2001 BAY TO BREAKERS
This was my second trip to the San Francisco Bay to Breakers race, for the purpose of running (or walking) the race course in the nude. The previous year Arch and I both joined a group that calls itself Bare to Breakers, and gathers at the starting line to strip down and run the race naked. The official race sponsors always include a rule against running in the nude, but nobody seems to object strongly to the Bare to Breakers running group. The spectators are very supportive, with applause and shouts of encouragement for what they all refer to as the "naked people" when they go by.
This year, one of the wonderfully supportive people who wrote, and has since become a great friend of mine over the net, asked if Arch would be running nude, or going strictly as the official Erotique photographer. That sounded like a truly inspired suggestion, which would allow me to get even more attention (Isn't that why I do this?) by being the "only one nude". So we did it exactly that way, starting on our own instead of with the official Bare to Breakers group. Although they are a nice bunch of folks, and make the first time you do this really easy, I wanted to really stand out in the crowd of fully clothed runners.The results were wonderful. Arch was able to blend into the background, and I was approached by lots of people, wanting to talk, give me hugs or kisses, photograph me, ask questions and generally hang around with the "naked lady".
There were a lot of very complimentary comments, referring to me as a "gorgeous babe" with a "great bod". What more encouragement could a girl want? One group of young ladies (I guess this being SF, they were more interested in women than men) asked if I had a girl friend. I think they wanted to take me home with them. Even more of the guys expressed the same desire. But, as always, I went home happily with my hubby.
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I did a couple of flashes the day before the race, including a walk out onto a balcony at the motel where some friends of ours were staying. In both shots, there are some people who saw me from the other outside corridors at the motel. Nobody seemed to mind.
This was also the day before the race, when Arch and I saw a pedestrian bridge that had a somewhat isolated entrance where the pedestrians cross, but was exposed to the freeway below. We found the entrance, checked it out, and set up the shot. I stood just out of sight and stripped, then stepped out onto the bridge. As you can see, there are no solid railings to hide the view of any part of me, and I could see a lot of excited drivers, looking and pointing up at me as they passed below.
The race start for me was just along the street, where I could surprise the spectators standing around me, by
unexpectedly stripping down and joining the race right in front of them. Here I am right before I did that.
This is sort of a reversal of the prior day's "Bridge Dare" that so many flasher sites seem to enjoy. Instead of me being on the bridge with spectators watching from below, I was in front of Moscone Convention Center and the audience was on the bridge above.
I thought a shot with one of San Francisco's finest would be fun. I just walked up and asked him if it was legal for me to be naked. He was very polite, and replied that it was OK, but only that particular day. He said he would not arrest me, but could not guarantee that some other officer would not. I couldn't tell, because of his dark glasses, but I think I was getting a visual "strip search" while we talked. The two kids who were watching gradually got more curious, and much closer to me as I talked with the policeman.
These guys just looked like they would not mind if I stopped to rest on their porch for a while about halfway through the race
Two different TV news crews stopped and interviewed me, Channel 5 and Univision. Channel 5 did not shoot any film of me, but the reporter seemed to be really happy to talk with me, and get in the picture with me.
The Univision crew from the Spanish language station, said the film would be shown the following Monday, but we watched and did not see it. A reporter from the Herald Examiner also wanted to ask me all about what I was doing but did not take any pictures. So far, I have not heard whether any of it actually got into the media.
Somebody had a display set up showing Bartles and James wine coolers, and a spectator asked me to pose in front of it. Arch got a shot, but from a rear angle, so the guy photographing me does not show. Fun anyway.
This senior citizen responded happily to my "Good Morning" greeting, so I stopped and chatted with him. Then he asked for a hug and kiss. I agreed, and he said, "Gosh, if only my wife could see me!" He really took his time hugging me so his hands could stray a little bit.
These folks were selling a new kind of sports beverage, encouraging the runners to try some. When I got there, they immediately gave me a free one, and had me sit down in the official sponsor's chair to try and get more runners to stop and sip. One lady who came by thought I was selling them with a new and creative advertising method. The sponsor probably wished that I could stay and boost their sales. After a pose in the sponsor's chair, I joined the rest of the group who where promoting the drink, dancing on a stairway just behind the chair.
Both the Police and Fire departments were well represented here. One of the motorcycle policemen had a good sense of humor. He asked me, "Did you lose your clothes, or did they get stolen?" Maybe he wanted me to go down to the station with him and file a complaint.
I joined a couple of other naked ladies, and a bunch of crazies who were fashion-impaired, on the back of the fire truck.
And here I am with just the crazy guys and a real fireman
The other firemen were not to be left out, so I had to pose with them
The first shot,
where I sat down to rest, was on another fire truck. Then after I
recovered my strength, it seemed appropriate to take on a
position like I would if I was riding through the streets, naked
on the fire truck. Wouldn't that be fun?
