My dad bought my sister and I matching purple bikes from Sears. My parents split up when I was round 7 or 8, so it had to have been before then. My dad taught us how to ride in the alley behind our house. I have a distinct memory of the day I first road without training wheels. My sister was an insecure person even back then and was always trying to one up me, but she was scared to have her training wheel taken off and it took her much longer to learn to ride without them. I remember thinking "Ha! Ha! You still need training wheels."