CicLAvia – Culver City meets Venice route map, and the bus detour route for Metro Rapid 733 and Bus 33.

Despite my fondness for staying out of direct sunlight (it burnssss), I love going to the beach. The brisk salty air, the glimmer of the Pacific, the overly aggressive seagulls, the way sand gets into everything…I love it all! I also love not having to drive, so I’m glad the next CicLAvia combines these things to give me (and all of you!) a car free route to the sea.

Now, before we get into all the fun things you can do at CicLAvia, I do have to highlight some info that might influence how you get to CicLAvia.

• Metro is beefing up rail service during the event, particularly on the Expo Line. If taking a bike on board, please use the designated bicycle area.
• Load up your TAP card with roundtrip fare ahead of time to avoid long TVM lines at Culver City Station.
• Speaking of Culver City Station…we expect the parking lot to fill up early, as well as the park and ride lot at La Cienega/Jefferson Station. So if you want to park and ride, follow us on Twitter to get updates on the parking situation. Or check here for other options.
• And speaking of parking, the lot at Expo/Crenshaw Station will NOT be available for use on Sunday due to service at West Angeles Church.
• Lines 733 and 33 will be detouring, as you can see from above map. But they’ll still be in service, along with other Culver City Bus and Big Blue Bus lines that run in the area. These buses might be good options for those who find themselves in Venice and too tired to walk/bike back to their starting point.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, on to the good stuff! Or the things I’m looking forward to, anyway. You’ll notice a theme, most of them involve costing little to no money…

Discounts! You can get discounts at a bunch of businesses during CicLAvia, and of course a 15% discount on CicLAvia shirts by showing your TAP card at the Tellefson Park Hub.

Me and dog discovering the joys of pedi-cab riding when CicLAvia was in Pasadena earlier this year.

Free bike stuff! By bike stuff, I mean bicycle safety classes, bike valet, pedi-cab rides and checking out our brand-spanking-new bikeshare kiosk demo. There will probably be other free bike stuff being given away like shirts, water bottles, and helmets, but you’ll have to go find out for yourself. ?

Art! You might be out for a day of fun and exercise, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also en-culture yourself. There are so many art galleries in Venice and Culver City, you won’t know where to start….well, you could start right at Culver City Station. In fact, each station along the Expo Line features panels of art representing local neighborhoods, so if you’re riding the train to CicLAvia, grab a window seat for the best view.

Free books! The LAPL Book Bike will be roaming around and giving away free books to those with library cards. You can then take that book and enjoy a lovely day reading on the beach. Don’t have a library card yet? You can sign up for one at the Mar Vista Hub!

Abbot Kinney! Look, there are too many shops, galleries and restaurants along that street for me to name names. And okay, full disclosure — I’m not too familiar with it because I can never find parking there, so I avoid that area like the plague. But now that we’ll all be on foot or bike, exploring should be easy!

The beach! Like I said, the beach is awesome. There’s that place near the boardwalk with those shiny muscle-y dudes, but Venice is also between Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey. So if you’re up for it, why not head up to the Pier? Or swing down to the marina, where it’ll probably be a little quieter and you can watch kayakers, paddle boarders and various others set sail.

And there are a million other things absolutely worth checking out between Culver City and Venice this Sunday. Here’s what CicLAvia is highlighting…

…what are your recommendations?

Follow Anna on Twitter / Instagram for behind the scenes action and other misadventures.