Bikes
Bikes are a bit of an obsession of mine, I am down to only three of them, though I don't ride much anymore. I remember having a hard time learning to balance, rolling too slowly down the gentle slope of the gravel driveway on the farm, pushing the bike back up the hill. My father didn't believe in training wheels, besides he said, "they are hard to put on and next week you'll want me to take them off." I learned on a tiny, 20 inch Schwinn. The following summer my birthday gift was a full size Schwinn Typhoon bike, big fat tires, coaster brakes, I still own it (I would part with it, if someone wants to buy it.) I have a Trek 1200 aluminum racing bike, a keepsake from my Triathlon period. It is terrifyingly fast, and oh so fun. And a modern hybrid street bike. I'd like a electrically assisted bike.
The wood wheeled bike above was built by two brothers in Ohio in the early 1900's. Reportedly they were pretty good bike builders, though their real passion was tinkering and daydreaming. The little experiment they built in the back room did eventually take off, literally - Orville and Wilbur Wright were their names.
An interesting piece of trivia, the Wrights never owned the building the cycle shop was in. Henry Ford bought it from their landlord, had it disassembled, moved and reassembled in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.
Do you own a bike?
no, but I did have one of those typhoon bikes as a kid.
ReplyDeletedo you know my friend dave? he is a writer AND he rides bikes; check him out: http://www.ridingon.bike/2019/06/court-this.html
Had a few over the years. Sold our favorites in Connecticut when we lived rurally and the local roads were deadly for cycling... and I prefer hopping in and going as opposed to loading the bike on the car. We used to ride the ceach bike path when we lived in Marina del Rey, but the best was living on Rock Creek Park!
ReplyDeleteI have an old-fashioned one speed Raleigh bike. I keep it in My Rare One's garage and rarely use it anymore. She has removed my comfy "sofa seat" to use on her own bike, which she uses more regularly than I do.
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