Originally Posted by
MarcusT
Always had a bike. Back then, the bike was your primary mode of transportation. If you wanted to play sports, or have a paper route, go to a friend's, one car families could not afford to take you every where. Of course, we did the crazy kid stuff, like ramp jumping, downhill kamikaze, but I did not seriously get into biking until I watched the Movie 'Breaking Away'. Got me into road racing which was the only serious biking back then.
I was surprised to see "Breaking Away" somewhat late in this thread. That movie is what cemented my love of cycling. Bikes have been a life-long love affair for me.
That said, I learned to ride somewhat late in life at eight years old. I still remember the frustration of learning in the back yard on aggregate concrete and lawn. It was hard but I figured it out; a crash into the picnic table and benches was the most painful memory.
I grew up riding the typical one-speed coaster-brake bikes. First bike was an orange Columbia. Not a very nice bike. When that one broke, I was rewarded with a 20" silver and black (Go Raidaz!) Schwinn Scrambler. This was mid '70's when bike jumping became the craze. Every kid on the block built a wooden ramp. I think my record was jumping eight friends lying in front of the jump. Luckily, my dad was an amateur photographer and snapped a darn good pic of me in my heyday on the wooden ramps:
(Sorry, tried to shrink pic with no luck.)
Pretty good air time! Helmets? What helmets??? Ha, ha, the kickstand always came down.
The Scrambler frame eventually broke, so I graduated to the likes of a Mongoose nickle-plated BMX bike. Man, was that a great bike! Tore up and down the streets, hills and trails of San Jose. My only regret is not racing BMX. A friend owned a local bike shop, so I'm sure I could have asked them for guidance and gotten involved. Anyway, I spent many days pushing that Mongoose up the local fire trails and blasting down. One eight mile downhill was our favorite epic days on the bikes. But every time I hit a steep hill and cursed, "Why don't they put GEARS on these things???" I didn't realize the mountain bike had already been invented and was being perfected just a few miles north in Marin Co. (And ironically, my family often picnicked in Fairfax, GROUND ZERO of mountain bike development.)
Then my parents took me to see a new movie my dad had read good reviews about, "Breaking Away!" Well, that was it for me. I absolutely loved this film. The most memorable part for me was when David was casually tooling along next to the girl he was suiting on the sidewalk. You could hear his finely-tuned Campy components meshing beautifully with each pedal stroke. The director of this film DEFINITELY got it! That plus the racing and everything is what prompted me to BEG for a road bike.
Luckily, my parents were well off and generous enough to give me one. I'm pretty sure they saw the ambition and excitement in my eyes. After a bit of searching (I wasn't a total bike geek yet - didn't know much of anything about Campy or all the really nice Italian stuff), I found a beautiful Raliegh Super Course. That was the one and it came home shortly thereafter. (Thanks Mom & Dad!) I rode that thing EVERYWHERE. To school and back was a foregone conclusion. Turns out the local back country roads near my house were REALLY steep, so that's what I rode. I had no idea how stupid steep they were; all I knew is that I really enjoyed riding and I just did it.
So that's what started it all for me. Life-long cyclist is the result. I actually typed much more but realized it was WAY TLDNR. Save it for my memoir! But I'm glad to see the "Breaking Away" reference. A great movie for so many reasons, not just cycling.