Let's hear about your first bike.....

[Aquila]

Oh, my, the memories!

I remember riding my trike in the backyard with my grandmother watching me.

I got a real bike when I was six, after spending WAY too much time bothering my big brother by climbing up on his purple Stingray (somehow I could get up and sit there with it held up by the kickstand). Mine was a blue girls' bike, which I rode for a few years until my brother got a brown ten speed; then I used the Stingray until I got a three speed.

I got a ten speed for college, until it got stolen, at which point I used my brothers' "new" silver ten speed. That bike had the BEST balance of any bike I've ever ridden. Unfortunately, when I went away to the Peace Corps, my mom "lent" it to the crazy neighbors who cannibalized it. (Why would anyone think they could take apart someone else's bike for parts?)

I got myself a Fuji ten speed when I got back from the Peace Corps, but barely rode it for nearly 20 years. Then a year of good riding and I got myself my Trek Pilot.

I feel bad for both my Fuji and Trek; I imagine them talking in the garage about having to put up with my slowness.

But you know how you see people driving around in their Miatas, all crazy, goofy smiles? That's how I look on my Trek.

[NbyNW]

I have memories of a red tricycle, and after that I shared a little orange bike with my brother. I don't remember a brand or markings, but I remember it had white handles and a white seat, and solid tires made of some kind of hard plastic. And since we were fond of tinkering with it I got my ring finger stuck in between the chain and the cog . . . my first trip to the emergency room! Good times . . .

My first "big girl" bike (because it had no training wheels, was not a hand-me-down from my brother, and it was mine mine mine) was a blue Schwinn Fair Lady, which was the girl's version of the Sting Ray. White banana seat with blue & yellow flowers, and fat rubber plat form pedals. My first lesson in leveraging my middle-childness. Even better times . . .

[dex]

But you know how you see people driving around in their Miatas, all crazy, goofy smiles? That's how I look on my Trek.

That's why I drive a Miata *and* ride a bike.