My husband and I are bikers and we have a lot of extra bike stuff. If you are like us, head over to the Fall 2012 GABA Swap meet on to sell or exchange some of your bicycle equipment, clothing, misc. stuff. This Fall swap meet is held annually a week before El Tour de Tucson, which will be held on November 17, 2012. New this year due to Sun Link Construction – the swap meet will be on 5th Avenue (see info below from GABA’s website):

Still the same and yet different ( new improved and old fashioned). We’re scheduled for Saturday, November 10, 2012 , from 8am through 2pm. We’ll have four blocks of the street closed off to car traffic, centered at the corner of 5th avenue and 7th Street, just West of historic 4th Avenue. This will be our second bike swap at this spot. It was good last April and it should be great this November. Even though it’s not on 4th Avenue, we still have a great partnership with the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association (FAMA).

More info at Greater Arizona Bicycling Association: www.bikegaba.org. Contact Greg Yares at 520-323-9020 or bikeswap@bikegaba.org.

Cyclovia Tucson logo

A five mile loop in central Tucson will be blocked off Sunday, April 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a first-time “walking, cycling and healthy street activities” event entitled Cyclovia (pronounced see-clo-via) Tucson. People are encouraged to walk, jog, skate, bicycle — all in non-motorized fashion along this route and participate in various family fun activities along the way. What a great way to safely enjoy leisure time and recreation, walk your dog, get your kids on their bikes or skates, all for more physical activity. Refer to website: cycloviatucson.org.

Cyclovia is a Spanish word meaning “temporary closure of a network of streets to cars, and open the streets to the people who bike, walk, skate and participate in fun, free activities.”

“One of the first and largest cyclovias in the world is held in Bogotá, Columbia. Every Sunday and holiday, every week of the year, the city closes down over 70 miles of roadways to cars and let people bike, walk, talk, exercise, picnic, sunbathe, etc.”

See map below for the Tucson route from E. Seneca Street (at 4th Avenue), south to Mountain Ave & then Highland Ave. to the UA Mall (University Blvd.) then west back to 4th Avenue, and either north and south along that avenue.

The Greater Arizona Bicycling Association (GABA) Bike Swap (see www.bikegaba.org) will be ongoing at the same day on 4th Avenue (6 a.m. to 1 p.m.), which is a fantastic place to find bicycle parts, equipment, clothing, etc.

The activities along this 5 mile loop (which correspond with the map below):

1. YMCA Healthy Kids Day at Mansfield Park, 2000 North 4th Avenue
2. Tucson-Pima Bicycle Advisory Committee at Catalina Park, Along 4th Avenue between 1st and 2nd Street
3. Main Gate Square – University of Arizona, Along University Boulevard between 4th Avenue and Park Avenue
4. University of Arizona Mall- Along University Boulevard on the U of A campus east of Park Avenue (this area is already blocked off from cars on weekdays from Cherry Ave. to west of Old Main).
5. Bike Swap Meet, Along 4th Avenue between 9th Street and 6th Street
6. Tucson Bike Beautiful
7. Starr Skates’ Pop-Up Skate Park

2010 Cyclovia Tucson map

Leave your motorized vehicles at home, get your family & friends together and walk/jog/skate/bike over to Cyclovia Tucson!