Organizers of Philadelphia's first naked bike ride say the event is intended to draw attention to fuel dependency, cyclists' rights and human beauty. Clifford Greer, 30, lead organizer of the Philly Naked Bike Ride, patterned on naked rides that have taken place in more than 70 cities since 2004, said he hopes Sunday's ride will help motorists and government officials be more aware of bicycles on the city's streets, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Friday. The community seems to have bestowed use of the roads to drivers, Greer said.

Nearly naked cyclists in Toronto, Washington, New York and other cities said their annual World Naked Bike Ride was a protest against oil dependency. Nudity is always a good way to get someone's attention, Chris Bracken, 24, a rider in Washington told Sunday's Washington Post. The event dating back to 2001 is called a naked bike ride, but laws against indecency forced riders to cover themselves creatively with latex paint or ride scantily clad, The Toronto Sun reported of Saturday's ride, which took place in 25 countries and 70 cities. We want to get people out of their cars and onto bikes, Paul Nocera, 48, an organizer of the ride in New York, told The New York Daily News. The ride, also in Los Angeles, London, Montreal and Albany and Portland, Ore., appeared variously to puzzle, irritate and delight bystanders. I'm waiting for naked men.

With strategically placed helmets and slogans painted on bare skin, scores of people shed their clothes and rode through this seaside resort on their bicycles Saturday to promote cycling as an environmentally friendly mode of transport.

Nudity isn't new here. Usually it bares itself in more subtle places than a downtown parking lot, though.

LONDON - Hundreds of naked cyclists rode past Big Ben and the U.S. Embassy in London on Saturday to protest the West's dependence on gas-guzzling cars - and to push for more use of bicycles.