Reflections in the Mirror; Pnbr

"This is going to be so much fun!"

I couldn't help but grin, my roommate Samantha was practically wiggling where she stood as I unloaded our bikes. Samantha and I had grown up together in Beaverton and had lived together ever since we moved out of our parents' homes. And now we were finally on our way to the Portland World Naked Bike Ride after talking about it for two years, and we were both pretty excited. Well, for me maybe a little terrified, but that counts as a kind of excitement, doesn't it?

The Ride was going to start this year at Laurelhurst Park on the east side, but the exact route wouldn't be announced until we got there. From everything we had heard and been told it was always a huge crowd so we planned to park a couple miles away just off of SE Francisca at Elisabeth's house, one of Samantha's friends who was going to be riding with us.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

"Oh my god, yes!" Samantha shot back, "Aren't you?"

Hmmm, scared, but I was more excited than I was nervous, excited enough to be nervous about how 'obvious' that excitement was going to show. I figured it was going to be cool enough in the evening so no one would notice my nipples too much, but I had this horrible image of my bike seat getting wet.

"Maybe a bit," was all I said though.

"I'm shaking like a leaf!" Elisabeth said as she waited for me to finish unloading my bike after I had handed off Samantha's, "I can not believe you talked me into this!"

I glanced over to see Samantha grinning from ear to ear. I had only just met Elisabeth, but it was plain Samantha was definitely the more adventurous of the three of us. A tall, lithe tomboy with light brown hair in a perpetual pageboy bob, blue eyes and B cup breasts, she spent most of her time out hiking or mountain bike riding with 'the guys'. I don't think I have ever seen her wearing a dress now that I think about it and today she was wearing some of those padded spandex riding shorts and just a black sports bra.

Elisabeth was shorter and maybe a bit on the plump side with long black hair a little past her shoulders, brown eyes, and D cup breasts. Elisabeth had on jean shorts and a yellow tank top and I had to sympathize a bit when I saw her nipples tenting out the fabric, but I've always been a bit jealous of women with large, beautiful breasts and Elisabeth's certainly were. I was curious to see what they would look like once we got to the park.

Me, I'm pretty much average, somewhere between Elisabeth's and Samantha's height, sandy brown hair that I keep in a ponytail, light blue eyes and C cup breasts... at least I liked to think of my girls as C cup. Half the time I could fit into Samantha's B cup bras just fine. Samantha had talked me into going mountain bike riding a couple of times with her, but I was nowhere near as athletic as she was, but I was also pretty careful with my diet so slim would be a good way to describe me. I had a cute pink flower print skort and a white tank top on and I could feel my own nipples poking out against the fabric just as much as Elisabeth's. I also happened to not be wearing a bra today which probably made my nipples just a tad bit more noticeable than Elisabeth's. I mean, why go to the added trouble if we're just going to be taking it off anyway?

Right?

..............................

This was an entirely different vibe than Rooster Rock, better, almost like a street party, but everyone is naked!

I grew up in the deepest darkest depths of Flyover Country, a scary, dangerous place called Indiana, but please don't hold that against me. Most people don't even think I have an accent anymore which is a good thing.

I moved out to sunny Portland (yea, ok, not so sunny most of the time) a couple of years ago and found a cheap house to rent in a town a few miles to the north called Scappoose. Kind of reminded me of home a bit, not as completely wigged out as Portland, and a hell of a lot more affordable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Portland, I love the weirdness and the craziness, just not so much the politics or how trashed the downtown is, please, and don't get me started on the politics. But I loved all the other shit, everything from the old elementary school that's been turned into one kick ass pub to the crazy ass chicks even if they don't like to shave to how everyone seems to like to get naked at the drop of a hat.

I was surprised to learn how much I loved everyone getting naked at the drop of a hat. It wasn't something I ever thought about growing up back in the middle of a cornfield. I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed getting naked at the drop of a hat too.

I found two nude beaches the first year I moved out here, Collins out on an island called Sauvie I had to drive by everyday going to work and another one called Rooster Rock. I liked Rooster Rock better. It tended to get windier being in the Gorge, but there always seemed to be more women at Rooster Rock than at Collins. Nothing against the guys, but I want to see the women. If it was a nice day and I had the time you were probably going to find me at Rooster Rock.

