Bikecar101 at CicLAvia!

HOLA is an acronym for Heart of Los Angeles. It's a popular CicLAvia route. We brought our two cargo bikes and our 2.5 year old son. It was certainly a day of fun in the open streets. It was the first time we tried putting both cargo bikes in our minivan at the same time and now we know we can do it. We have a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan. The seats all fold into the floor so it's easy to make the inside of the van suitable for hauling two large cargo bikes. It's really fun riding cargo bikes together because they are similarly slow. CicLAvia is not a race and there were a lot of families out in full force. It was super fun meeting other parents and seeing how they get their kiddos out there on all types of family bikes.

We started from LA Union Station. We parked in the underground long-term parking structure. It cost $8 for all-day. It took us 30 minutes to drive there and 40 minutes to get home, back to the San Fernando Valley.

Navigating the elevators in the parking structure was the first hurdle. I got off on the wrong floor when we arrived and when we were trying to get home. There are pay stations at each floor but you want to wait until you are leaving to pay because you have to exit the parking structure within a certain time from when you pay. Luckily I had practiced fitting my bike in the elevator by riding it to work, so I knew how to wedge it in there on the diagonal to get it to fit.

We exited Union Station at the front with our bikes, crossed Alameda and passed through El Pueblo de Los Angeles using the bike lane on Los Angeles St. We turned right on Arcadia St (parallel to the 101 freeway) and climbed up a few streets to Broadway. We took a left on Broadway and made our way to the heart of the route.

We explored Broadway down to 7th street. It was really fun riding down between all the tall buildings. It really gave the feeling of downtown. Also, it was nice and flat! That was the shortest arm of the route, so it was also a good warm-up for what was to come. We passed (but did not stop at) a farmer's market in this arm of the route. We made a U-turn at 7th and returned to the "crossroads." We decided to head "up the hill" and to the Second Street tunnel.

We had kiddo in the Taga 1.0 with its sun shade and a little sun-shade extender that we found on Amazon. We took the above photo at 10:30am so it wasn't the max of heat but it did provide a cover for his legs. We used SPF 100 spray on his legs, which works really well. We used SPF 50 cream on his arms, this is my favorite cream sunscreen. It doesn't irritate the skin and washes off easily with baby wash. We use SPF 50 stick on his face. It's thick and easy to apply, and he can do it himself, which is crucial for toddlers who are always wanting more power and control.

The Taga 1.0 has a peek-a-boo window that can zip open and closed. The sun shade can help hold the window open so that kiddo can get some fresh air. Otherwise the canopy that comes with the bike doesn't offer much shade. Dad was worried that our kiddo wasn't able to see enough so when we reached the end of the next arm, we decided to let him out to play and then switch bikes for the next segment.

Getting to the Echo Park hub wasn't easy. We walked the hills up to the tunnel and then rode all the way to the end. Taga bikes have only 3 gears. So most of the time we used the middle gear with "1" for climbing and "3" for downhills. There's no need to hurry, CicLAvia is a slow roll, so these bikes are pretty much ideal for the event. They're also great because they never tip over, so starting and stopping is safe and easy. One drawback is that there's no kickstand so you have to park near a tree or a fence to prevent the bike from rolling away.

The Taga 1.0 doesn't have much storage capacity. We didn't keep much in it except the snacks and drinks. Unfortunately, our kiddo is getting so tall now (over 33 inches) that his head sticks out the top a bit. His legs fit fine but it's a bit hard to get him in and out of the seat because he has huge feet. He seemed to enjoy sitting in there, and he did use the padded bar to hold onto. We also have a detachable toy bar that stretches across the seat and kiddo likes the music it plays. I got this really simple bike phone holder, which was easy to install and held the phones nicely during the ride despite lots of bumps. We tried to rendezvous with our neighbors but we never ended up finding them.

This was at the Echo Park hub. There was a playground and food trucks and restrooms and shade. It was lovely. I really enjoyed kicking back in the grass and watching everyone enjoy the day.

This box for organizing your art supplies has been repurposed as a Snackle Box. Kiddo loves choosing what he wants. It's a good way to bring items like crackers that can get squished and end up as nothing but crumbs. It fit perfectly underneath the Taga 1.0. Albert chose a milk and some individually wrapped pancakes. He took his goldfish and peanut butter sandwich crackers to-go. It was 11:30am by this time, which is time for us to start thinking about lunch for kiddo.

By noon we were back on the bikes and ready to roll. This time kiddo was riding on the Taga 2.0 to which we added a Radio Flyer canopy. Everyone commented on the stroller fan we had clipped on there. In the 2.0 there is a lot of cargo space. The area under kiddo is empty, so I stashed our 12" backpack, small reusable tote bag, and makeup-organizer turned toolbag there, leaving plenty of room for kiddo's legs and feet. As I've said before, it's better to have many smaller bags than one giant bag that is hard to get in and out of a small space.

