Build It And Bicycles Will Come

Did you see the baseball movie Field of Dreams? Even if you didn’t, you’ve probably heard the phrase “If you build it, they will come” — which it immortalized.

Well, how about “If you don’t build it, they won’t come”?

When it comes to bicycles, cars, and public transportation, both sayings are true (even though one is decidedly catchier than the other).

I recently moved back to Madison, Wis., after spending eight years in San Diego. I used to bike to work when I lived here before and bike for fun on the weekends. Now that I’m back, I’m commuting by bike once again.

In San Diego, my bike sat in my backyard for so long that both tires went flat, the pedals rusted, and a few spiders decided it was a fine place to build their webs.

San Diego is a city of freeways. Parking downtown is tough, but for the most part, Southern California is built so that its residents must drive wherever they need to go. Certain neighborhoods are walkable if you aren’t going far, and you might choose to take the trolley instead of attempting to park if you go to a Padres game.

I thought about commuting by bike on occasion, but there are so many freeways that I had no idea how to do it.

Had there been better bike trails, I realize now that I’m back in Madison, San Diego would have been ideal for biking. The weather there is perfect every day — unlike in Wisconsin.

Now that I’m back in Madison, I feel I have no choice but to bike and use the bus. There’s no free parking on campus, and my grad student stipend doesn’t allow for a large parking budget.

I’m not a natural cyclist. I actually kind of hate biking. The seat hurts my rear end, my muscles aren’t adapted to biking up hills, and I’m always running late in the morning, making it extra inconvenient that I need to allot enough time to get somewhere car-free.

Also, my bike doesn’t have anywhere to stash my morning coffee.

Even with my bad attitude, I’m still biking.

All U. S. cities can get Americans out of our cars and onto our bikes — but they need to build the right stuff first.