well... mom and dad started me on this little trike before I could walk terribly well, and I loved it- I could go SO much faster than when I was walking... after that we (my sis and I) always had bikes that fit us reasonably well... her with pink and streamers, mine black with threatening mudguards.
My last bike was a *heavy* blue 26"er... no idea the frame size, but Huffy... I rode with Mom on her Schwinn around town, but it always tired me out so much (and I'm sure my undiagnosed exercise-induced asthma didn't help)
Back then, a mile was walkable, but why walk that far if you could drive? It was a mile to downtown, but "only the trouble kids" hung out there... and it was "dangerous". So I didn't leave much.
...until I got my car at 18 and my (now ex) dh and I drove to Eugene.
He'd always been on his 'bent, and said "You need a bike. It's the only way to go in Eugene" So like a nice little co-dependant I said "Okay" having never biked in a city so large, and got this Huffy that was (honestly) a poop magnet. Ride it ANYWHERE on the sidewalk or MUT and it had dog leavings SOMEWHERE on it. Got old real fast- esp the weight, size, and geometry ($8 goodwill bike) so after being a good girl, I got my first 'real' bike...
Miss Cakes (B*tch Cakes is her full name, but she's more the respectable lady now)
...Miss Cakes taught me that I was perfect the way I was... and the chains of my co-dependancy were slowly broken...
Cars come and go (with nasty insurance dealings, etc)... but bikes are forever.