cicLAvia Gets Attention at "An Evening with David Byrne"

On Friday, October 2, about six hundred people gathered at the Aratani/ Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo to hear a panel of experts speak about bicycling in Los Angeles. The reason for the occasion was musician/ filmmaker/ artist/ bicyclist David Byrne, who is currently touring to promote his new book, Bicycle Diaries.

Joining him up on stage were Jimmy Lizama, a co-founder of the Bicycle Kitchen, Donald Shoup, a UCLA professor and the author of the influential book The High Cost of Free Parking, and Michelle Mowery, senior bicycle coordinator at LADOT.

The cicLAvia team showed up early to do some hobnobbing, and as our table attracted interested attendants we told many people about our plans. (Guess what, they liked the idea!)

After the four panelists gave their engaging presentations, cicLAvia supporter Aaron Paley of CARS-LA brought up the topic of ciclovías. Byrne and Lizama are big fans, and Mowery mentioned that there is interest in planning one at LADOT, but they just don’t have any funding. Imagine her surprise when Aaron announced that a certain foundation is willing to back our efforts with a generous donation!

“We should schedule a meeting,” Mowery replied.

A good night for cicLAvia, to be sure!