My first bike was a hand-me-down from my older brothers, it featured treadless solid rubber tires, dull red paint, and training wheels. I loved riding that bike, despite the fact that there wasn't really any safe place to ride it. I was deathly afraid of falling, so I kept the training wheels for far too long, only abandoning them when I tried to take off with my rear wheel in a depression in the pavement, and nothing happened, since the rear wheel was 1/2" off the ground, supported by the training wheels.

That bike got converted into a bananna bike as I got older (ape-hanger bars and a bananna-bike saddle made it possible to ride despite the tiny frame.)

My next bike was a Raleigh 3-speed, which I dearly loved, and rode just about everywhere. I don't remember what happened to that bike, but it was relaced with a Phillips 10-speed, which was my ride through my high-school and college years. It was stolen shortly after I got married, which led to an almost 25 year hiatus in serious bike riding. My beloved bride wanted to either replace my bicycle or get me a computer, and we could only afford to do one. I chose the computer, which is a decision that I have occaisionally regretted since, but I still remember fondly the love and understanding my wife expressed in wanting to get me the bike.

Eventually, I did get that bike, as a used 80's era Phillips purchased soimetime in the late 1990's, which sat most of the time unused until 2004, but lives on as my commuter bike today.