We put kiddo in the rear-facing seat since that's how he sits in our car. I put Mickey and Goofy stuffies in the other seats to give him something to look at. Lots of people had fun saying hi to the Disney characters. Lots of people commented on my outfit, noticing that it reminded them of Minnie mouse. I love the XXL Twin Six Queen of the Mountain jersey, but I don't think they make it anymore. You can pick up a XXL running skirt at Sparkle Athletic. My main goal was to stay cool and comfortable and visible to cars. I was sporting my new helmet. I like wearing arm coolers so that when I put on sunscreen it doesn't sweat off. I also appreciate a good pair of gloves. My favorite Goodr sunglasses are called Two Tats Make a Whole and they're OGs. I love the dark tint. Mike was wearing BFGs in That Orange Crush Rush.

We literally flew down Glendale Blvd, 2nd St, 1st St and Central Ave until we reached the Sixth Street Viaduct. Climbing up and over the bridge was tough and I was running out of steam at this point. I had considered stopping at the 6th St hub, but the lines were long and there was no shade. We definitely paid a nod to Skid Row and the neighborhoods were all so distinctly different. I made the packing list about a week and a half prior to the event. I used it to check off all items as we put them in the car. But we still forgot to bring cash!

Luckily for us, when we reached Mariachi Plaza there was a great view of downtown and a food cart with fruit and hot dogs. I didn't bring any fresh fruit and I didn't bring a cooler bag with ice. It was just what we needed and luckily they took Venmo instead of cash. So convenient! We ate our dogs and decided that it was getting too late in the day to ride back. We boarded the gold line around 1:30pm.

Unfortunately, we didn't know that the gold line (L train) would be served by a bus. We boarded at Mariachi plaza and had to get off right away at Pico/Aliso. It was pretty hard to get on the train and there wasn't really appropriate space for our cargo bikes on the rail car. But kiddo didn't know the difference and really enjoyed the short train ride.

The platform at Pico/Aliso is raised above the street level. There is a ramp to get down but it was behind us so we didn't see it. From here, we could see the Metro building so we decided to bike there. There would have been no way for us to get our cargo bikes on a bus, so having a bus shuttle wasn't helpful for us to get back to Union Station. If you aren't comfortable bringing your bike down the stairs, just look for the handicap logo, which is a blue square with a white wheelchair icon. That will direct you to the elevator and/or ramps.

The other thing to know about riding the gold line is that it's not simply east/west or north/south. You need to realize it's shaped like a C. The arm that goes towards South Pasadena is called "Pasadena" on the platform. The arm that goes towards Mariachi Plaza is called "East LA" and you need to be standing on the correct side of the platform to board the train going in the right direction.

We ended up leading a group of families on bicycles (without helmets, all ages) that made the same mistake as us along 1st street, up and over the First Street Viaduct (which had a really nice protected bike lane). Right before Alameda there was a fun little wiggle and then some not-so-fun construction. We pointed the group back towards the CicLAvia closed street which we could see from there, just one block ahead at 1st and Central. 

We turned right on Alameda which was a bit dicey. We had one person treat us to a "punishment pass" and then we almost caught up to them when they turned into Union Station to pick up a passenger. It sucks that a fun day had to end that way, but we know how a car-free day is always subject to unknowns and an unforeseen change-of-plans.

Now how about if we had taken Metrolink from the Valley? Could we have done it? No. Metrolink weekend service on the VC line into LA only runs on Saturday NOT Sunday. Train 162 leaves Chatsworth at 9:18am so we definitely could have made it there on time. We would have arrived at Union Station at 10:05am. I'm not sure how we would get the bicycles up and onto the train. Maybe that's a task to investigate another day. On the way home, our option was to leave Union Station at 4:28pm and arrive at Chatsworth by 5:14pm. That would have meant we would stay in DTLA quite a bit longer than we did. Maybe it would have given us the chance to ride the entire route (we skipped the Chinatown hub), but that's something we did before we became parents. 

But honestly we were pooped, and I'm not just talking about the kiddo. It's hard to be out in the sun all day Sunday and then still make it to work on Monday. Also, we have a standing Zoom call with kiddo's grandparents in Nebraska and we didn't want to miss that. It's really hard when there's only one train you can take. What if you miss it? The Metrolink timetable shows three trains on Saturday and two on Sunday, but know that any train with an "A" in front of the train number is actually an Amtrak train. And if you're bringing your bicycle, you need an Amtrak ticket AND a bicycle reservation, so it's not amenable to impromptu trips. And it doesn't serve the community well on CicLAvia days when there are lots of folx bringing bikes. Amtrak trains don't hold a lot of bicycles.