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Naked tandem cyclists “deliberately” struck by motorist

The cyclists, who are riding from John O’Groats to Land’s End to “spread the rewilding message”, were also stopped by police shortly after the incident in Perthshire

Two tandem cyclists, who are currently riding the length of Britain in the nude to raise awareness of rewilding and mental health, were reportedly struck by a motorist who “deliberately” swerved into their path as they passed through Perthshire on Monday.

Last week naturists Colin and Sadie began the 960-mile cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End – which they plan to tackle completely in the buff – to help raise awareness of rewilding.

The two cyclists are part of a group known as the Free Wilders, who believe that rewilding is “possibly the most important thing for us to do right now to prepare ourselves for the challenges of climate change”. 

Rewilding advocates aim to restore the earth’s ecosystems to the point where nature can begin to take care of itself, which they believe will help humans “reconnect with nature and create opportunities for new nature-based economies”.

While Colin and Sadie are on their way southbound to Land’s End, fellow Free Wilders Hannah and Neil are cycling – also nude and on a tandem – in the opposite direction (with a meetup scheduled for somewhere in the middle).

> End to End: ‘Free Wilders’ to cycle naked across Britain 

However, as Colin and Sadie were cycling on the A912 near Bridge of Earn on Monday afternoon, almost 250 miles into their journey, a motorist allegedly drove straight towards the pair and struck them.

The two cyclists did not require hospital treatment after the collision.

A Police Scotland spokesperson told the Scottish Daily Express that enquiries were ongoing into the incident, which has been treated as “deliberate”. 

“The investigation to trace the vehicle and its driver is continuing,” the spokesperson said.

An eyewitness also told the Dundee Courier that the two cyclists were later stopped by police in Bridge of Earn. 

“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” the local said. “I was driving back from work and saw the pair completely naked on the tandem.

“The police had stopped them outside a nursery in Bridge of Earn. By this time, they were putting clothes on. The man got into the back of the police car and the woman was chatting to another police officer.”

The collision occurred shortly after the Free Wilders were filmed riding along the A912 by a bemused (and sweary) phone driver, who later posted the profanity-laden video to Twitter on Monday evening.

Though Monday’s events may put a slight dampener on the trip, before setting off last week the Free Wilders hoped that their end-to-end cycle across Britain would capture the public’s imagination, while also being “fun”.

As well as visiting rewilding projects and farms along the route, the four cyclists are raising money for Rewilding Britain and the mental health charity Mind.

You can donate to the Free Wilders, and find out more about their rewilding aims, through their Just Giving page

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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8 comments

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yupiteru | 1 year ago
3 likes

So many people in the UK have such a hangup about the naked human body.

It is so sad and mainly just demonstrates the way they were brought up more than anything.

Fundamantally It is a mental health issue, but trying to get therapy on the NHS to deal with the problem after the Tories have devastated it is not any easy task sadly.

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 1 year ago
6 likes

No matter how good the cause that naked cyclists are riding in support for I cannot personally get past the "Oh my Gods, the saddles" gag reflex.

Doesn't mean they deserve to be harmed by fuckwits though.

Avatar
mark1a replied to Mungecrundle | 1 year ago
2 likes

Agreed, and personally I can't get past yesterday's "tabloid panic" story, and I just hope they're getting plenty of time "out of the saddle"

https://road.cc/content/news/tabloid-panic-over-cycling-erectile-dysfunc...

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SimoninSpalding replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
0 likes

I noticed Viagra was being advertised during the TdF highlights on ITV4 last night too!

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AlsoSomniloquism | 1 year ago
28 likes

Umm, two people riding a bike and not breaking any laws or someone driving one handed whilst using a mobile phone to film with the other. I know which one is the cnut in that video. 

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OldRidgeback replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 1 year ago
5 likes

Yep, 6 points on the licence and a £200 fine innit

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IanMSpencer replied to OldRidgeback | 1 year ago
7 likes

If only there was some evidence who Grant Murchie was for the police to be able to identify the driver.

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ShutTheFrontDawes replied to IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
4 likes

Not only that but you'd also need cast iron evidence of the law-breaking, such as a video of it in-progress. Where on earth are the fuzz supposed to get that from?

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