It's in my blood
 

My fondness for C&V bikes...My cousin just sent me this pic of my grandfather from his cycling club days in Italy, just after the turn of the century I guess. My Dad said he was in a club but didn't think there were any pics of him. I remember my grandpa telling me how their feet would be strapped to the pedals by another rider, and had to be unstrapped afterwards. I don't see a front brake!
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...75505347_n.jpg

Nice!

My father wasn't a cyclist, but as a kid, he desperately wanted a Schwinn and saw them as the best you could get. So the first bike he bought for me, when I was four, was a Schwinn.

And he taught me how to ride, at the age of four. Maybe that's why I love it so much. He had left our home soon before teaching me, which hurt a lot, so the riding lessons are a strong memory.

Grandpa might just ask you why you ride an old toad bike instead of the latest & greatest like he did.

Great picture, BTW

Similar story for me. Somehow my Mom knew my sister and I would love cycling, I was given a Schwinn American and my sister a Columbia step through (neither was financially easy). My Mom knew my brother cared more about glitz so he was given a Murray. My sister and I still ride and likely will 'till the end. :)

Brad

Same deal here except my pops passed away. My older sisters got the new Schwinn bikes and I got those bikes when they went off to school. Mine was purple, not a "boss" color in my book but I knew well in advance that two 20" wheels (not krate platform or a cruiser) and the Bendix "kick back" two-speed was what I wanted.

By the time I was 15, that original Stingray had taught me to ride, become a "moto-cross" bike. a side car motocross bike and then a full suspension BMX that I raced in very early BMX races.

I need to build a moto-cross stingray like I did in 1970. I think it took parts from four or five different bikes to make a decent dirt bike.

This is a great thread topic.

I had a no frills single speed sting ray, I rode it bmx style at an empty tract of land that had a network of singletrack on it, including berms, drops, drop-ins, etc. No racing, just fun riding. Didn't take good care of that bike but it held up well. That land is a shopping center now.