CATHEDRAL CITY – The World Naked Bike Ride, an international clothing-optional bike ride, will debut in this progressive community in spring 2020.

Consider it the opening salvo of a Greg Pettis administration, which is bound to be full of new ideas and surprises.

“Cathedral City has always been ‘on the cutting edge,’ willing to take the first step,” Mayor Pro Tem Pettis told Uken Report. “We are an eclectic community.”

Pettis is expected to make the formal announcement of the World Naked Bike Ride on Monday, Dec. 10 when he will be inaugurated as mayor along with new members of the City Council.

Just don’t expect to find the mayor among the participants.

“I hope to welcome the riders and then go over to the festival area to welcome them back,” he said.

The World Naked Bike Ride is an event in which participants plan, meet and ride together en masse on human-powered transportation, the vast majority on bicycles, but some on skateboards and inline skates, to “deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world.” Technically, it is a political protest, but there is also a lot of fun at these events with costume contests, body art, body painting, and more.

Food vendors get in on the fun, too, often serving hot dogs and bratwursts.

Sometimes described as a “flesh feast,” it is wildly popular in Europe and has steadily been gaining a toehold in the United States and Canada, which is where Pettis first heard about the event.

“I was in Vancouver and they had just finished their Naked Bike Ride,” Pettis told Uken Report. “The city was still buzzing and the charity made a lot of money.”

The World Naked Bike is designed exclusively as a charity fundraiser. In Cathedral City, proceeds will go toward the Cathedral City Evening Rotary and the Palm Springs Unified School District Foundation.

The dress code motto is “bare as you dare.” Full or partial nudity is encouraged, but not mandatory. There is no mandate to cover intimate parts; which is a distinguishing feature of the World Naked Bike Ride compared with other cycling events.

Since 2004, cities across the world have experienced the exhilaration of the world’s largest naked event promoting cycling in the history of humanity.

World Naked Bike Rides have been held in Portland, Chicago, Las Vegas, Madison, Wis., and Philadelphia where it has been held for a decade. St. Louis celebrated its 11th annual event this year.

The first year in Cathedral City is expected to attract as many as 1,500 participants and grow exponentially in subsequent years. The event is open to people of all ages, sexes, colors, and sizes. Anyone under 18 will need parental consent.

Pettis said he has not gauged the new council support for the Naked Bike Ride, but it is not really a “city” event. “Yes, the city will have to be engaged for public works and public safety, but this will be a community event,” Pettis said.

Total costs are still in development, but Pettis said, “We are planning on soliciting donations from our very generous businesses.

The expected route will be from CV Link south to Ramon, east to Date Palm, south to Buddy Rogers and into Towne Square.