, I set the autopilot to maintain my course. I turned on the overhead speaker and, when everything was safe, slid my seat back to remove my shirt and then my jeans. There's no way I was going to do a flight that long stuck in tight, binding clothes! Once they were off and set aside, I got my headset back on, slid the seat back forward, and re-fastened my seat belt. Except for shoes and socks, I was now flying nude (and about 10 times more comfortable than before)!
I took several pictures along the way, and on the way back, and got some nice ones of Mackinaw Bridge. Shortly before landing in Sault Ste. Marie, I did the same routine to get my pants and shirt back on just in case I didn't have a good place for it on the ground. It turned out I did, though. After signing the airport register and getting a drink (and long-awaited bathroom break), I returned to the plane to head back. I taxied down the taxiways and down the runway to a small run-up area at the end. Here, I set the parking brake so I could remove my clothes before takeoff; a bit safer than doing it in the air, in my opinion. I did the engine runup and was soon on my way.
My second stop was the airport at Houghton Lake, MI. With looking at the airport map and over-flying to have a look, I decided it was fine to dress after landing. I landed and taxied off to the side where I set the parking brake and dressed, a good distance from the terminal building. After getting gas and having some pointless chit-chat with a know-it-all flight instructor there, I got back in the plane and headed back out. Again, I parked at the end of the runway and removed my clothes, did a runup, and was on my way.
As I returned where I started from, I put my clothes back on about 10 miles out and landed safely. The time with just the engine running was 6.3 hours, so I was sitting there doing nothing for at least that much time. It was torture on the legs, which I had to keep stretching and moving around to keep comfortable. The flight was FAR more comfortable nude than it would have been if I was clothed. I was cooler (especially heading into the sun) and didn't have the tightness and binding of my jeans and shirt. They didn't want me to be wearing shorts while flying; I wonder what their reaction would be if they knew I wasn't wearing anything at all! Oh well, I really don't care; I was more comfortable therefore more focused and safer. I would highly recommend flying nude (just as driving nude) if anybody should get the chance. It makes me wonder: was I the only one up in the air that day flying a plane, nude and comfortable?
Another note. The previous day, Tuesday (6-6-00), I had a business meeting in the evening. It ran long and was well after dark when I left. After having some small talk from my car window, I drove a short distance down the street where I could pull over to the side. I quickly removed my clothes and was able to enjoy a thoroughly relaxing drive home, nude and free.
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[This story was written on Wednesday, 9-20-00] I wasn't on a trail, but was on the street in front of my house. Lately I've been trying to get off my dead butt, get out of the house, and go outside for some exercise (nude when possible, of course). Recent nights have been quite cold, but last night it was warm, yet cool, very comfortable. I think the humidity had something to do with it. Anyway, it was about 2 AM that I got off the phone (I was talking with my girlfriend, after getting off the computer), so I grabbed a light, put on some shoes, and stepped outdoors. My shorts were left on the back porch in my house.
What a beautiful night it was! Quiet, next-to-no traffic, a hazy sky with wispy clouds, partial moon, and some bright planets and stars. I first walked east from my driveway, about a tenth of a mile to the intersection. I turned around about 40 feet short of the streetlight (close enough for me to be totally lit, though), then went back the other way. I passed my driveway and continued to the next intersection, a little over a tenth of a mile, and again turned around about 40 feet short of the streetlight.
On the way back I stepped off the road at a trail while a car passed before continuing. This trail head is part of a longer trail where I used to walk/hike (about a half mile before hitting developments; it used to be far longer. Still, the half mile is a pretty good distance, for me, to be away from clothing.). I don't get back to this trial any more because my path to the trail was cut off by some horrible people doing terrible destruction to the land in the name of construction. After getting back to my driveway and ambling around a little bit, I jogged down to the first intersection and back, to get the circulation going better.
During this evening my mind wanders to that trail and how much I miss being able to go for nature walks on it; I think about my girlfriend and wish she could join me for the lovely evening; I think about the ridiculousness of society's opposition to nudity and the laws supporting that attitude; you know, the usual thoughts. With summer coming to an end soon, I wonder how many more nights like this I'll be able to enjoy without having to bundle up for the cold. I sure can't tonight; it's cold and rainy!
Thanks for reading,
MC
[3-16-02] A few days ago I had my first nude drive of the year, and it's about time too. I went to my friend's house on Friday morning to help start the building of a garage. I stayed over Friday night and helped with more of the construction Saturday. Some others came over to help also. We called it quits when it started to get dark, and by the time I had my tools loaded back in my car it was dark. I started my car and let it run for about 2 minutes before going, which got the heater to start blowing warm air. I also moved the electric heater (plugs into lighter socket) to the front seat. After leaving I went around the corner to a shopping center parking lot to remove my clothes, but there were too many people around and it was too well lit, so I went another block to a different parking lot. It was dark and deserted so I had no worries when stripping. I put on my quick-close shorts (velcro seams), opened them up and laid them aside. Then I was able to take a very relaxing nude drive home, about 45 minutes. A few miles out of town I passed a cop who'd pulled over another car, reinforcing the idea of driving very carefully. The trip was uneventful and I stayed plenty comfortable with the heaters in the car. I was even able to turn off the electric one after a while. What a great relief after 2 full days of wearing tight and hot work clothes! The relaxation and comfort were incredible, plus it was fun knowing I was the only nude one when I was stopped in the center lane of a 3-lane stop light, surrounded by other drivers.
MC