No, she’s not Mary Poppins on a longboard. Swee Woo is a 65-year-old retiree who, in a city where the car is king, is happy taking public transit and riding her longboard, which she has done at 27 out of the 29 CicLAvia community bike rides.
- 65-year-old is CicLAvia regular
- She's attended 27 of 29 events
- Her attitude and enthusiasm inspire
“I have a Bustin board, Abec 11 wheels and Ronin trucks,” Woo explained as she warmed up for last Sunday's ride.
Woo is one of the few longboarders who regularly does CicLAvia, which is mostly bike-centric. She started on a bike, but on her own learned the longboard through, as she puts it, “Practice and trial and error.”
Balance wasn’t really a problem for Woo.
“I do inline skating and I do Tai Chi,” she said.
Throughout the year, CicLAvia closes down the streets so that people of all ages, from all over SoCal can bike, run, walk or, as in Woo’s case, skate their way through the city.
Last Sunday, city officials gathered to celebrate Culver City as the host of the first of six rides planned for 2019.
Woo has missed only two rides over CicLAvia's nine-year history, so naturally she is a familiar face.
As the ride kicked off amidst light rain, Woo got a tow from CicLAvia's chief strategist Tafarai Bayne who was on his bike.
“She's inspiring. The way she goes to every neighborhood. She has no fear about exploring the city. We hear a lot of negative things about different communities," said Tafarai. "Swee has none of that in her head and she's just like always open-hearted, making new friends, and she's an icon so I respect her.”
Woo makes it look easy, but I asked her if she's ever had any serious spills from her longboard.
“When you are a longboarder,” she explained, “you have to accept it that you're going to fall. Like everything else, when you learn something, you know it's not perfect.”
Woo attracts a lot of attention with her fuchsia raincoat and lime-green umbrella, but CicLAvia Executive Director Romel Pascual knows that she is more than just flash.
“I watch all the people interact with her as she's moving along. So, if there's any ambassador, not only to CicLAvia, but an ambassador to how we want our communities to interact, Swee is our ambassador,” said Pascual.
And Woo is happy that her active lifestyle seems to be paying off.
“I don't have to take high blood pressure medication, thank goodness. So, I think it helps,” she said.
Although CicLAvia is not a race, Swee Woo shows no signs of slowing down.
