These brazen cyclists felt the wind in their hair, all types of hair, when they took part in Sheffield's first naked bike ride.

In front of astonished onlookers, 29 people stripped off and cycled from Endcliffe Park, into the city centre and back again.

Organisers say the response was generally positive – with just one heckler calling out during the ride.

Cyclists stripped off at the gate entrance to the park in front of bemused onlookers.

They say it was "a peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture and the individuality of the human body".

Nick Oodian, aged 37, from Hunters Bar, who organised the ride, said: "It felt very liberating and very natural. In fact it felt more unnatural putting our clothes back on.

"We were very careful not to impose ourselves. We got undressed at the Queen Victoria statute, well away from the cafe and the playground.

"A group of people moving as a pack at speed means there isn't too much to be seen. But we were received really well, people were cheering and cars were sounding their horns."

But not everyone was pleased.

A complaint was made to police that naked men were hanging around Endcliffe Park and officers were there to meet the cyclists on their return to the park.

Nick said: "They were fine about it. Once the police saw what we were doing and that we had got dressed again they didn't have a problem.

"We just wanted to make a point about our dependency on oil and how vulnerable cyclists are on Sheffield roads. You can't get much more vulnerable then being completely naked."

One unfortunate rider on a 'recumbent' bike came a cropper when a wheel came off. But Sunday's event was otherwise judged a great success, the first of what is hoped to be an annual event.

The World Naked Bike Rides began in Spain and the USA in 2004 and have since spread around the world.

Riders disrobe as much as they dare and often use body paints and costumes to emphasise the fun and free nature of cycling and lambast oil-dependent car culture.

The emphasis on the human body, in all its ages and forms, is one of the messages of the event, with riders urging other road users to give up inefficient and damaging means of transport and use their own power to move around their cities.

There are now more 50 participating cities with more than 1,500 taking part in the UK last year.

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