Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.trmcgeehan
12-02-02, 03:33 AM
Circa 1948, my dad bought me a brand new J.C. Higgins cruiser, when I was about 9 years old. It had front coil suspension and a tank with a horn in it. And whitewall tires. It had lights built into the front and rear fenders. We didn't have a car in those days, so my dad and I walked all the way to the local Sears store to get it one night. Then I rode it home, and my poor old man had to walk back too. I still vividly remember that night. I lived on that bike for about seven years, until I got my drivers license. Rode it to school every day. In those days, my school had a huge bike shed out back, and on any given day there must have been 500 bikes there, none of them locked. I lived in New Jersey, about 20 miles from New York City. One weekend, a buddy and I decided we were going to ride our bikes to New York City. So we did. Getting to the Lincoln tunnel, we managed to hitch a ride through the tunnel with a guy who had a truck. We had a ball in NYC, dodging taxi cabs, eating street vendor hot dogs, ogling the hookers on Times Square and taking in all the sights. This was the first time I had seen the big city. We stayed a little too long, and didn't get back home til midnight. My parents were worried sick, and my dad took the J.C. Higgins away from me for a while. When I got to college, I bought a great road bike used, from some guy who rode it all over Europe, I can't remember the name of it. I do remember it had plastic fenders. After four years of college, I sold it to the local Episcopal minister. It was a real thorobred, but I didn't really appreciate what I had. I don't remember what ever happened to the J.C. Higgins, but I wish I had it now!