Hollywood Encampments Magically Disappear Before CicLAvia Bike Event.


Yesterday was CicLAvia


IMG_6876 DSCF0115

Yesterday, Sunday, March 22nd, was CicLAvia in the San Fernando Valley.

Lankershim Boulevard, from Chandler to Ventura, and Ventura to Coldwater Canyon, was closed to cars.

I rode from my house near Sepulveda and Victory to the starting line at North Hollywood Station.

It was foggy.

Mayor Eric Garcetti: articulate, young and progressive, spoke before the opening.

IMG_6871 IMG_6866

It was a perfect San Francisco day to ride bikes in Los Angeles.

Cool, overcast, gentle.

And the sometimes indifferent people were seemingly transformed into better ones.

A cop saw me inflating my bike tire before the race and said, “Let me walk you down to where they have a bike repair station.”

IMG_6857

DSCF0111 IMG_6860

Shopkeepers along the route waved and handed out chapstick, water, and energy bars.

In Studio City, I stopped and ate a Belgian waffle at Waffles DeLiege food truck.

Fortified and energized I turned around and rode the route back to the starting point in North Hollywood. And continued down Chandler.  Making my way home, under trees and cloudy skies, along deserted streets .

IMG_6865

 

CicLAvia Event: Sunday, April 6th 9am-5pm


screenshot_302

This Sunday, April 6th, from 9am-5pm, Wilshire Boulevard, from Downtown LA to Fairfax, all six miles, will be free of automobiles and entirely owned by pedestrians and bicyclists.

The event was created by CicLAvia, an organization promoting healthier and humane alternatives to the dystopia of LA’s car enslavement. 100,000 people are expected to attend this free event which can be walked or biked along any starting point.

Public transportation is the best way to get there.

Those traveling near this area by car are warned that traffic will be nightmarish.