Can you say 'no tan lines'?

And the kayaking and sailboarding! If I'm not lounging around naked with it all hanging out then I'm on my board or in my boat somewhere on the water. Hell, I usually paddle around 20 or 30 miles a week in the winter and double that in the summer!

..............................

It only took a few minutes for me to unload my bike and then double check our backpacks. Just light snacks, water and jackets and a change of clothes for after the ride then we were off. We had decorated all three of our bikes, Samantha's and mine had matching LED ropes that would fade from red to blue to white that we had weaved through the frame, Elisabeth's had a kaleidoscope of glow stick ropes wrapped around the frame and handlebars of hers as well as ferns and flowers that gave it a 60's flower child vibe. We started peddling and once we got to Caesar Chavez it was already nine o'clock with almost two miles to go to Laurelhurst. The bike ride normally didn't start until around ten at night, maybe a bit later so we were still early.

As we rode north on Caesar Chavez I couldn't help but stare a bit when we reached the intersection of 26 where Safeway was at. I always looked when we passed the Velvet Rope, a plain looking rust red building with stone façade columns and an awning over the sidewalk. No signs except for a plane white one perched atop a pole with just the name, no advertising, nothing really remarkable at all, but I always got butterflies while daydreaming about going inside one evening.

"Hurry up!" Samantha called when I fell behind a bit while glancing across the street, "If you want to see what it's like why don't you just go in one day?"

"Ohh, I wouldn't ever want to go into that place!" Elisabeth piped in, "All the stories are disgusting!"

Talk about a buzzkill. Samantha gave me a sidelong look and I was behaved enough not to say anything.

Anyway, once we got to SE Division it was starting to get a bit crowded. There were tons of bicyclists on the road with us and they all seemed to be heading towards Laurelhurst. There were even a couple of people I saw who were already topless or even naked! I mean, I thought we were supposed to wait until we got to Laurelhurst, but I still caught myself trying to check out any of the guys packages that I saw who were naked. By the time we got to Belmont it was packed with bicyclists everywhere. There was even a cop directing traffic at Stark which struck me as really funny. Here was a cop waving through a bunch of naked men and women like it was something he did every day!

Ok, Portland being Portland maybe it was something he did do every day. Samantha glanced my way when I gave a little laugh, but I only shook my head as we rode into the crowded park.

As soon as we crossed the street there were people with bullhorns at the entrance to the park directing us to where everyone was supposed to gather before the ride officially began. It was even so crowded that we had to get off our bikes and walk with half the people already just in their underwear or even nude. There already were more sausages on display than I'd ever seen and that included watching porn! It's funny, there were just as many naked women as men, but I can't recall exactly what any of the women looked like, but I remember what the men looked like.

And I remember trying not stare... well, at least too obviously.

I'd never been to Laurelhurst but had the immediate impression that it was a very nice park. I could even catch glimpses of a little lake through all the trees as we walked along the bike path following the directions we had been given. Pretty soon we reached an open area that seemed to be where people were gathering with almost everyone taking off what little clothes they still had on.

Bare as you Dare.

That was the motto for the bike ride. Go naked or wear your clothes, no one was going to judge you one way or the other. Samantha was grinning from ear to ear and already had her sports bra off, I was busy watching a woman being painted by a very talented guy as an excuse to put things off just a little bit longer.

"Come on you two!" Samantha eventually said in exasperation.

I looked away from the woman who had a Chinese dragon painted on her bare back in metallic reds, blues and greens with the tail of the serpentine body wrapped around her waist. When I finally turned back Samantha was already naked and wearing just her sneakers. Flat tummy, clean shaved mound, nipples that probably could have cut glass and beautiful ear to ear smile. Elisabeth and I exchanged glances and then with a sigh I pulled my top over my head.

It wasn't the first time I had gone topless in public, but it was certainly the first time I had gone topless in the middle of town with a crowd of hundreds of people. Elisabeth was still hesitating and I suddenly realized that I was maybe a little more nervous than I had thought. I looked back over at the woman with the Chinese dragon who was having her picture taken by someone and then I took a deep breath and...

