My close encounter with the naked cyclist
A CYCLIST who rode naked through a peaceful Suffolk village might have been making a protest about speed checks, it emerged last night.
The naked cyclist - a slim white man in his 20s - was spotted in Waldingfield Road, Acton, near Sudbury, between 2.45pm and 2.55pm on Monday.
An investigation into the incident has been launched by police.
The rider’s motive for cycling in the nude through the village remains unclear - though some in the village believe he might have been protesting about speed checks recently introduced in the area as part of a community Speed Watch project.
Vince Humphries, Speed Watch member and parish councillor in neighbouring Great Waldingfield, told how they first noticed a 4x4 pass by very slowly with a canoe on the back. About 10 minutes later a man on a bike came riding by without any clothes on.
“I thought ‘crikey, is he naked?’,” Mr Humphries said. “As he came towards us one of my colleagues asked whether the chap was naked. We then said ‘bloody hell, he is naked’.
“As soon as he saw us he was peddling like mad. I think he might have thought our radar gun was a camera because when he got closer he sped up.
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“It made us laugh. We - three men and a lady - thought it was a prank. I thought he may be the same person as the 4x4 driver because both guys had dark hair.”
The speed of the rider remains unknown because the team decided not to zap him with their radar gun because it emits a small amount of radiation.
Jenny Antill, Babergh District Council’s member for Acton, said: “We don’t have this sort of thing in Acton. People like the Speed Watch, it is low key and the aim is to deter people from speeding rather than to punish them.”
A police spokeswoman said it remained unclear whether the car driver - whose dark 4x4 had a canoe on the roof - was the naked cyclist or not.
She urged the driver, or anybody who knows who he is, to come forward to speak with the police.
