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CicLAvia Makes Way for the Space Shuttle

The arrival of Endeavour inspires a route change.

By Alysia Gray Painter

| Monday, Jul 9, 2012 | Updated 5:15 PM PDT

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CicLAvia Makes Way for the Space Shuttle

Gary Leonard

CicLAvia's fall 2012 outing gets a date tweak and a new route to boot. Reason? The space shuttle is coming to town.

Your trusty bike and a space shuttle? They're two forms of transportation that normally don't hold court in the same breath, much less the same article.

But their fates are now improbably connected in Los Angeles, a city built on improbable connections. That's because CicLAvia, the popular street-cycling event that happens a few times a year, graciously changed its October route to make way for Endeavour.

Perhaps you heard that we're getting a space shuttle for permanent display at the California Science Center? Levitated Mass, we don't mean to rock your world but you've got a brand-new, very large museum-bound neighbor rolling into town.

Yeah, we said "rock" your world there.

So all the happy cyclists don't meet Endeavour nose-to-nose the CicLAvia route is getting a reboot. The updated map says that more of Figueroa will be incorporated, as well as some other fresh streets. Oh, and the date? That got a nudge, too. It had previously been Oct. 14 but the new date is Sunday, Oct. 7.

As always, CicLAvia is free and open to anyone with a bike or scooter or non-motorized wheels. It's as much about community and savoring the day as it is getting from Point A to Point B.

And as for Endeavour? The shuttle's arrival date is said to be "mid-month" in October. No open date is listed on the California Science Center site yet, but bet it'll get the fanfare weeks ahead of time. And as well as letting Levitated Mass know it has a new huge neighbor in town, has anyone told Air Force One, up at the Reagan Library? The shuttle and the presidential plane seem like a good twofer for aviation lovers (yep, it is a long way from Exposition Park to Simi Valley, but bet fans'll make the drive).

Now we're wondering what movie producer is dreaming up a big scene where thousands of cyclists surround and welcome the space shuttle on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Since this won't happen in real life, maybe someone could write it into a scene? We want to see it. Thank you.