CicLAvia Rolling to the Beach

Cyclists, skaters and pedestrians on April 21 can take part in the longest and first route in CicLAvia’s 6-year history that will connect downtown to the beach. 

The 15-mile route will start at El Pueblo de Los Angeles in downtown Los Angeles, head down Venice Boulevard and end at Venice Beach.

CicLAvia, inspired by the Colombian bike movement ciclovia, started in October 2010 in Los Angeles with about 100,000 participants.

The new route is a breakthrough in expanding CicLAvia. In the past it has been restricted mostly to the neighborhoods closer to downtown L.A.

“CicLAvia’s success and the breakneck pace of bikeway construction demonstrate that LA has removed its training wheels,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “The synergy of public support and infrastructure investment has put LA at the front of the transit pack.”

At a press conference on Thursday, Villaraigosa also announced the city has created 123 miles of bikeways in the last two years since it approved a Master Bike Plan. Los Angeles aims to install 1,680 miles of bicycle routes by 2042.

"I am ecstatic that the city is continuing on a path to complete 40 miles of bike lanes per year,” said Councilman Bill Rosendahl. “We are seeing first hand how the bike plan is dramatically improving the City's multi-modal system of transportation, as well as having a positive impact on our air and climate."

Citywide, there are now 431 miles of bikeways, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. And, about 5,000 bike racks have been installed during Villaraigosa’s tenure.

"Lack of infrastructure is the biggest barrier to more people choosing to ride. When the city installs bike lanes, ridership goes up 100 to 200 percent within the next year," said Jen Klausner, executive director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. "We're celebrating reaching a milestone of 123 miles, but we're really looking forward to the next 100 and a future complete network. Mayor Villaraigosa has done so much to make Los Angeles a multimodal city and we're excited to keep building on such amazing progress."

In addition to the Venice ride in April, a second event will take place June 23, winding its way along Wilshire Boulevard from downtown to the SoFax area. An Oct. 6 ride is also planned and will essentially be the same downtown route as last October with some minor changes.