back2biking

Hi Everyone,

Well, I'm just getting back into biking after a long time away. The last bikes I owned were a boy's bmx style huffy, and a men's shwinn ten speed that was to big for me, but my parents got it cheep. Anyway, when I was thirteen both bikes were stolen at the same time, and I didn't have the money to replace them, so I have been without a bike...until now. I'm a nursing student and about to finish my first year of nursing school in another week (only one more year to go!!!), and I will be staying home with my daughter for the summer.

My daughter, for her birthday in April, got a 16" Trek bike that was more than we had intended to spend on a bike, but huffy's are not what they used to be.... Like any four year old she wanted a "Dora the Explorer" bike, and I researched them and told my husband that they did not get very good reviews. Uncharacteristically, for him, he ignored this cautionary advice in his zeal to get her exactly what she wanted. Well, the night before her birthday party he's putting the thing together, and it's awfull! Handle bars were tweaked, brakes rubbed and could'nt be adjusted, fenders rubbed the wheels, etc. This was a Saturday evening at around 9pm, so here we are frantically trying to figure out what, where, and how to get her a better bike before her birthday party the next day at 1pm. So, we ended up spending 3x the cost of the Dora bike to get her a good quality bike that she should have for a few years as it's very adjustable.

I watched my daughter take off on the bike (with training wheels of course), and she was having a blast! I had been racking my brain for something to do over the summer to get some excercise, and to have some fun with my daughter. So, I decided to ask for a bike of my own for Mother's day, and after an exhaustive search of ebay, stores, craigslist, etc, I found a suitable bike in my price range ($75.00), and ordered a bike rack for my car (a Thule) off of ebay. The bike I got is a bca womens cruiser/comfort bike, and, as I understand it, this was a Bethlehem, PA, based company that had a good reputation for many years, but eventually went out of business.

My husband now want's a bike of his own, so this is something we plan to get into doing as a family. I'll be looking at suitable places to take the family in the SE PA region that have good trails that my daughter can handle ok, and not a lot of traffic to worry about (from cars anyway).

Anyway, that's pretty much my info. and I'll probably be checking out some of the forums as I learn more about bikes, and where to go!

Tamara

East Hill

Hi Tamara, it sounds as if you are on the right track, especially with getting out there with your daughter . I love heading out on the MUP (multi-use path) and seeing families out there.

Good fun for everyone, and great exercise .

Welcome to BF, and feel free to PM me with any questions !

East Hill

bac

Hey Tamara - many welcomes to BikeForums!

... Brad

StupidlyBrave 

Ross was near Bethlehem (Catasaqua, to be exact). Two of the framebuilders from Ross started their own company and make some of the finest frames in the world.

Welcome to bike forums!