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

[HillSlugger]

My first bike was an stingray-style bike with a banana seat. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't learn to ride it until I was like 12. I wrecked while trying to learn at around 8 and I guess it took me a while to get back on!

[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.

[Kristi]

My very first bike I've ever owned I got two years ago. It's my Giant Trance 3. I think she's beautiful. We didn't get along at first. I didn't take her out at all for almost a year after a big argument last spring that left me pretty bloody.

I rode lots of bikes as a kid, but never had one of my own. I treasure this bike. I can't imagine feeling the need to get a new one. I might replace pieces and parts, but I love the frame.

I've been back riding this spring and have ridden at least once a week for the past 2 months. It feels great!

[bmccasland]

bicycle = 2 wheels. It was blue, single speed, bought at the hardware store, or maybe a toy store in downtown - back when small towns had functional downtowns. I can't remember the brand name. BUT my stinking brother got to ride it home, as I was deamed "too little".

2nd bike, orange Schwinn 10-speed. Was my trusty steed for several years. Was stolen, along with 300 other bikes, from the bike racks in front of my college dorm one night. You'd think SOMEONE would have noticed a small moving truck loading up a whole bunch of bikes!

but I was dating a cyclist at the time, and he found me another, better 10-speed from the LBS, steel frame as I recall. Bike suffered several years of neglect when I didn't ride very much, but couldn't live with the thought of no bike. A bike mechanic friend took sympathy on it and did a lovely cleaning job, new saddle, new tires, and bike forgave me. I rode it on my first MS tour 4 years ago. And it's currently being ridden by a friend when I deemed her bike unsafe. So the bike has done 2 MS tours.

[Aggie_Ama]

I was thinking about those old bikes this weekend, all of my childhood ones were bought by my Pawpaw. He died May 4, 2003.

Anyway after the Strawberry Shortcake I had a purple and white Huffy BMX style. Then the coolest bike ever for a 9 year old, a Huffy Colorwave 10 speed. It was aqua and pale blue with a special saddle to match. They advertised the heck out of it on the afternoon shows and that was all I asked for for Christmas in 4th grade. It was stolen out of my drivewave right before Christmas the next year. My Pawpaw bought me a new mountain bike style purple but it was never the same as my Colorwaves. I had to wait a month for the new bike to learn my lesson by walking to school.

In college I had a Walmart Mountain bike before DH bought my Fuji in 2004. And now I have my Cannondale and a Scott Hardtail.

[pll]

My first bike was a vintage one (now I realize it), an old bottle green Monark I was given by one of my uncles. I rode that bike for at least 5 years to school -- when I started college, my brother started using and crashed it one too many times. I was able to find a picture of what the modern version (made in Peru) looks like:

http://www.monarkperu.com/images/productos/big/3.jpg

My bike also had the grey tires (faithfully replaced), but no front basket, was already very old when I got it in the late 1970s, and was not made in Peru (I thought it was Denmark, but I find a very similar logo in a Swedish company: http://www.monarkexercise.se/). It looked more like the one here:

http://www.bikespecialties.com/site/...1945monark.jpg

[TxDoc]

First bike, wow, the memories... of course the classic tricycle as a little girl (it was yellow though, not red). My first real bicycle was my sister's used Bianchi that she had outgrown.

[Zen]

I'm so old



.

[Spec&TrekGirl]

My first bike was a pile of rust that had been sitting in a neighbor's backyard for several years, left by whomever the previous renter of their house was. They gave it to us when I was 4 and I learned to ride it by 4 1/2.

I remember helping sand the rust off of much of the bike except for the handlebars which I was happy my parents replaced with the cool tall ones that went with the banana seat we got for it. The original seat was metal with a paper-thin amount of cotton covered with vinyl. The top tube was in two pieces that could be unscrewed and attached as a "girls" step-through.

I have no idea of the brand. But I remember all the work that went into getting it in working order and can still picture the fenders hanging from wires in the basement where my dad was spray painting them blue.

[Lifesgreat]

But it had upright handlebars, and I tied a rope from one grip to the other, and those were my "reigns" and I used those to steer the bike.

I remember trying to steer my first bike with a jump rope. Unfortunately, it did not work out well. . .


My first bike was pink and white with a tall sissy bar on the back, one speed, coaster brakes, a silver banana seat and a white woven basket.
I LOVED THAT BIKE!! It is long gone now

[tc1]

Little trike
Big red trike
Big red trike rode on 2 wheels alla time
Small red bike at age 5, probably borrowed
Big (way too big!) blue Schwinn steel single speed woman's bike
Purple fair lady sting-ray, which I was forbidden from for 3 months because of a badly broken arm (bike is still in pieces in the garage)
Steel "10 speed", think it was a Sekai, had for 1 month before it was stolen
24" Sears oversized 5 speed stingray
Schwinn orange crate-still got it and it's for sale
Skateboard (hey, I got around the college campus on it, it's like a bike)
Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike (still got it, not for sale)
24" cruiser (BMX type, Redline I think, it's for sale too)
Rodriguez adventure with flat bars, my latest love
I am trying hard to justify getting a full suspension MTB