I love these stories! They're bringing back stuff I probably haven't thought of since the days when they happened, the welder one was wayyyy back there in the recesses.
Your "going over the guardrail" reminds me of the time my uncle - about 5 years older, we were both still kids - took me to Shell Hill. This is a famously steep hill in Long Beach and not one to be trifled with. We got there on his Sting-Ray with me on the back of the banana seat, we'd walk up and sail back down. At some point he decided I should be on the front holding the bars and he would be on the back running the coaster brake (no front brakes, I don't think I'd ever even seen one). So we did that a few times then..well..Uncle John was crazy. The next time we got going he shouted YOU GOT IT! and jumped off the back. Unfortunately this sent me into a death wobble and I'm screaming down Shell Hill like this and he's screaming HOLD ON! and laughing his fool head off. But I have another problem looming. The stop sign. I've never stopped a really fast bike before AND I can't get this thing to quit wobbling and trying to spit me onto the pavement. But I did it! To this day I don't know how I got the bars to stabilize and my foot to ride steady on the coaster without skidding, but I STOPPED THAT BIKE BEFORE THE STOP SIGN AND DIDN'T SAIL INTO CROSS TRAFFIC 🙌 On Friday, September 3, 2021 at 9:14:30 PM UTC-7 Ray Varella wrote: > > There has never been a lag for me, it started on S.O.S Drive in Walnut > Creek, less than a mile from where Rivendell currently resides > At under 3 years old I would push my tricycle up the hill and put my knee > on the seat to race down (tricycles are fixed gear😉) > One day I came racing into the driveway and into the bushes, jamming a > stick into my eye. > Mom rushed me to the doctor, mom had one arm and one leg while the nurse > had the other, the doctor was kneeling on my chest to hold me still while > they pulled the stick out of my eye…no vision damage but three adults could > barely wrestle me. > Fast forward to the day before my 4th birthday, I found a crescent wrench > and used it to remove the training wheels from my solid rubber wheeled 16 > inch wheeled bike, this was the day I became a mechanic. > I used to ride this bike down the same hill as the tricycle, I would put > my feet on the handlebars and ride down the hill. > I did this often. The day I removed my training wheels I did this same > routine but the bike went much faster because I wasn’t rocking from side to > side and scrubbing off speed with the training wheels. > I got to the bottom of the hill and crashed into the guardrail going over > it and getting pretty banged up. > After that it was game on, there has never been a period of my life where > bicycles didn’t play a large part. > Bicycles have always been so liberating. > My mom used to see me miles from home and want to know how I got there. > I rode the busiest roads, I never thought twice about it. > I rode cruisers, single speeds, ten speeds, road bikes, you name it. > I cobbled together out of my stash, I always had spare bikes for friends > to ride. > Decades of road bike miles were my best therapy during difficult times, > turning pedals for hours is how I meditate. > Bicycles are one of my very favorite inventions. I don’t know how I would > have spent my time without bicycles. > When I’m in need of tranquility, a bike ride out into nature provides the > best medicine. > > Thank you for starting this thread, I owe so much to riding bikes. > > Ray > On Friday, September 3, 2021 at 8:32:14 PM UTC-7 Joe Bernard wrote: > >> Several entries have reminded me that there actually wasn't a huge gulf >> between my 'kid on a bike' days and 'being a bikey' but in those days I >> didn't understand there was a thing called cycling, we just rode our bikes. >> >> Leah's story reminded me of the welder guy on our block, which is where >> all the parents in the neighborhood bought Sting-Rays for their kids. He >> had a garage that was open all day and half the night and there were always >> dozens of bikes and frames in there. I don't know how he got them all - in >> N. Long Beach, CA. in the late-'60s you probably weren't going to ask the >> big guy with a welding torch in his hand too many questions - but he would >> weld the snapped downtubes back together, get some spray paint on there and >> sell it to your dad. Then - this was the heyday of Evel Knievel jumping >> buses - we would set up ramps in the alley and break them again! >> >> Later I had a Sears 10-speed and a succession of Schwinn Varsitys and >> Continentals. My first job (like most boys then) was delivering newspapers >> on a Schwinn. Little kids at 4am wobbling down the street with huge heavy >> bags on the handlebars - crashing regularly, especially with Sunday papers >> - is unimaginable now, but we did it! >> >> So that's the kid part of my story. >> >> Joe Bernard >> >> On Friday, September 3, 2021 at 3:41:27 PM UTC-7 Joe Bernard wrote: >> >>> A friend on PM asked how I got from the "flashy roadies" beginning of >>> this story to Rivendell so here's that (slightly edited) answer: >>> >>> It was kind of a long gestation that overlapped the Riv world before >>> that was a thing. The cool road bikes at the time were lugged steel and >>> that first Bianchi I noticed was definitely friction shift, probably Campy. >>> I was young and poor so I found older Motobecanes, Centurions and such and >>> did the drop-bars-and-lycra thing. >>> >>> In the late '80s I discovered Bridgestone, which as you know was Grant >>> trying to hold onto sensible lugged steel bikes as the industry was about >>> to tumble headlong into "rad" aluminum road (not many) and mountain >>> (everybody had one) bikes. >>> >>> So I stuck there with my lycra. I had a couple different used Bstones, >>> my first new-as-an-adult bike was a closeout XO-3 with moustache >>> handlebars, this was right after Bstone USA closed. At that point I was >>> already signed up for Grant's Bridgestone Owners Bunch, which morphed into >>> us early adopters getting the Rivendell Reader. Riv World! >>> >>> Fast forward: Still lycra, drop bars came stock but I probably switched >>> to moustache at some point, my first Riv was a Romulus I got new from a >>> dealer in Dublin in 2003. This had a Brooks B17 which was a stunning >>> revelation for me. Soon I was in Riv shorts and a few years after that I >>> started with pullback bars. That's my story, I'm a Riv lifer! 😁 >>> >>> Attached is a pic of a much younger and fitter me with my Rom. >>> Apparently I thought matching blue tires were cool! 😂 >>> >>> Joe Bernard >>> >>> On Friday, September 3, 2021 at 1:48:18 PM UTC-7 Joe Bernard wrote: >>> >>>> Will has an interesting post in the the recent Riv Newsletter about how >>>> he and some friends first noticed bikes and got into them. After your >>>> initial foray as a kid with a bike, what was the thing that made you >>>> notice >>>> them later and turn you into an adult-person-cyclist? >>>> >>>> Mine is similar to Will's as a young man in Los Angeles, except it was >>>> the flashy riders in "tight clothes" I picked up on. I vividly recall >>>> being >>>> stopped on Pacific Coast Highway somewhere south of Long Beach (probably >>>> on >>>> a motorcycle) and watching all the roadies go by, this would be early >>>> '80s. >>>> This one guy went by on a green (actually celeste blue, but I didn't know >>>> that at the time) Bianchi with matching bar tape and riding gear. That was >>>> the moment I - a car and motorcycle nut - realized bicycles were a thing, >>>> too. A very cool thing, and you got a workout in the process! >>>> >>>> I was hooked, what hooked you? >>>> >>>> Joe Bernard >>>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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