Inkwolf

You're welcome. Am I the only one dying to know how you got even?

Jean Beetham Smith 

No, you are not the only one.

Litespeed

Never got to ride much as a kid, but my first and only bike was a huge orange monster that my dad got for me from a next door neighbor. It only had one gear and to stop you had to back pedal. The bike weighed almost as must as I did and I actually had to wait a year to be able to get on it just so I could hold it up. When I was finally big enough, my dad ran down the street with me holding the back of it. I don't remember how many times he did that for me but it must have been a lot. I do remember the first time he let go. He was running behind me holding the bike, then let go but I didn't realize it until I happen to glance back, right about then I fell. Somehow I managed to actually learn to ride that monster, but since none of the other kids on the block had bikes (don't know why) I never rode it much. Once I rode it about two and a half blocks over to the local store, went inside, saw my neighbor and her mom and climbed in their car to come home. I had forgotten all about my bike until the next morning when I went to look for it and remembered I had left it at the store. I walked to the store and sure enough there it was. (Today no matter how ugly a bike is, it wouldn't still be there). I probably only rode that bike a couple dozen times in all since there was no one else to ride with. Instead I spent more time on my home made skateboard (a two by four with skate wheels, the kind that you could take apart). I remember riding a bike my brother had, it did have gears but I didn't know how to use them. I rode with my brother to the end of the cliffs and in a parking lot I decided I wanted to know how these gears worked (bad idea). As I was coasting down a slight incline I messed with the gears, they must have jammed, because when I tried to pedal again, I crashed big time. When I tried to get back on the bike, someone told me the chain was off. My brother couldn't have cared less about me, don't remember how I got home, must have walked. Then I didn't get another bike until I was 45, I had just sold my horse and decided bicycling looked like a fun way to go. (My husband had just got a used mountain bike he was cruising around on). I told my husband I wanted to go to the local bike shop and get a bike THAT DAY!!! I picked out my bike and the lady at the shop and my husband held the bike as I pedaled around the parking lot. It didn't take long to get my balance back and from then on he couldn't get me off that bike--I LOVED IT!!! To say the least, I'm still pedaling, on a different bike but I think this will be a lifetime thing from now on.

cyclezealot

I remember my first bike . A 10 speed English racer..Loved it. Must have been under 10? I recall not using the brakes as going down a hill. Too young. THink I did not consider using a stop sign..I was moving pretty fast. Back in MIchigan ,small hills...Seems I recall, would have been better to have stopped. Scarred the crap out of me. Car coming from the other direction..Obviously turned out ok...Dumb young kid..Was lucky..AMong first bike memories. Did not they not use helmets back then?NOt sure.
Still love cycling to this day. Maybe I was 12?

foehn

Therer was a big craze when I was younger for 10-speed bikes. One Christmas, our parents went out and bought us all 10-speed bikes. I remember "customizing" my bike with a rack and a little mini-license plate. I was annoyed that I could never get a mini-plate that spelled my name right. Funny thing, though, I can't remembe riding that bike; it was too much work?

Later, in my early 20's I met a guy where I worked and ended buying an "aero" montrosity bike from Monkey Ward's (Montgomery Ward's) to ride with him. Ended up selling that bike (I still feel guilty getting 50$ for it from the unknowledgeable buyer) to go on a road trip. Eventually was riding an old Fuji that had belonged to the co-worker that was now my boyfriend (and now my husband). After we got married, we went in to the local "roadie" shop and puchased 2 Trek "Elance" touring style bikes. I used that to buy groceries and haul around our first 2 kids in a trailer for a brief period.

We still both have the Elances in the garage. I don't ride mine because it was too much of a stretch for me to ride comfortably for any length of time (and still is!).

One of my favorite memories of my son is watching him tear around, hell-on-wheels style on an old, all metal tricycle that I had liberated from someone's trash. He would literally ride around and around in circles, as fast as he could for what seemed like hours. It's still a crack-up to watch him ride the Giant we bought him; he hasn't figured out the use of shifting gears yet (I think he really doesn't see any use for them) and he pedals like a maniac, his RPMs have to be way up in the hundreds and he's bumping around like a puppet!