Did I mention I've never been completely naked in public, I've never even been to a nude beach. I've gone swimming naked with a few of my past boyfriends, but that's different. I had my fingers in the hem of my skorts and...

Shit.

Elisabeth had slipped her top off while I just couldn't bring myself to push my shorts down. Her breasts were enormous and beautiful with huge dark brown areolas and she had already taken her jeans off but was still wearing black lace panties.

"I..." Elisabeth began and then looked around nervously, "I think I'm going to keep my underwear on."

"That's cool," Samantha said reassuringly with a smile and then turned to look at me.

No matter what I did I knew Samantha would be supportive, but I also knew what she wanted me to do.

Shit.

..............................

I also heard about this crazy ass bike ride that they had every year in Portland. Hundreds of people riding around downtown naked all night and a big party afterward which sounded like a blast. I had already missed it the first year I moved out here, but I was definitely going this year.

So when the Portland World Naked Bike Ride came around this year I was all set to buy a ticket. Turns out it's free. And there's a few more people than a couple hundred. Maybe a couple of thousand! Better get there early and park far enough away to be able to find a spot. Time for a little Google. I found a park called Colonel Summers which instantly became finger lickin' good Colonel Sanders in my head to make it easier to remember and did a drive by a few days in advance. Perfect spot to leave the truck so when it was time for the bike ride I parked my truck at Colonel Sanders and rode over to Laurelhurst on my bike which is where the ride was going to start from this year. They never announce the route in advance and just have volunteers or even cops directing bikers where to turn so I ride my bike over and get there around seven and...

And it was deserted. I mean empty. Maybe five or six people on bikes all tricked out in flowers and flashing LED's and glow sticks, but I thought there was supposed to be thousands? One of the volunteers, an older woman who looked like she was in her 60's and was already topless set me straight and told me people really didn't start showing up until eight or nine and the ride wasn't supposed to start until half past ten. She also told me about a chicken place called the Basilisk that was supposed to be really good maybe a mile away next to I84. I'm an old school table top RPG gamer and she had me at the name so I headed north to have dinner before the ride. The place even turned out to be pretty good with a spicy chicken plate that was kind of like an open face sandwich that was actually spicy! One thing about Portlandia, spicy hot for Portland isn't even close to what I think of as spicy hot. Basilisk was hot!

After dinner I hung out for a bit before finally taking my time and riding back to the park. I'd been told about a gold statue at a round a bout a few blocks from the park, and even though I guessed we'd be going by it later that night I wanted to take a look before it got to late. Turns out it's supposed to be a statue of Joan of Arc. Go figure. It was interesting to see, but it was also time to head back to Laurelhurst.

When I got back it was getting close to nine and things were definitely picking up. It was down right crowded, but the volunteers were already steering people towards the starting line. I headed that way myself and then saw a guy sitting on a three legged stool with a woman maybe in her late twenties standing in from of him. He was using body paint to sketch out what I guessed was a leopard pattern on the woman.

Ok, how the fuck do I get that job!

I found a place to park my bike and just watched. The guy was good too. It took him maybe ten minutes but by the time he was done you paid more attention to the woman's leopard body suite and hardly noticed that she was naked. As soon as he was done another woman came up and he began to work on painting a fake tank top and shorts for her. From a distance you'd have to look twice to be sure, he was that good.

More people were showing up, and all of them seemed to be naked and here I was still wearing my shorts and Under Armor shirt. It only took a second to slip my athletic shorts and shirt off, hell, it took me longer to pack them away in my backpack and then I went back to watching the guy painting the women.

Did I mention that I spent lots of time at Rooster Rock? I like being naked, I don't think I look to bad naked and don't have any tan lines to prove both points. As soon as I had my clothes off I noticed a few quick glances my way and even one or two hints of a smile. Yep, I'm not a toe sucking Quasimodo wanna... huh, ok, maybe toe sucking, but definitely not a Quasimodo wannabe. Things were getting interesting.

