Ridng down First Street in Boyle Heights

The Ovarian Psycho-Cyclists brigade invited the LA cycling community to ride through a neighborhood east of the Los Angeles river. On July 29th, a bunch of cyclists gathered in the parking log of Self-Help Graphics to embark on an Ovarian-psycho guided Los Angeles bike ride. The premise of this tour was to ride by points of cultural significance in Boyle Heights. The plan was to cover the 5-mile long grid, exploring it on two wheels and 3-pits stops. The turn out, over 80 bikers, men and women converged en masse to participate in this 16 mile-historic ride. It was exhiliarting to start off riding down First Street in Boyle Heights, parallel to the Metro Gold Line tracks and look back at the sea of riders. We turned down G. G Marquez Ave and toured the Pico-Aliso housing and rode past the El Pato salsa factory on our way down Mission St. When rode by Caine’s Arcade on Mission St. ringing bike bells could be heard, cars honking and hands waving. We turned up the road parallel to the 5 freeway that defines a border of the neighborhood. We passed the LAC + USC campus, then onto State street coasting over the 10 and 5 fwy interchanges. We rode in a serpentine route to the middle of the road down Cesar Chavez Avenue, down to Wabash, Lorena, First street, and Soto we circled the lake in Hollenbeck park wending our way to the heart of Boyle Heights. We passed the Estrada Courts housing projects murals showing Chicano images and Mexican-American icons. Three rest stops were included on the route.The first stop was at a community internet radio station, run independently by Radio Sombra. Second, was Corazon del Pueblo community space and art collective. A place that has hosted many meetings and fundraisers held by Ovarian Psychos. Lastly we stopped at a garden called Proyecto Jardin where we were greeted by the heart beat rhythmic sounds of an Aztec drummer. We ended with a group Aztec dance first thanking and acknowledging the energy of the four directions. This was a fitting end for a bicycle route which included the East, West, North and southern corners of Boyle Heights. Learn about the Ovarian Psychos LA Clitoral Mass ride