Sketch of the Week: Cycling to the Sea

This past Sunday was CicLAvia, when parts of Venice Blvd. was blocked off to car traffic for cyclists, skaters, joggers and walkers. I went on a 15-mile bike ride all the way from downtown L.A. to Venice for the first time, meeting friends along the way. I ended up biking very slowly since the route was packed with over 150,000 people. Even with the bike traffic, it didn't feel as oppressive as being stuck inside a car because people were chatting with each other, enjoying the sunshine, and feeling the ocean breeze as it got closer to the sea. This sketch below doesn't even begin to describe the amount of people who were there.

I started and ended the day at Culver City metro station, which was also full of people taking the metro across town with their bikes.
The metro station was the only place I had time to really sit and sketch - I never drew so many bicycles at once, and definitely need more practice!

It was fascinating to see bikes and their owners, similar to watching people and their pets. Speaking of pets: one lady had a rather ordinary bike - but was "wearing" live birds around her neck, and put them away in the birdcage before boarding the metro, counting them one by one, fifteen in all.