I was so little that when I was 6 or 7 my parents bought me a teeny teeny blue bike from Germany because they could not find one that fit me. I'm pretty sure it had cool stuff on it, but all of the boys in my neighborhood made fun of me because of the size. I only rode it with training wheels, though, because I just could not learn to ride. Finally, when i was 9, almost 10 my mom rented me a purple Schwinn when we were down the Cape and she patiently taught me to ride. I remember having absolutely no control and just veering across the road into parked cars (this was in a cottage colony, no real traffic). Anyway, i did learn and when we got home I got a turquoise Schwinn with the metal backseat on it , with a white stripe. It had coaster brakes and a white seat. I rode that for a year and in 6th grade I got a 3 speed black Raleigh with a Brooks saddle. I rode tons between 6th and 8th grade, and there were big hills where I lived. I think I got a slightly bigger Raleigh in high school, but after moving to Florida I rarely rode. Everyone drove.
I had a boyfriend who bought me a 5 speed race bike in the late seventies. I rode it to grad school classes at ASU, about a mile from my apartment and I distinctly remember riding wearing a sundress and no helmet... we traded this in for ten speeds in the eighties and I had that bike until about 1997. I rode it a bit in Tempe (going the wrong way against traffic, in the bike lane ) and a little when I moved back to MA, but never more than 5 or 6 miles.