Per Darren

Darren posted a nice piece about bikes. He asked if anyone else had any stories about the bikes they had owned. While I can't think of any interesting stories, his post did bring back some memories. I can hardly think of my childhood without an image of me zipping through my neighbored on my bike. Good times.

Darren had the ability to remember most of the bikes he owned but I can not. Mostly because I rode a lot of my brothers hand-me downs. When we did get a new bike we took parts off of our old bike and mixed them together so they are all a blur to me. I did find this picture of me on my bike with a super cool banana seat. I'm the little guy.

My favorite bike story has to do with my brother. We lived next to a very small hill. We used the hill to gain speed to jump ramps we would build on our road in front of our house. I think I was about six years old when my brother built a ramp out of plywood and bricks and started jumping it. Of course I had to do it too.

Just like My brother I started at the top of the hill and got as much speed as I could. When I hit the ramp I yanked on my handle bars to get extra lift. Boy did I soar threw the air. What I didn't know was that my brother had loosened the nuts on the front wheel of my bike. So when I left the ground my front wheel stayed on the ground.

I can still remember looking down and not seeing the wheel under the fork of my bike. I also still remember the horror I felt knowing I was going to land on asphalt and I couldn't do anything about it. A crash, flip and few cuts and scrapes later I was chasing my brother around the yard trying to clobber him. Good times in deed.