CicloSDias took over five miles of road connecting some of San Diego’s most popular neighborhoods, transforming the fast paced car dominant streets into not only friendlier bike lanes, but bike ONLY lanes! We were at the event’s Hub in South Park to witness the beauty of CicloSDias. Check out our photo gallery of some of the happenings of the day.
In a large city like ours, it can seem as though someone has their thumb on the fast forward button on the tape player of our daily lives. Life moves fast and people sometimes forget to slow things down, appreciate the good things in life and take an active part in our communities.
On Sunday August 11th 2013, four popular neighborhoods decided to not only take their thumbs off the fast-forward button, but to rip the damn thing straight off the machine itself, slow down and enjoy a great day of bike safety and bike advocacy while promoting a very clear message – “we all want a clean, healthy and vibrant San Diego.” All of this became possible thanks to CicloSDias.
Just over five miles of road, 30th Street, stretching from K Street in Logan Heights up into North Park was transformed from a busy, fast paced, car jammed route into a bike only environment for riders of all ages, styles and experience. A community wide bike party ensued, and everyone was encouraged to attend.
Although some of our neighborhoods are well known for their bike friendliness and bike accessibility, more often than not the streets – even in the most bike-friendly areas – can be a terrifying place for riders. Cars whip by continuously all the while throwing most forms of patience right out the window. (Get it?) With CicloSDias, this all changed at least for a day’s worth of community building and outright bike fun. Here in my neighborhood of South Park, the gathering I saw was something that I was truly proud to be a part of.
I witnessed riders gathering in the streets, meeting and cruising with one another. Numerous homes offering cold drinks – water, juices, kool-aid even cupcakes and ice cream – for absolutely FREE to their fellow community members who just might be a bit over heated on a warm August afternoon. Local businesses taking part to promote safe and bike friendly streets, joined by riders of all ages; including young children peddling their little hearts out for possibly their first time on a SAFE San Diego Street, BMX riders mingling with road bikers, cruisers mingling with mountain bikers, and a neighborhood bike shop owner mingling with a goofy webzine writer and teaching him how to shoot pictures. Wait a second…
Truth be told, there just isn’t enough room here to mention all that was great about CicloSDias. All in all, it was a great day of community building for our local neighborhoods, and a great day for bike safety and bike advocacy. CicloSDias may be gone for now, but the memories and message will definitely live on. TBZ!
ALL photos by Three B Zine (threebzine.com) and Haven Page Design.