It’s time to go against your inner Flavor Flav. Believe the hype.
You can’t Fight the Power, every CicLAvia is fun, there’s just a few more ways to do it smarter.
If you haven’t read all my meat and potatoes articles about this weekend, you can backtrack with Part One, Two and Getting There.
These are special tips for Sunday. If you’ve made it this far into CicLAvia week, then it’s time for you to get your reward:
Afternoon Delight – It’s always fun to end a CicLAvia with an adult beverage in hand and there’s definitely a few options. Pac City Brewing and San Fernando Brewing Company are right off the course on the northside. A couple miles to the south you’ll find the highly popular MacLeod Ale(pronounce it singular or you’ll sound like a newby). Easy suggestion: if you’re driving, park nearby and ride to the course. You’ll now have an extra reason to get back.
Get off the bus – Not to knock transit, but if you’re planning on bringing a bike with you, it may be tough to find a bus to take you. I know people will be tempted to use the Orange Line, but buses don’t hold more than three bikes on their racks, so odds are with the influx of cyclists, you might have trouble getting yours on. Of course, my column is so far reaching, it’ll probably scare a lot of people from trying, so who knows?
Don’t worry about keeping your hair straight. – Any game that has rules similar to cornhole, I’m in on. Hollywood Curling will be set up by the Valley Ice Center and while there won’t be any ice you’ll be sliding across, you will be able to pick up the nuisances of the game. The great part about this group is that they’re working towards their own facility in San Fernando. Yes Los Angeles, we need this!
If it rains, embrace it! – Call me sadistic, but I’ve always wanted a wet CicLAvia, I just never planned on it being in the valley. Look, everyone should know how to ride in the rain and what better place to give it a spin than an open streets event. Think about it, doesn’t every single rock video look cool when someone gets wet? Obviously!
Now you can do it to. I guess it was very fortuitous that I wrote a guide about cycling in the rain a couple of months ago. Of course, somehow it seems the gods will clear the sky, but just in case, get ready.
Take Ferris’ Advice. – Life moves pretty fast. Remember, this is not a race. There’s going to be a lot of art and installations along the way andIf you don’t stop and look around for a while, you could miss it. Plan to spend the whole day and let the puzzle pieces fall where they may.
Add to that train – No need to adopt a kid in the next 48 hours. Towing a trailer along with you for a CicLAvia is great! Besides stacking children in there, trailers are great for dogs, boom boxes, microwave ovens or whatever you can think. I use mine for a number of purposes now:
Since CicLAvia is hours away, head to your LBS to buy one. And if you can’t find one, then go to your Local Bike Shop. I’ll keep using redundancy as a tool until you get one!
Barter. Barter. Barter. – If you want to find some interesting last minute swag for CicLAvia, there will be a bike swap meet on Saturday in the heart of the valley! The Encino Velodrome is holding their quarterly parking lot fair at the track from 8am until noon. As the western portion of Balboa Park you’ll find a mixtures of bikes, clothing, accessories and more importantly, good people too. And yes, it’s FREE to come.
Make it your purpose to make more purpose – CicLAvia doesn’t magically appear. They’re a hard working non-profit that juggles a lot of balls to make this happen. Donations are awesome and you can always support by buying some of their swag, which is well designed and fashionable anywhere. While you’re at it, go visit the handsome folks at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition booth near Bradley Plaza. Give them some love so that someday, everyday will feel like a CicLAvia.