I always hear about these things to late or they happen when I'm out of town, but tomorrow (Sunday the 9th) a bunch of streets downtown will be closed for the third CicLAvia.

Past ones seemed to go very well, I'm looking forward to finally joining in!

Thanks for the heads up JKane-I have to be in DT LA today to attend a performance at The Music Center so I will allow extra time.I am sure street parking will be at a premium as folks will be driving to this "car free"day

JKane: I looked at the website for that event and it was quite fascinating. thanks for the post,

gcursor

I took my bike down to Union Station via Metrolink. They had a dedicated bike car, was easy, except their schedule was pretty limited on Sunday.

It was fun, pretty unique. I rode to the end of each spur, something like 23 miles total.

Crapload of people... many of whom aren't great bike riders... making it a little difficult with so many people. Especially where they bunch up at crossings. At one point it took 5 light changes before I could get through a light. I really wish they'd decide to really do this: either find a route they can truly block off (like I'm guessing they do for the marathon) or give the cycles greater priority and have a lot less crossings, at the least.

I've been downtown a good number of times over the last year. It's usually a ghost town on weekends, especially the civic center/courts/business districts, great for walking and sightseeing. Never felt threatened or in danger, even the time I cut up skid row. With a little determination one can hit all the key places (they've got great signs) and there's a great site about it. In one walk I've hit Chinatown, Olivera Street, Library tower (you can't get in, there's no public observation deck), little Tokyo, Disney Hall, and seen the fucking cool high school. Still haven't seen Angel's Flight though, so there's at least one little section I haven't hit.

CicLAvia... I dunno, it is very convenient to get my bike to via metrolink (would be much more so on Saturdays...), but if they don't change the route and increase their capacity to deal with the more and more people who show up each time I might not need to go again. But IF they do or something similar happens in an area where they'll actually block off cars for an event (Hollywood!) I'd be there with bells on. Seriously, the bells might keep oblivious cunts from swerving in front of me... And while it's cool to ride on the streets and get a feel for the different areas and how they connect, it wasn't great for sightseeing. Only glanced Disney Hall and Library tower, for example. Though did ride through little Tokyo and Olivera Street was just off one end. Didn't seem to be a lot to *do* either, some places had cool music, and riding through the occupyLA area was cool, but I didn't see anything that made me want to get off and investigate.

Next big one coming up April 15th, some small ones in the meantime too it would seem.

CicLAvia

Last time was kind of a crowded clusterfuck, but if this route is different (certainly more Hollywood) maybe...