“Hey buddy,” the cameraman complained. “This thing is rented by the hour, and it’s heavy as hell, you ready yet?”
“Not yet, not yet…” I called back, almost in a panic. “Give me a minute. Besides, I don’t think the sound man is ready. I don’t see his boom mic out.”
“You don’t have any lines here,” the sound man countered, “so I’m just going to go with a tiny clip-on mic, to get ambient sounds. Normally I would just clip this on your shirt, but since your not wearing one, it makes it a lot more challenging. Give me a couple of minutes so I can figure where to attach it.”
“Ten bucks says he chickens out,” the gaffer whispered to the cameraman, just loud enough so I could hear.
“I heard that,” I countered, “and there’s no way I am chickening out. It might be a little cold, but my courage is not going to shrink. I am man enough to do this.”
That produced a wry chuckle from the director, and she said, “I hear some people will have political messages and other things painted or plastered on. You may feel more confident and hide your shortcomings that way. Are you sure you don’t want to do that?”
“No, no, the act in itself, is statement enough,” I replied, not wanting the situation to spin out of my control.
To tell you the truth, I was getting a little nervous; and to procrastinate a little bit, I double-checked all my equipment. And it’s lucky I did because my unicycle tire was a little flat. I took out the small air pump attached to its shaft and quickly went to work getting it decently inflated.
As I was finishing, the sun went behind some clouds, and I got goosebumps. I felt everything shrinking, as I got cold, even my courage. I knew that if I didn’t start out soon, I wouldn’t reach the ride’s starting point on time. If they left without me, I know I would chicken out. I needed the support and the camaraderie of my fellow unicycle riders to pull this off.
It was now or never. I took off my shoes and socks saying, “Okay guys, it’s showtime. Everyone ready? Let’s do it!”
Then I stripped off my pants and underwear, climbed onto my unicycle and began pedalling for Dorchester Square, and the start of the Montreal edition, of the World’s Naked Bike Ride.