Bikedud

I learned how to ride on a late 50's Schwinn Spitfire that had been passed down several times and was too big. I hadn't even started school yet, but I remember the very FIRST time I tried to ride it. My brother was running along as I was pedaling and then he let go. I found my balance and was doing fine until it was time to stop. I guess I hadn't planned on stopping, I didn't have a clue what to do. I tried to turn around and head back to my brother when I lost control and plowed full speed into a 10 ft high Redtip hedge row. It worked, I stopped. Everything was OK, I loved it and hopped right back on but I did ask my brother how to stop the thing. There may not be a hedge nearby next time.

jacob

I got a bike for my birthday or Christmas or hwatever when younger, and it turned out I could barely ride the thing cuz it has or hadn't training wheels...
(I mean it didn't have training wheels.)
Then, I rode around in the yard after using the driveway for some time.
Later, I managed to circle the house, a grand great blast of a time.!

Jacob

ps But the thing never broke...only the tires wore out by the abuse from skidding on asphalt
what a cool bike

ChiliDog

My most memorable childhood bike was a red and white Huffy with chrome fenders, fat tires, a white seat (with a spring under it), and built in light and horn. I rode that thing from second grade through 6th grade. When I was 7 or 8 I used to pretend it was my horse that I rode to school and "tied up" out at the "corral" (bike rack-no need for locks in those days). I'd go out at recess and pretend I was feeding him some oats. On that same bike I had a basket that I used to put a bath towel in and ride my cat all around the neighborhood. That bike also pulled many a kid around the street in cardboard boxes, tethered to the bike with clothes line. This thrill lasted until the cardboard wore through! In later years that bike would carry me, along with my pals, on long rides out into the country roads. I would tape a transister radio to the handlebar and carry a cheese sandwich, soft drink, and oreo cookies in a paper sack in that basket. Gone all day with no plans-just riding. Not a care in the world.

Don't know what happened to that bike, which saddens me. I remember picking it out at age 7 in the lawn and garden shop, and my dad putting it in the trunk to transport home.

Several years ago I saw it's duplicate in a bicycle museum. That was quite a bittersweet experience. Made me feel very old, but very young at the same time. When I went back to see it again and take some pictures, it was no longer on the floor. I was so disappointed. The proprietor said they "rotated" the displays for variety and because space was limited. I keep watching for it, my old red and white Huffy. I hope to see it again some day...

emgNH

When I was little our house was at the bottom of a long, paved driveway. At the bottom of the driveway there was a depressed section of pavement near our apple tree that would become a huge puddle when it rained. We used to fly down the driveway on our bikes, lock up the back wheel, turn the bike sideways, and skid into the puddle, throwing up a huge spray of water.

Still sweet.

PaulH

It was a big, heavyweight Columbia. I must have been nine or ten, and it almost certainly weighed more than I did. I could barely reach the pedals. I could not mount it without assistance.

We lived on top of a steep hill. My father's plan for teaching me to ride was to put me on the bike and set me rolling down the long, grassy slope. Once I had gotten down to the flat, I would pedal with all my might, but was never able to maintain my speed. Invariably, I would run out of steam and topple over like a mechanical toy.

Along the sidewalk, not far from our house, there was an old hitching post with some steps for mounting and dismounting horses. A year or two later, I used these steps to mount the bike and teach myself to ride.

The bike was my car until I got my driver's licence. It introduced me to a whole range of operations, including riding in snow and carrying heavy objects.

It is a pity that modern bikes lack the reliability, durability, and puncture resistance that that bike had.

Paul



Paul

atbman

28" wheels, "sit-up-and-beg" roadster with rod brakes and 6" wooden blocks on both sides of the pedals so I could reach them (Easter '47). Uncle pushed me up and down our weekend caravan site near Straford on Avon (the Shakespeare one) for about 1/2 hour (on grass).

Then learned to set of by getting on on caravan step.

Then learned to get on/off by swinging leg over back wheel (alternative to falling down a looong way).

Other kids learning at same time including one really snooty one whose dad had had a bike made to measure and had gears and stuff. "Look at me" he said, over his shoulder.

We did. In silence. As he rode off the bank and into the River Avon

Treasured memory.

ollo_ollo

Mine was a Sears "JC Higgins" knockoff of a Schwinn "tank model" with chrome fenders & a fake "tank" between the top bars (was it supposed to look like a motorcycle?). It had a battery powered horn operated by a button on one side of the tank. I remember how quickly the headlight ran down its battery. When I was a little older, it must have been 1951, my friend John & I took our bikes apart. We removed the fenders, tanks lights etc. Then cleaned & oiled the chain & hubs & pumped up the tires as hard as we dared. That was a great Summer & we had the fastest bikes in the neighborhood. We rode everywhere, even went 12 miles to the beach & back. Funny thing, I only remember getting 2 or 3 flats over several years of steady riding. We sometimes wore out tires without ever flatting. Were the streets cleaner then? Don