CicLAvia fills Wilshire Boulevard with bicycles (LA Times)

[pinto]

CicLAvia fills Wilshire Boulevard with bicycles

The city's seventh CicLAvia event creates a car-free stretch from the Miracle Mile to downtown L.A., welcoming pedestrians as well as cyclists.

By Emily Foxhall and Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times
June 24, 2013

Quincy and Monica Jeffries had never seen Wilshire Boulevard so quiet. They smiled up at the blue-green facade of the Wiltern theater.

"You just drive by, and you don't recognize all the beautiful buildings," Monica Jeffries, 40, said.

The couple had traveled from Santa Clarita to participate in CicLAvia, which offered a rare opportunity to enjoy a car-free 6.3-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, from downtown to the Miracle Mile area. The Jeffrieses rode Trikkes — three-wheeled, scooter-like vehicles with no motors or pedals.

Sunday marked the seventh CicLAvia, a recurring event that is intended to give Angelenos a different perspective on the city. Wilshire was closed to motorized vehicles between Grand and Fairfax avenues for seven hours, the longest a CicLAvia has lasted.

Under a gray June-gloom sky, some riders had speakers in their bicycle baskets blaring music — one man's blasted Daft Punk songs — and others sang as they rode.

<snip>

The $350,000 cost to stage each event is paid for by the nonprofit CicLAvia and by the city, which uses state and federal money. CicLAvia was inspired by similar ciclovía events in Colombia, which started more than 30 years ago as a response to the congestion and pollution of city streets.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ciclavia-20130624,0,5251918.story