Bicycle Fixation Weblog
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04/12/2011: "CicLAvia, April 2011 Edition"
Of course, we were at CicLAvia last Sunday. How could we miss it? Even though I still had a bad cold, we saddled up early and rode...not to CicLAvia itself, but to Highland Park (with a lift from the Red and Gold Metro lines for Gina, who isn't as accustomed to long rides as I am) for lunch at bicycle-friendly Good Girl Dinette. Another hop on the Gold Line took us to Boyle Heights, wehre we eased through the barricades and joined the fun.Much bigger crowds than last years! And, tellingly, this time merchants who had stayed closed, or even closed up in fear of car-free roads, were open--and thronging with business.
Of course, you can deliver far more customers to most establishments with bicycles than you can with cars, so the bars, restaurants, markets, and other stores that showed some real business sense and reached out to the day's cyclists were raking it in, to judge from the crowds of bikes outside, and the corresponding crowds of riders inside.
The weather was beautiful, the riding relaxed, the faces happy, the crowd inclusive: black, white, brown, and yellow, old and young, rich and poor, fat and fit, and everything in between, all mingling peacefully on bikes, on foot, on skates, on their way at a gentle pace. Friends and strangers alike talking with each other. Pure urban magic!
Click on the photo below to see more pix on our Flickr page:
CicLAvia was inspired by the famous ciclovías of Bogotá, which started over thirty years ago and have transformed that city. There are two more planned for this year--details at the CicLAvia website.
We'll see you there next time, right?
