A Guide to South L.A.

Bike Map of South Los Angeles Unveiled at CicLAvia

Courtesy of Ride South L,A,
The Bike Map of South L.A.

  There's been a slow push to bring CicLAvia to South L.A. 

Taffarai Bayne of T.R.U.S.T. South L.A. has been negotiating with the MTA and the CicLAvia board on a route to be adopted for future events, but that hasn't stalled bike bike advocacy groups from building their own route of the neighborhood.

ParTour has been at work with T.R.U.S.T. South L.A. and USC since January to design a bike-ready map of the community and our poised to hand out the map outside the African American Museum at Sunday's CicLAvia ride.

"Our final map builds on the dozens of geo-coded photos cyclists sent during their ride, and their comments about what makes the neighborhood special," said USC Professor Francois Bar, a member of Partour.

At the end of January, a ride was hosted by Partour to Watts Towers, inviting new riders and locals alike to comment on locations they found interesting, all which were funneled into a database that would make the pool that the South L.A. map would later draw from.

The goal, according to Bar, was to create something bred from the community for South L.A., opting for a more diplomatic approach to the the process.

"Bicycle diplomacy is emerging as a way for communities to connect," said John Jones, co-director of the East Side Riders, a South L.A. bike crew who ferried the ride in January and who have had continuous input on the map.

Along with the map has been the launch of the Ride South L.A. website, which details the process of gathering information and explores the fine grain of South L.A.'s standing landmarks.

Outside the African American Firefighter Museum,--the latest addition to the CicLAvia route--the map will be handed out to riders, hopefully enticing them to pedal outside the CicLAvia route into South L.A.-- a move piggy-backing on the exploratory energy generated by the event.

"We are also seeking photography of people with our map--including discovering the map at CicLAvia," said Benjamin Stokes of USC.

"[We want photos] of people trying to put the map around their handlebars, discussing it with friends, etc.--it's just one idea that we might publish on our site and beyond," he said.