A City Adventure on Wheels

About a year ago I rode in my first CicLAvia event. We had planned for it to be a whole family excursion, but instead it became just a Doobie and Mommy outing. Since then I’ve looked forward to the whole family participating in the next one. Our next opportunity came around not long ago, Iconic Wilshire Boulevard on April 6.

But due to various circumstances, I ended up going solo. After the initial disappointment of having to go alone, I actually looked forward to it since I would only have to worry about myself and I could do exactly what I wanted and spend as much time doing it as I pleased. I was going to make this a city adventure like I’d never had before!

The first part of my adventure was using the Metro Rail line near our neighborhood for the first time. The Expo Line’s last stop was only a few minutes’ bike ride from our home, and the line went directly to the start of the route Downtown. It was a no-brainer to ride the Metro, but I had no idea about the logistics of using it, especially with a bike. However, I’ve used public transportation in other major cities and felt confident that I could figure it out here, too. It turns out there was no need to worry. At the station, there were extra attendants on duty to help us newbies with buying TAP cards and figuring out fares. I didn’t even have a chance to wonder where to start.

When I surfaced from the underground station Downtown, I was immediately surrounded by cyclists. Continue reading →