World Naked Bike Ride wheels back to New Orleans on June 11

Snap some photos down in the French Quarter on June 11, and you might get a view you won't be adding to the annual Christmas card. The World Naked Bike Ride returns to New Orleans that day, sending a gaggle of bikers in the buff through the city.

There have been versions of the ride, which began in 2004, in about 20 different countries, and they usually take on an issue in a kind of "peaceful protest," said Shane Steinkamp, who volunteers to help organize the local edition.

This year, the World Naked Bike Ride in New Orleans will take on a special meaning as well.

"A number of people have been killed on bikes, and we're trying to raise driver awareness," Steinkamp said. "Distracted driving and distracted cycling is a real problem. People are texting and driving, and texting on their bikes. We want to point that out and raise awareness to pay attention."

Getting attention should be no problem. The group usually attracts a few hundred cyclists, each in various states of undress.

"We tell riders it's 'as bare as you dare,' and how bare is that and how dare is that is up to you," Steinkamp explained. "We don't encourage anyone to break the law. On the other hand, that's what the ride is about. We are vulnerable human bodies on bikes."

And in 2016, organizers are encouraging World Naked Bike Riders to paint themselves from head to toe in white paint to evoke the ghost bike memorials that indicate where cyclists have been killed on the road.

"We'll be ... ghost riders for the riders who are no longer with us," Steinkamp said.

Technically, the law is a little murky on the issue of nude cycling. The city forbids "lewd conduct," which includes "exposure of one's genitals," whereas state law forbids "intentional exposure of the genitals ... or female breast nipples" in public places "with the intent of arousing sexual desire or which appeals to prurient interest or is patently offensive."

Still, World Naked Bike Ride organizers have hired off-duty NOPD officers as parade escorts, according to a police department spokeswoman, and Steinkamp said no one has been arrested during previous rides.

"They have asked us to tone it down in the past, and I expect they'll ask us to tone it down this year," he said. "We're not looking to break the law, and we're not looking for a confrontation with police. We're a peaceful protest, and that's the whole point."

Original: www.nola.com