Allegro Doug

momoman first alerted us to the possibility of this great event: closing down the Pasadena Freeway (route 110) for a few hours on Sunday, October 29. Folks will walk, skateboard, and ride up and down the thoroughfare that was originally designed as a bike path. The logistics of shutting down a freeway must be daunting: Caltrans, City of Pasadena, City of LA, everyone had to be brought on board. Come out and enjoy the morning! More details and specifics at 626goldenstreets dot com.

momoman

It’s happening this Sunday. My guess is that’s it’s going to be a free for all and not much of a ride, unless you get there very early and line up at the front.

Read Item #6

20 yrs ago this is what it looked like. Just imagine more people going in BOTH directions! I’ll be there early with my blue De Rosa SLX and Molteni wool jersey.


This was in 2003. There will be a 10k race first, then walkers in BOTH directions will be in the southbound lane.

There will be cyclists in BOTH directions in the northbound lane this time.


Unlike 2003, cyclists and skaters will be on one side of the freeway, and runners, walkers, strollers will be on the other side. Both sides of the freeway will have bidirectional traffic.

facewizard

I took a group of folks here starting around 9 AM. It was unbelievably crowded! I saw several crashes, most involving small children getting tangled up under their parents.

Not sure how I really feel about the decision to put all the bikes on one side of the freeway--or the decision to keep volunteers off the actual riding area. This meant that it was very difficult to enter the route while going south--you had to cross an endless stream of bike traffic without any Ciclavia-style volunteers to do traffic coordination. It was also very difficult to exit the riding area via the freeway exits while going south. Zero volunteers on the road also made it difficult to know where the hubs were located.

I hope they get a chance to do this again--and I hope they choose to put a large number of Ciclavia-style volunteers in place to handle traffic and react to crashes and accidents. I didn't see anyone reacting to the several accidents I saw.

I had a great time but the event did make me think once again about what a masterfully run event Ciclavia is. I've been aware this whole time that Ciclavia is a huge accomplishment and very impressive, but seeing something a bit more slapdash really drove it home, haha. Luckily the folks who ran Arroyofest can learn best practices locally!!

malcala622

tmnguuyen Is that you in this pic on right side in what looks like the Bianchi jersey I sold you?