Mariachi student instrument cases alongside a Day of the Dead altar. The donuts inside smelled super good…so we stayed outside.

Bicycling for five miles with no cars, that’s Cyclovia Tucson. Check out cyclists with small dogs in baskets, reminiscent of Dorothy carrying Toto in the Wizard of OZ. Listen to a top-notch youth Mariachi band with young girls belting out Spanish tunes. Look for friends riding recumbents, or parents and kids happily coasting along on their individually fashioned tandems.

Wide streets and a less crowded than usual Cyclovia route made it a perfect morning to ride under the bluest of Tucson blue skies. I had never been to parts of South Tucson where we cycled, along smooth 12th Avenue from 44th Street to Mission Manor Park.

Cyclovia is a place to be seen, too. I wore my Howard Zinn Education Project t-shirt hoping that teachers would check out the informative website. At least six people along the route told me they liked my t-shirt, which on the back said, “History should emphasize new possibilities by disclosing those hidden episodes of the past when people showed their ability to resist, to join together, and occasionally win.” — Howard Zinn, author of “People’s History of the United States”

One young couple pushing their baby in a stroller came over as we ate our Sonoran hot dogs. “Our baby’s middle name is Zinnie after Howard Zinn,” the dad told me.

Above quote is on the back

“How wonderful,” I smiled and said. It pleases me that anywhere I go someone’s life has been influenced by my favorite activist and an incredible human being.