Cyclovia took over Tucson streets Sunday as roads were temporarily closed to cars to be more inclusive of all people. The event is what the Living Streets Alliance (LSA) calls a big block party where community members can come and roll together without any worries.
More than three miles of car-free city streets were open to people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, roll, and skate to enjoy neighborhoods and connect with one another at no cost. Sunday marks the 24th Cyclovia put on by the organization.
"It's a really small nonprofit that brings together this big community event for 45,000 people and while we're not doing Cyclovia, we are doing advocacy around how to make our streets safer for everybody," Vanessa Cascio, executive director of Living Streets Alliance, said.
Along the route from downtown to the Amphi neighborhood, there were four different hubs that had games, food trucks, music, giveaways, and much more. There was even a section for skaters to practice their tricks, like 10-year-old Keanna Espinoza.
"I learned how to do the ramp for the first time," Espinoza said.
When asked what she really liked about the event, Espinoza said, "That people can skate freely."
This was Roan Beck and Dhakniel McNamara’s second time attending Cyclovia. They can’t believe they missed out on it for so many years.
"It’s so weird that I grew up in Tucson and didn’t participate in this, so yeah, I’m in now," McNamara said.
Beck says it really feels like you're part of the community.
"The atmosphere, the people. Like the idea where you shut down streets and you just do bikes only. People walking, people skateboarding, everything right? You get some exercise, have a good time, meet a lot of people. It’s really cool," Beck said.
Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports (SAAS) was also present, working alongside LSA. It's a nonprofit organization aimed to create opportunities for individuals with disabilities to engage in recreational and competitive sports.
Adam Finney with SAAS says they have a great partnership with LSA.
"We worked with them this year to pre-ride the route just to make sure the route and the vendors and things were accessible to everybody," Finney said.
He says it's important to have a presence and show others how they can too be involved.
"As you can see I'm in a wheelchair, so we have hand cycles, so they're hand powered bikes. We have recumbent bikes, then we also have bikes for the visually impaired," Finney said.
Small businesses like Sip Social Southern Arizona, a mobile craft beverage service, also get the opportunity to showcase what they have to offer.
Michael and Venisha Rosenthal run Sip Social in Tucson and participated in Cyclovia for the first time this year. They said it's been amazing and had some refreshing drinks on the menu Sunday for all ages.
"Today is non-alcoholic but we are able to do alcohol as well. So beer, wine, cocktails, weddings, birthday parties, graduations coming up," Michael said.
The Rosenthal's say events like Cyclovia definitely helps get their name out there and get some business.
"Business has been wonderful. We met a lot of people and some people came up about some graduations, so we're really excited," Rosenthal said.
Cyclovia happens twice a year. The next one will take place in October.
If you're unable to make it, Cascio says you can always donate to help keep these fun events and programs going.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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