Valley CicLAvia Crowd Estimated At 100K

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — CicLAvia in the Valley was a rousing success, event organizers said Monday.

A formal crowd figure will take several weeks to tabulate but early estimates put the crowd at 100,000 people enjoying the six-mile route along Lankershim and Ventura boulevards in North Hollywood and Studio City, CicLAvia spokesman Robert Gard said.

Sunday's CicLAvia event, which shut down the two major San Fernando Valley thoroughfares between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m, is believed to be the best-attended since the LA-area festivals began on Oct. 10, 2010.

"There were more families than we've seen before," Gard said. Most were on bicycles, but some participants rode scooters, walked or pushed babies in strollers.

There were no arrests at the festival, but there were – as usual – a "couple of bumps and bruises," Gard said.

The 13th edition of CicLAvia will be venturing outside Los Angeles city limits for the first time. It is scheduled for May 31 in Pasadena.

CicLAvia was inspired by Ciclovia in Bogota, Columbia, a similar event aimed at getting people out of their cars and using alternative forms of transportation.