Katie Archibald column: In search of the naked truth
'I’m just annoyed that if I wanted to spend the day in my pants we would have to question my motives.'

I would like to be naked more of the time. I would like it to be ok for me to be naked more of the time, without feeling highly aware of the fact I’m naked. I even feel uncomfortable right now talking about being naked (though not as uncomfortable as my father reading this) and I would like to get rid of that feeling as well.
I don’t mean by changing myself. It’s not my problem that I feel weird if I’ve got no clothes on, the problem is that it is weird if I’ve got no clothes on.
If I share a hotel room with Neah Evans I can be naked in that hotel room whenever I like. When we go home (we live together) I can’t be naked in the living room. And I get that. When Cycling Weekly update my writer’s profile image it’s not going to be a sketch of me in the skud. This isn’t a personal ‘be naked more!’ target I’m setting myself. I’m just annoyed that if I wanted to spend the day in my pants we would have to question my motives.
It’s all on my mind because someone saw me naked yesterday and spent the following eternity (at least a minute) doubled over with laughter. I’m not complaining; I look like a Refresher lolly with some nipples stuck to it at the moment. We’re training in Portugal and I didn’t wear suncream on day one — it was funny. But don’t follow my example kids: skin cancer isn’t funny and you should always wear suncream.
It has started a debate, because last year I found this same team-mate totally naked in some public toilets, and that time it was me suffering crippling laughter. I just wasn’t expecting to see a naked person and the surprise was, for some reason, hilarious. What was slightly cruel was for the rest of the trip, whenever that team-mate was naked again it just reminded me of the original incident and I started laughing all over again. She claims it didn’t do wonders for her self-esteem.
But, and this was our debate, I was only laughing at the actual context of her nakedness. She was laughing at the content of mine. I ask you, who should really have self-esteem issues?
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
-
-
Giro d'Italia Live: riders climb Monte Lussari for penultimate stage mountain time trial; Geraint Thomas and Primož Roglič face-off for the pink jersey
Thomas must defend 26-second lead over Roglič to win the Giro d'Italia
By Stephen Puddicombe • Published
-
British Cycling CEO says ‘fairness’ is the key driver for new transgender policy
According to Jon Dutton, ‘fairness’ key driving factor in competitive policy whereas ‘inclusivity’ the key principle in non-competitive policy
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Mountain biker Rab Wardell dies two days after winning Scottish title
Wardell won elite men’s title at the Scottish MTB XC Championships in Dumfries and Galloway last weekend
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Tweets of the Week: Mark Cavendish's meme, cycling Supermarket Sweep and Katie Archibald's throwback
After a big week in the cycling world, here's a selection of our favourite social media moments
By Alex Ballinger • Published
-
Katie Archibald column: It's been a blast...but Tokyo beckons
In her last column (for now) Katie Archibald says goodbye as the Olympic Games loom ahead
By Cycling Weekly • Published
-
Katie Archibald column: Rumours has it...
'The first time I called, I got put on hold and I loved it. Their hold music was 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac'
By Jonny Long • Published
-
'Mine isn’t the story of an Olympic champion, but of a vain teenager who liked racing with people I wanted to be like': Katie Archibald column
'I was engaged by a social scene rather than a sport'
By Jonny Long • Published
-
Rocking the six-day lifestyle: Katie Archibald column
'The men go out after the racing most nights, meanwhile my late night entertainment was Neah removing huge wood splinters from her leg'
By Jonny Long • Published
-
Spilling the beans: Katie Archibald column
You live, you learn, and aspire to increase the size of your tin of beans
By Jonny Long • Published
-
The long road to Apeldoorn: Katie Archibald column
'I had left school with a plan to spend a year working abroad before going to university, but when the Glasgow velodrome opened I knew I wanted to ride that track, a lot'
By Jonny Long • Published