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CicLAvia rolls past Wilshire Boulevard's iconic architecture (photos)
CicLAvia volunteers encourage riders at the Koreatown Hub of CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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Bordeaux Martin (right) poses with his husband Alexander Santillanes (left) and their French bulldog at CicLAvia Sunday.
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Submitted by Bordeaux Martin
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Dogs love to cruise too!
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Submitted by Bordeaux Martin
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The Hudson Jackals, a bicycle crew from Hollywood, finish their ride at LACMA during CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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A safety officer directs traffic at a vehicle crossing point at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue during CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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Riders climb Wilshire Boulevard in downtown L.A. during the seventh CicLAvia event on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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Susan Dalton waves to motorists on the 110 freeway from the Wilshire Boulevard overpass near downtown L.A. during CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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A cyclist begins the 6.3-mile ride from downtown L.A. to Miracle Mile at L.A's seventh CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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Paolo Flores, left, and his friend, Ope, practice capoeira at Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Koreatown during CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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Cyclists and pedestrians climb Wilshire Boulevard in downtown L.A. during the seventh CicLAvia event on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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The Reddit family cheers on cyclists near the MacArthur Park Hub at CicLAvia on June 23, 2013.
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Todd Johnson/KPCC
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CicLAvia's Wilshire event June 23, 2012 focused on the city's iconic architecture.
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Rina Palta / KPCC
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CicLAvia rolls past Wilshire Boulevard's iconic architecture (photos)
Bikers, skateboarders and pedestrians zoomed and meandered down Wilshire Blvd. Sunday, the first CicLAvia event through the city's art deco center.
Leonardo Terrobias was one of many who stopped to snap pictures of the street's iconic architecture as he biked his way up Wilshire.
"A friend told me there was an event with no cars, no traffic, just people, and I had to come," Terrobias said.
Angela Cheng Caplan, attending with her husband and three kids, said she learned about CicLAvia when the event rolled through her Palms-Mar Vista neighborhood earlier this year. The family made the trek to Koreatown to give their kids the opportunity to bike through the city streets.
"We were just talking about how connected we feel to the city," Cheng Caplan said. "Usually, we don't, because we're driving."
That sort of community-building is at the core of CicLAvia's mission, said executive director Aaron Paley.
"The lesson is simplicity," Paley said. "Here's a very simple way to create open space and to create a park."
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Paley said people usually think of CicLAvia as a bike event, but it's actually about public space. This particular CicLAvia was particularly designed to attract more foot traffic. Event organizers handed out booklets explaining the history of some of Wilshire Blvd.'s more prominent buildings. And pedestrian-only zones with activities such as Pilates bookended the route.
The idea for CicLAvia originated as "Ciclovia" in Bogota, Colombia — a city with a similar tissue as L.A., Paley said — and has spread throughout Latin America, with many cities holding weekly street closures to cheaply accommodate the urban need for outdoor space.
Now, other cities in the U.S. are looking to Los Angeles, arguably the car capital of the country, for guidance on pedestrian-friendly events.
"We have become probably the most transformative open streets, car-free event in the United States," Paley said. "Every time we do it, we get calls from other cities saying, 'You did that in L.A.? Then we should be able to it here.'"
Among those looking to get their own versions of the event up and running soon, Paley said, are San Diego, Baltimore, and Riverside.
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