It was the summer of '73 I started riding a 10sp, a Motobecane Mirage that I bought with my busboy money on summer vacation going into my Junior year of high school. I loved that bike and rode with my friends every Saturday and mornings riding to school. Racing was never in my mind because of the intimidation factor but would do a few long rides that summer. We rode our own pacelines town to town and generally had a blast.
My previous bike was a 50something Royce Union 3sp English Racer I bought for 25.00 out of a man's basement in '69.