I was intrigued when I saw a few streets closed on my way down to Melody’s place. There were herds of bikers just swarming the streets, which I have made my main choice of transportation in the Los Angeles area. I had to do some research on what was happening today, and bumped into the CicLAvia website which gives a lot of great information.

Inspired by Ciclovía, the original, weekly street closure event in Bogotá, Colombia, CicLAvia opens LA streets to pedestrians and bicyclists, creating a temporary web of public space on which residents of Los Angeles can walk, bike, socialize, celebrate and learn more about their own city. On 4/10/11, 7.5 miles of roadways will temporarily close to car traffic and open for recreational purposes. From Boyle Heights to Downtown, MacArthur Park to East Hollywood, CicLAvia encourages Angelenos to not only make active use of their streets, but to rediscover the roadways and neighborhoods that too often go unnoticed in a car. Help open LA’s streets… take part in the second CicLAvia on 4/10/11.

I was originally going to go on a hike with Melody, but this even was too cool to pass up. Instead of discovering Los Angeles on two wheels, we opted to run down to the sixth street bridge. The route was 7.5 miles one way, which is great. We weren’t able to walk/run the whole thing, but we were able to visit the eastern half of the rout. Here are some photos from the event today, which was simply amazing.

There were lots of signs posted for non-man powered vehicles as well. Most of the streets were closed to provide a seamless ride.

Bunch of bikers at a red light stop.

By the Los Angeles Jewelry District.

More bikers waiting for a the stop light.

There was a lot of cool sights to see, such as this street art. It was great to actually be able to slow down and just enjoy the scenery.

Rules of the road.

A ton of bikers stopped at many local shops to grab some lunch, and sometimes a beer as well.

By The Times by city hall.

LA Beyond Cars! There were a few stops with vendors which ranged from food to bike repair tents.

City Hall.

Little Tokyo was a great place to people watch.

There was also this little picture booth setup on the 6th st. bridge.

People were taking breaks on the bridge to admire the skyline of downtown.

The 6th st. bridge.

The awesome view of downtown Los Angeles.

I was also scouting to get a silhouette photo of downtown Los Angeles, we’ll see if I can find the perfect spot in the coming months.

Hollenbeck Park, the eastern most end of the bike ride.

Some bikers sitting in the park to take a break and grab a bite.

Some more street art while we were walking back to downtown.

I also got a few pictures of some random bikers.