My brother Bill has, among other things, become a "Crazy Bike Guy" in recent years, as part of his quest for supreme fitness. Equally as obsessed as I am with lists and nostalgia, he e-mailed my other brother, Terence, and me earlier to ask if we could remember our childhood bikes, noting that as far as he remembers, he's actually only had three in over 40 years. This sporty green Huffy Cheater Slick, above, was Bill's wheels from when we lived on Tawas Court in Madison Heights ("loved the streamers so much I had to be strongly advised to take them off because they were so girly," he recalls), and after a little back and forth, I remembered that my last bike was a late''70s earth-tone beauty of a Huffy with a brown leather seat called the Sante Fe ...
which I found at the Toys R Us by Oakland Mall at the same time as the Sun Dance -- girls' version shown below, I SWEAR I wanted the one for boys! -- which had a cool denim seat and denim handlebar wraps. (Deciding between the two was REALLY difficult for me and now I know why: it'd be the last bike I'd ever own!) Having a hard time remembering my grade-school bike -- some 20-incher -- but I also recall having this kickass tricycle with a windshield and a built-in wagon on the back in which I used to ride my brother Terence around!
Kenny's choice: I picked the boyBill also reminded me how my entire family -- including my little sister in a cool plastic seat on her dad's bike -- used to "go bike riding" around our Dobson Ranch neighborhood when we were kids. Can you imagine people doing that today -- no Wii "Fit" or Internet for 45 minutes? No wonder we weren't morbidly obese!!!
3 comments:
does your bike have a pride flag on it??
If memory serves, my (female) cousins also had the Santa Fe when they lived out in "the country" near Imlay City. Personally, I had a steel blue 24" 10-speed -- not sure the model -- that I got when I was 9. Being vertically challenged, it was a perfect fit between my legs(!) My first bike was similar to Bill's, complete with banana seat. I, too, removed the streamers from the handlebars-- against my will. I also always wanted a Schwinn -- like on "The Brady Bunch" -- but being from Hazeltucky, we couldn't afford it.
That green Huffy looks very much like teh Schwinn "Peapicker" I had as a kid.
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