I biked when we lived in the 'burbs, then stopped when we moved to the inner city in my 5th grade. I remember an all-chrome single speed Schwinn cruiser with the fake gas tank. It had a "Vroom" that sounded like a motorcycle when you cranked it. I was just a little too old for the Stingrays, but I remember wanting one real bad when they first came out.

I lived in France for a year when I was 17, and bought my first 10 speed there. I don't know who made it, but it was green and cost $300, a hell of a lot of money for me at the time. I don't remember what I did with it when I came back to the States, but after that I didn't get on a bike again for almost 30 years.

My first bike then (about 3 years ago) was a X-mart "mountain" bike that I got used for $30 and joyously killed in about 6 months.