Just got back from the Wicconsin and Chicago. Did the Madison, WI ride on June 18. I was riding my bike to the ride from my motel room, about 5 miles and got a flat tire. I always carry a spare tube and a small pump so I was able to fix it. On that ride they announce a checkpoint, not the starting point then take you to the starting point. There was a strict 10:45 cut off at the checkpoint. I got there at 10:40. I would have really been pissed if I missed the ride. Because of all the secrecy surrounding the ride, no one knew the route. The ride was a bit disappointing at first. For the first few miles there were hardly and spectators. once we went through downtown it got a little better. Then we went to the Capitol Circle. There was a farmer's market going on and the streets were packed with people that started cheering us on. Overall a good time. While at the Madison ride, I met the organizer of the Milwaukee ride. We got talking about me possibly attempting a double header with Chicago. I planned on doing Chicago and skipping Milwaukee. After discussing it with him I decided to try to do the Milwaukee ride which he assured me would be done by 6:00PM and then haul ass to Chicago for their ride that starts at 8:00PM. The Milwaukee ride promotes the event with the start/ finishing point announced a week or so before the ride. I was staying in Chicago for the days before and the night after the ride. Chicago, like Madison did not announce the checkpoint (again, not the start / finish point) until almost 9:00AM the day of the ride. I immediately checked for parking lots close and was able to reserve a parking spot a block away from the checkpoint. At least Chicago sent a map of the route. Before I left Chicago for Milwaukee I drove to the parking lot just so I could locate it quickly since I would be cutting it close. At least with a map if I got there a little late I could catch up with the group (clothed) then take off my shorts and join in. I then drove to Milwaukee for their ride and was I glad I did! They had a festival atmosphere there with a live band, vendors for food, drinks, body painting and all sorts of other cool stuff. I even got interviewed by the local paper
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2022/06/25/world-naked-bike-ride-2002-comes-milwaukee/7737421001/
The ride was great too with roughly 99.8% of the response from spectators being positive. As soon as the ride was over, I threw the bike in the back of the car and hauled ass to Chicago. I got there at 7:45, just in time. The Chicago ride was the largest of them, about 1000 riders. We went about 15 miles through downtown Chicago, up to the Boystown area and then back south through downtown. We did a 15 min break at a park. Mind you I had no Idea where we were. Thousands of people cheering us on. It is so nice to put a smile on their faces. I am writing this shortly after I returned home from the drive from Chicago. I will try to update this tomorrow after I get some rest. All in all I did 4 rides in a 15 day span! Austin, Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago.
There are a couple links of videos posted earlier in this thread. It was a first to last rider so a fairly accurate count could be made by that. Chicago was by far the largest of the 3, I sent a text to the organizer of the Milwaukee ride to see if I can get an accurate count for that, and will see if I can find out about Austin too
The official count for the Milwaukee ride was 155. I was told it was down from last year. The weather was not great, off and on rain during the pre-ride festivities and a few rain showers during the early stages of the ride. Really a shame since it was one of the best organized rides I have attended. Lots of festivities before and I assume after the ride (I don't know since I hauled ass to Chicago right after the Milwaukee ride.
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