BIG CITY BY BIKE: It'll be a sad day when the makers of joke can't rib Los Angeles about its total dependency on cars. But the fact is that day may be a bit closer than those jokesters think; Southern California's commitment to robust public transportation is on full display and walking tours of a historic and cheeky nature crowd weekend schedules. And then there is CicLAvia, the mega, every-few-months bike-tacular that sees several miles of major street closed to autos as well over a hundred thousand cyclists show up to ride, ride, ride. Sweet, right? In short, leaving the keys behind and grabbing onto a solid pair of handlebars is no longer sniffed at around SoCal; it is, in fact, kind of getting to be an everyday thing. And thank goodness. The Hotel Wilshire near Miracle Mile and The Hotel Palomar Los Angeles in Westwood have embraced this spoke-nice trend, too, via a number of amenities built for guests wanting to go sans stick shift.
THOSE INCLUDE... borrowing custom-built bikes from PUBLIC. Complimentary to hotel guests, the loaner bikes come with brass bells, "a custom cherry-red frame," and other eye-catching accents. Maps that detail jogging routes in both areas -- Westwood and the Museum Row stretch near The Hotel Wilshire -- are also available to get-out-and-explore types, as are suggested neighborhood itineraries straight from various car-free organizations around LA. And this is the niftiest (and work-yourself-hard-iest) bit of the whole walk-and-bike more hotel program: If you cross 10,000 steps in a day, and let a Front Desk staffer peek at your pedometer, you'll get a code for a discount on your next stay at the hotel (you just have to use it by Dec. 31). Yep, valet for the car you arrive and leave in is complimentary, too.
AND ABOUT CICLAVIA... The next mondo, come-one-come-all bike/rollerskate/stroll gathering will hit The Heart of LA on Sunday, Oct. 6. It's major, it's colorful, it's community, and it is here to stay. Yep, LA, we're walking here.
