My first and only bicycle was a barebones, well used one, I scrimped and saved $10 to buy. After sanding the rust off and painting it, it was my treasure. As an eleven year-old I rode it everywhere. Bicycles were to young people then what a car is to young people today. Your bike was a status symbol. I gradually raised my status by adding a basket, a bell, and a headlight.
The basket was strapped to the handle bars. It was a rectangular wire mesh box shape, and held your school books, groceries, little child, or whatever you needed to transport.
The bell was clamped to the handle bar on one side or the other. It was dome shaped with a lever you pushed to "ring" it. It made a unique sound something like a jangling sound.
The headlight was mounted on the vertical bar to which the handle bars were attached, and always directed the light in the direction you were going.
With my "souped up" treasure I had the world "by the tail." I didn't know anything about gears, hand brakes, helmets, etc. I had the "top of the line." With the wind blowing my hair I was free!
3 comments:
That's a fun post! I remember wanting to sand down one of my bikes when I was little but I just didn't have the patience to do it!
I love these Short Takes!
I was looking at helmet laws by state a while back (motorcycle, I thought.) I was surprised by the number of states who require *by law* helmets for bicyclists. Riding a bike will become as complicated as playing in the deep snow with below zero temperatures with all the preparation it will take to do it. So much for freedom. I can picture you jumping on and riding free =)
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