What the Naked Skate Was Like
The skaters' plan was to meet in Golden Gate Park at 7:00 A.M. and start skating at 7:30. The location was only disclosed to the people who signed up to participate in the skate.
One by one the skaters arrived, each wearing their own personally selected cover-up. Some skaters took Sandy's advice and wrapped blankets around themselves. Others wore robes made of terry cloth or silk. Some people tied sarongs around their bodies and some just held squares of cloth over parts of their body. A few people taped or glued strategically placed pieces of cloth or paper to the front of their bodies. The "unique cover-up of the day" award went to two skaters who brought baby strollers to push during the naked skate to protect the privacy of certain body parts.
The photo shoot took place on a rather secluded road where the skaters could move up a gently sloping hill with the sun on their backs. A few passersby noticed what was happening, and some of them stopped for a few minutes to watch in amusement. At the end of the photo shoot, photographer Jack Gescheidt asked one of the skaters to operate the camera so he could take off his clothes and join the others in one last skate up the road.
Before we headed to breakfast, Sandy suggested that the group make one last skate, to the finish line of a large 10k race that was being held in Golden Gate Park that morning. Everyone thought that was a great idea, and 40 naked skaters took off down the road. They skated to the finish line, zoomed across it, made sharp a U-turn, and skated away, before anyone at the marathon realized what hit them. We heard later that the skaters were given an honorable mention by Hootie and the Blowfish at a concert held after the race, and they were the "butt" of many jokes on San Francisco radio stations that day.
