What Cities Need

My new favorite place. Desert Trails Bike Park. Pump track, skills area, three flow/jump lines – even a toddler pump track. This is what cities need – kids on bikes. Opening weekend the park was packed. Not a single parking space available. Several weeks later, it's Wednesday afternoon around 4PM. Only a few cars are in the parking lot. A dad is teaching his son how to ride a bike, a few guys are practicing on the expert line. My heart sank a little. “Please don't let this place die”, I thought to myself.

I rode a few warm up laps on the beginner trail before heading up to the intermediate line. A few more cars pull into the park. My husband, who just finished running a few laps of the multi-use trail that runs around the park, gets some video of me practicing. I'm on the intermediate start hill, watching a typical breathtaking Arizona sunset when I notice.

Moms are shouting “pedal, pedal!” to their toddlers in the skills area; a dad, “hit the brakes – harder!”. The pump track is bustling with 6-10 year olds falling and getting back up. A child no older than 5 is bragging to a group of adults about a crazy crash he had last week. Pre-teens are riding in from the surrounding neighborhoods. It's Wednesday afternoon around 5:45PM and the parking lot is jammed. This is what cities need – kids on bikes.