It was so hot! While I’m usually a CicLAvia road warrior and am able to stick out till the bitter end I had to call it early this go-around. I also didn’t have the uphill trek to Echo Park in me after checking out the Downtown/Boyle Heights routes. One regret was starting in Downtown, I feel like I should’ve started in Echo Park, then gone from there.

Did anyone else notice that the Boyle Heights end of the route was much less crowded than the Downtown/Echo park segments? Traffic really died down after the Mariachi Plaza hub. It was an unexpected result, especially after all the “gentrifier” hullabaloo that was raised in advance of the event.

Well the national media pretty much ignored the largest climate change rally in NYC, it is even worse because it was within a couple of street blocks from them.

My wife, toddler, and I road from Echo Park to Mariachi Plaza and then back to Grand Central Park. Red Tricycle had a great tip sheet on things to do with kids during CicLAvia and playing in the fountains at Grand Central Park was one of their ideas. It was the perfect place to cool off before riding home. I didn’t even know it existed. We’ll definitely be riding back there to play in the water.

I wouldn’t say I felt unwelcomed, but it was definitely strange to see so few people at the Civic Center Hub during the heat of the event. It felt like no one really made it past the Mariachi Plaza. I was there from 12:30-1:30 at the peak of the event and it felt a bit empty by comparison to every other hub I frequented

When we got to Civic Center we had a drink, and turned around. I think a lot of people did…not a knock on the hub, just that it was so far out I think people wanted to get some of the ride back before stopping.

The top four things that this CicLAvia lacked is bicycle racks, bicycle racks, bicycle racks and of course bicycle racks. I saw absolutely no portable bicycle racks from the Civic Center through East LA. Its not encouraging you to stop when you find no place to park your bike. The most popular place for parking a bicycle in front of businesses seemed to be parking meters. I did see some portable fencing for crowd control that was used for parking bicycles, but these aren’t designed to accommodate bicycle wheels

I realize that there is a rather large cost involved with supplying parking racks for a event involving tens of thousands of bicycles along a route that is at least 8 miles long. But the initial cost might be recovered by renting bicycle racks to the businesses. It would likely have increased the number of people stopping if they could see a place to easily park their bicycle.

Oh, and the heat. I live in the San Fernando Valley and regularly ride my bike, so I’m used to the weather. You do have to frequently drink water to keep hydrated. I was told by one of the event organizers that the heat reduced the number of people attending.

The upcoming CicLAvia’s for south LA in December and the San Fernando Valley in March are being held in the rainy season. Rain would severely limit the number of people attending the event–even more than heat.

Had the two other adults in the party cancel at the last minute, so it was me and two little kids… but we still had a great time. Had ramen for lunch in Little Tokyo and lots of fun scootering around. Love CicLAvia. Let’s hope everyone takes it for granted so much that no one complains when it really does happen once a month. :)

I think it was pretty hot, and pretty far for those that were not in the habit of heading out that way. And, I also think the fact that East LA was less familiar with what CicLAvia is, it is harder to get the word out in both that community and Boyle Heights (they’re not online as much or not following open streets kinds of stuff when they are), and the event is still sold as a bike-centric event as opposed to a family-oriented and pedestrian street festival (which might have had a wider appeal – targeting messaging to communities really matters depending on how they tend to use their streets and throw celebrations) meant that fewer folks from those communities participated. I was thrilled to see kids along St. Louis learning to ride bikes in the street. But that was actually kind of rare, unfortunately…

Hmmmmm……. I saw temp bike racks in lots of places on the route. OK maybe not your favorite donuts shop, but at main hubs and what not. May I suggest that if you had a lock and you were riding with one other person, you could relatively secure both bikes where it would be fairly obvious that if someone was stupid enough to try and carry them away, they would be asked “wtf?”. And please don’t use a cable lock.

I participated in a bit of WalkLAvia on Sunday. It was very hot and I didn’t dress right — should’ve worn my SPF 50 camping shirt plus capris instead of a tank top and running shorts. I enjoyed stopping in at Olympic Donuts at Cesar Chavez. That stretch I walked between the East LA hub and Indiana Avenue was very quiet but it was also very early when I called it quits. I was so thankful that Ciclavia is a recurring event and that I didn’t feel like I needed to stay until the very end… I am looking forward to the event in December and March. Thanks again.

Had a great time riding the course. Made it to all four endpoints. Got a chance to make up for not making it to at least Mariachi Plaza on the ride from two years ago. It was fun riding through Boyle Heights and East L.A. It was my first time ever seeing that part of the city.