Have you ever heard of this cool thing called CicLAvia? It just happened, on Sunday, April 15. Not the first one, apparently. They closed off 10 miles of city streets from 10am to 3pm, and only bikers and pedestrains and skaters could use them. It was the most fun I've had in a very long time. I rode mostly on my own, surrounded by several thousands of my closest friends. I of course had my camera, and stopped a bunch of times to take pictures. Exploring LA city streets without all those damn cars is really something else. I was on my bike for almost 4 hours. It's gonna hurt in the morning -- no, it's hurting now, and it's gonna hurt bad in the morning. Totally worth it.

Bikers milling about close to 10am, ready to take the roads. At 10 on the dot, shouts and cheering started us off. I started at the Bicycle District Hub, at Heliotrope and Melrose. It is less than 2 miles south of where I live, and down the hill. So, I got on my bike and rolled on down there.

Riding through a residential neighborhood. Look, no cars! I didn't even know this street was there.

Around a corner, and there's downtown within sight. Did not take long at all, especially since it's downhill almost the entire way from my place to downtown.

The Park Plaza Hotel. Did you know this was here? I didn't! They were shooting something. In retrospect, I should have asked them to let me wonder around for a few minutes.

The pond in the background is MacArthur Park.

View of the 110 freeway from the 7th Street bridge.

Coming to downtown off the 7th Street bridge.

An ironic statue at one of the fancy corporate buildings downtown. The security guards were staring slackjawed at all the bikers, they just ignored me. Usually I get shooed off a property if I'm taking pictures.

A building downtown. I love the fire escapes on these older buildings.

I rode all the way east past Alameda, and through a neighborhood that was all food stalls and pinata shops. Loud music blared, and every food imaginable cooked on outdoor barbeques and cooking surfaces of all kinds.

And then, on Central Avenue, the Coca Cola bottling plant. For real.

This is a hand-made bicycle. It says "I'm a bad-ass, but I care about the environment." Lots of shiny skulls.

This is bike polo. Polo, on bikes. Yup. What will they think of next?

Railroad tracks and the LA river from one of the bridges.
Since the way back was shaping up to be one long uphill ride, and since I needed to get back to go swimsuit shopping (yeah, I know!), I decided to take the subway back. I had run into a couple of people from my meetup group, and one of them very gallantly escorted me safely back to Union Station.















