CicLAvia Invades Pasadena

This past Sunday here in the People's Republic of Pasadena was an event that had been previously held only in Los Angeles and it is called CicLAvia.
Essentially CicLAvia is an attempt to get people out of their cars and to ride a bike. Skate on a board or roller skates. Or just plain walk.
Sounds like a good idea, right?!
Well, not so fast folks!
This one-day event closes down a main thoroughfare in a section of Los Angeles. Or in this case, Pasadena.
Most readers know the main street here in Pasadena is Colorado Blvd. Most know if they watch the annual New Year's Day Rose Parade that for roughly 24 hours, there is a big party and essential, Colorado Blvd. is shut down. Not really. Not until the very early hour of about 4:00am. And it gradually reopens as the parade goes the five and a half mile route.
But yesterday, CicLAvia closed 3.5 miles of Colorado Blvd down from 7:00am to 3:00pm. This is the route map here. And it is not just Colorado Blvd. that was closed down. Lake Avenue and Raymond Avenue were also partially shut down. And if you look at the map, you will see there were very few openings for those of us that for whatever reason had to be eeeeevvvvviiiiilllll and drive the dreaded automobile.
On the surface, it looks like 40,000 people seemed to have a lot of fun riding, staking and walking up and down Colorado Blvd.

Again, I don't have a problem with the concept as much as I do with how people come to partake in the event.
People as far as San Gabriel were riding their bikes up the the roads that lead to Colorado Blvd to partake in a day in which they did not have to fight car traffic and ride, skate and walk to their heart's content.
What totally bothers me about this event is the pretentiousness of it all.
Yes, for one day, we will get out of our cars and be conscious of how wonderful the world would be if we just did not have cars. If all we have are bikes or use public transportation, we might even save the planet.
But when Mrs. RVFTLC and I saw the event for a brief moment, this is what it reminded me of

This was what Red China looked like towards the end of the reign of terror that was the Cultural Revolution and Chairman Mao tse-Tung. More than likely, this was Peking, now known as Beijing.
No one could even own a car. The bike was the ONLY form of transportation for the mass of Chinese. Of course now that the current Red communist leadership realizes a mixed economy is actually better than what Chairman Mao wanted for his people. And the average Chinese citizen can buy a car.
I'm not comparing CicLAvia to Red China under Mao. But there is a segment of the supporters that would like to see this happen for they think its a beautiful way to stick it to the man.
I'm a proud bike rider. I use it for a lot of local transportation and to run errands. I know what it is like to dodge car traffic. I also respect the car driver and the street is not just for me and my bike.
An article in The Weekly Standard a while back was about this subject and how it falls neatly into a SWLPL* construct and how they want their lifestyle and cars be damned.
Look, the reality is that is So Cal, it is pretty impossible to get around without a car. Period. I happen to live in a great city in which the places I need to go are not all that far away. But for the average person, especially those raising families, using anything but  a car is a total non-starter.
So, I stand by what I wrote in the headline.
CicLAvia invaded Pasadena.

*SWLPL-Stuff White Liberal People Like