The guy doing the body painting wasn't only good, but he was quick too. He'd finish one woman and then have two more waiting in line. He started working on a really tall blond woman with perfect D cup breasts and just absolutely huge nipples, I mean she could poke a guy's eye out with them if she weren't careful. He sketched out an outline and it took me awhile to figure out what it was. Once he started using metallic reds, greens and blues it became obvious he was making a Chinese dragon and man was it gorgeous! It fit the tall woman's frame perfectly with the tail wrapping around her waist and the claws stretched out towards each of her shoulder blades and the face of the dragon looking back so that it would be glaring at you if you were behind her. I think that painting took him the longest, maybe thirty or forty minutes before she was done and was posing to have her picture taken.

I might have sneaked a picture or two of her myself. She was standing with her back to me so I figured it wasn't that bad. I wanted a picture of that dragon and just because I could see her inner lips between her thigh gap... damn the bad luck.

The guy on the stool was already working on the next woman who was having a bright yellow flower painted on each of her breasts. You'd be surprised by how much a little paint seemed to hide her being naked. I sure as hell was.

As soon as she was done another woman stepped up.

..............................

I looked back at the guy doing the body paint and how he was using his hands to put handprints on an older woman's back. Huge white hand prints like some elementary school kids art project. Which gave me an idea.

I took another deep breath and pushed my skort down until it fell around my ankles and I could easily step out of it. And I wasn't wearing panties either. It was a warm evening still in the 80's and I could feel the breeze blowing across my mound while at the same time I was glancing around to see who was watching me, seeing me naked. Samantha and I had both waxed so we were both as smooth as silk and I could feel my face heating up as both Samantha and Elisabeth both looked at me.

"You both look beautiful!" Samantha said gleefully as soon as I was naked.

I looked beautiful? I glanced around and saw several guys already looking at me. Ok, maybe in my direction, but that was close enough. Beautiful? I wanted to cup my mound to cover myself, but I could already feel how wet I was, I could already feel the tingling ache from my clit. I wanted to cover myself, but I also wanted to squeeze my mound in the palm of my hand, to feel the pressure against my clit.

Shit.

I'm sure Samantha could see just how wet I was, and Elisabeth probably noticed as well.

"I'm going to see if I can get painted," I stammered and hurriedly picked up my skort and then had to mentally force myself not to hold my discarded top and shorts in front of my body to hide myself.

I hurried over to the guy who was working on yet another woman by painting two beautiful flowers on her breasts. Each flower had six bright yellow leaves centered on the woman's nipples with a blush of red towards the center of each petal that I thought was gorgeous. It was like your eye was drawn to the flower and almost missed the fact that the woman's breasts were bare. It only took a few more minutes for him to finish and then he looked up at me from where he was sitting on his stool.

"How much are you charging?" I asked a bit breathlessly.

"Oh, I'm not charging," he replied with a grin, "I do this for my own pleasure."

"I'm sure you do," I said with something like a combination of a giggle and a laugh and felt myself blush at how nervous I was and at the guy's attention as his eyes traveled up and down my body.

"Do you want me to paint something?" he asked after a moment.

"Could you maybe do a bunch of handprints like the woman a few minutes ago?" I asked quickly before I lost my nerve.

"Sure," he responded and began to spread a couple of different colors of body paint out on pieces of cardboard he had next to his stool, "Where would you like them?"

"I, ah..." I started and then glanced at Samantha and Elisabeth who had followed me over.

Samantha was looking back at me and grinning in an encouraging sort of way while Elisabeth was only staring wide eyed.

"I'd like hand prints on both my butt cheeks and... huh, and my breasts," I explained and felt myself blushing even more, "And maybe two or three on my sides and stomach?"

"I can do that," they guy said with his own ear to ear grin and stood up with his arms extended and his palms covered in red and green paint, "Ready?"

I nodded and he reached out to take both my breasts in his hands. He didn't squeeze, or grope, or cop a feel, he pressed the palms of his hands against my breasts for several seconds and then carefully pulled them away. I looked down to see two perfect handprints covering both my breasts and realized I could even see the pattern of creases from his palms crisscrossing my nipples.