My First Bicycle — Morristown, Tennessee, BlackBerry Shot of C-41 film print, Morristown, Tennessee, April 1959, photo © 2011 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Do you remember your first bicycle? Did you learn to ride a bike in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s? Were you sporting a Schwinn, Raleigh, or Western Flyer, 24 or 26- inch frame, balloon-tired, single-speed coaster, three-speed, or ten-speed? Whenever I could, I’d steal away on my brother’s Schwinn Sting-Ray with the banana seat. Did your bike have a Wheelie-Bar (check out this cool poster for the WHAM-O Wheelie-Bar)?
In the 1960’s and 70’s, bikes were booming. (Prior to the 1960’s, most bicycles were sold to children.) In 1960, 3.7 million bikes were sold in the U.S., with sales jumping to 15.2 million by 1973. When I took off the training wheels and graduated to a 26-inch frame, I’m pretty sure I was riding high on the Schwinn Fair Lady. Was my brother riding a Tiger? Did my sister have a Sting-Ray Stardust? I remember her bike had a white basket on the front, laced with flowers.
How many times did you fall off your bicycle when you were learning to ride? Did you use training wheels or go out into that brave new world balancing on the head of a pin. Tell me everything you know about your early bicycle experiences. The look, the feel, the wind in your hair. Were there plastic streamers flowing out of the grips, clothes pins snapped to playing cards (could they be Bicycle) and clipped to the frame, chattering over the spokes? Did you ride with “no hands?”
Get out a fast writing pen and a spiral notebook and do an old-fashioned handwritten Writing Practice. Write My First Bicycle at the top of the page and 15 minutes, Go!
-posted on red Ravine, Friday, May 13th, 2011
I did not do a free write about this, but I used the prompt for a conversation over dinner with my husband. It was an animated discussion about past memories of decorating our bikes, comparing them with the neighbors, pumping our friends on the handebars, popping wheelies, racing, etc. We had a circular driveway at my house and so I coordinated bike races for the entire neighborhood. I made trophies for kids and bought dollar candies for prizes. My first bike was purple, with a banana seat, streamers coming out of the handle bars and a little basket on the front. Thanks for a great conversation starter and a “ride” down memory lane.
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What pleasant memories this prompts. My first bicycle was the only one I ever owned. A Birthday present, back in the dark ages…1946. She was a beautiful blue and cream colored girl’s Schwinn. Before bikes had “models,” your bike was simply either for a male or female! I have to admit, as time went by, that I secretly admired my best friend’s English “racing” bike. It had narrow, harder tires and seemed to be easier to pedal than the fat, “balloon” tires on the Schwinns.
There were no school bus rides for daily use, only for field trips. Before we got our bikes, we walked the few blocks to elementary school. Mine was received shortly before I entered 5th grade. In the city of Los Aneles, the schools were planned so that no one had more than five blocks to walk. Our school was on Victory Blvd, and that was its name, as well. It had been built in the 1920’s or 30’s, in a Spanish style; with arches of stucco, the color of adobe, and red tiled roof. It had to be razed after extensive damage it received in the “Northridge” earth quake. Elizabeth and I rode our bikes together to Jr. High for three years, which was two miles away.
My fondest memories are of our summertime rides to and from North Hollywood Park, about a mile from Elizabeth’s and my homes. Both the Library and Plunge, (aka public swimming pool) were in the park, and we pedaled back and forth; our baskets full of library books, bathing suits & towels. Summer mornings might be for chores our Moms had lined up, but the afternoons were gloriously free.
To quote Bob Hope’s theme song, “Thanks for the memories!”
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Teresa, what a wonderful conversation. Your first bike was a really cool one — the banana seat and streamers. I remember my brother had a bike with a motor on it that made a noise like an engine. Can’t remember the name of the toy. Something like VRRRRMMMM. Wish I could have been in one of your bike races! Sounds like so much fun.
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oliverowl, you have an amazing memory of your childhood. It sounds like you had so much fun with Elizabeth. Your comment captures how freeing it was to be riding a bicycle. I rode mine back and forth to school in elementary school in South Carolina. That ride to school and home seemed like a long one at the time but it was so much fun to clear the head on the way home from school.
I want to hear more about your childhood memories near North Hollywood. You bring up the point about the English racers. My uncle had a thin-tired English racer when I was growing up and I was in awe of his bicycle. A few years ago, I mentioned that bike to him and he told me he had saved up to get it. It was unusual back then, because most of us had the balloon-tired bikes. Boy, how things have changed!
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Is that you in the photo, QM? It is the coolest. Really love it!
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Roma, yes, that is me! Hard to believe, isn’t it? I ran across this photo in a box of family photos at the studio. It was taken by my step-dad in Tennessee. We lived there for a time. In fact, my brother Jack was born there. My mother tells me stories of how she had the measles when pregnant with my brother Louis and was so sick. She said I used to stroll my brother Jack around the block while the neighbors looked out for me. I’m glad I got to spend time there. I got to know my paternal grandparents which would not have happened if we had stayed in Georgia the whole time. I also remember it snowing in Tennessee. I loved it! And later, when we moved to Pennsylvania, the snow would become my refuge. My silent time. I just love Winter!
I remember clearly when the training wheels were taken off this bike. My step-dad taught me to ride the bicycle. He’d hold the seat and run beside me until I got going. Scary learning to ride a bike at first. Do you remember your first bike? How old were you when you learned to ride a bicycle?
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