Did you see the pantsless people on the Rail Trail?

If you saw the pantsless people riding bikes along the Charlotte Rail Trail on Saturday, May 21, rest assured, you were not hallucinating. The staff of Unknown Brewing Co. in South End actually organized this event, and an open invitation to the community — and the media — to join. The brewery and its Unknown Bike and Brew team partnered with Good Bottle Co., Queen City Bicycles and 24 Hours of Booty to create Charlotte’s first-annual pantsless bike ride.

The event was intended to promote bicycle safety and awareness, Sustain Charlotte, 24 Hours of Booty and, naturally, a darn good time.

It was advertised as featuring “pantsless musicians and plenty of cold beer” at the finish line. And as becoming “this epic, fearless event that you will remember for a lifetime.”

I won’t remember it because I wasn’t there. I chickened out and I am sorry. I just like pants. Still, I admire the more than 30 people who dropped them to ride along the light rail from Remount Road to the 1300 block of Mint Street.

And I’ll certainly remember their pictures.

With captions, photos and reporting contributed by John D. Simmons.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Did you see the pantsless people on the Rail Trail?."