Riding the streets of downtown Los Angeles with other cyclists and with pedestrians without the cars can be uncanny, strange, wonderful and exhilarating. And next weekend, everyone is invited to be part of the experience.
Join the Culver City Bicycle Coalition as they ride off to participate in CicLAvia, the Los Angeles version of a celebration of the positive effects of the absence of car traffic. The community-focused movement started as a response to congestion in Bogota, Colombia three decades ago.
CicLAvia’s third car-free festival in Los Angeles will take place Sunday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will turn the streets into virtual bicycle parks and cyclists of all abilities and ages will be participating. The closed-to-cars route includes parts of Boyle Heights, Little Tokyo, downtown L.A., Westlake, Koreatown, South L.A. and East Hollywood.
This is from the CicLAvia website, ciclavia.org:
“There’s no start and no end. It’s not a race or a group bike ride. You can enter the route anywhere and walk/bike along any part you like. It’s for everyone to do anything they can imagine to do in the street.”
There will be portable bathrooms, hydration stations and many events to stop at along the way. Bicycles, skateboards, skates, scooters, pedestrians and babies in strollers are welcome.
The Culver City Bicycle Coalition plans to gather at 8:30 a.m. at Media Park, across from Trader Joe’s, and leave for CicLAvia at 9 a.m. They hope to link up with their fellow Los Angeles County Bicycle Association affiliate, Santa Monica Spoke, and with riders from Bikerowave. (This schedule is subject to change, so please check the coalition’s website at ccbike.org for the up-to-date details.) If you can’t join the CCBC for the ride to downtown L.A., there are plenty of other ways to participate. You can take your bike downtown by bus or by car. Bicycling, transit and parking suggestions are listed on the CicLAvia website.
Bike Safe, Bike Smart! is a weekly column to promote responsible cycling by providing information, education and advice about riding. It’s written by members of the Culver City Bicycle Coalition (CCBC), a local chapter of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. Join them for their family bike ride the last Sunday of every month. For more information and to submit questions, write: ccbicyclecoalition@gmail.com and visit our blog: culvercitybc.wordpress.com/.
