This looks like a dead ringer for the light on my Schwin. Big difference though. Unless, I screwed up big time or got caught 'doing papers' in a downpour, I would never allow my bike's light, or any other part of the frame, to get anywhere near this condition. It was my pride and joy. Red frame with silver fenders and I think it might have been the envy of the neighborhood when it first arrived in the driveway. No secondhand, repainted, retooled bike for me. My brother had a little repainted red number that he rode around on til he was ready for a big boy bike. Later he got a new, red Columbia. All of us guys had a bike that we wouldn't part with. They were all unique in some way, all possessing 'rare powers'. Some fast; some so dangerous; and some able to leap and do special tricks. We traveled around the surrounding streets and pathways, with baseball cards attached to the spokes to create that special sound. Even Teddy, who hated baseball, did it. Ya, that Schwin of mine was the coolest, but I must say, cool bikes never got the chicks, at least not in our neighborhood.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Light Rust
This looks like a dead ringer for the light on my Schwin. Big difference though. Unless, I screwed up big time or got caught 'doing papers' in a downpour, I would never allow my bike's light, or any other part of the frame, to get anywhere near this condition. It was my pride and joy. Red frame with silver fenders and I think it might have been the envy of the neighborhood when it first arrived in the driveway. No secondhand, repainted, retooled bike for me. My brother had a little repainted red number that he rode around on til he was ready for a big boy bike. Later he got a new, red Columbia. All of us guys had a bike that we wouldn't part with. They were all unique in some way, all possessing 'rare powers'. Some fast; some so dangerous; and some able to leap and do special tricks. We traveled around the surrounding streets and pathways, with baseball cards attached to the spokes to create that special sound. Even Teddy, who hated baseball, did it. Ya, that Schwin of mine was the coolest, but I must say, cool bikes never got the chicks, at least not in our neighborhood.
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Did anyone decorate with plastic fringe hanging from the handlebars? Always liked the sound that made.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't allowed to have a bike...my mother though it was too dangerous. I had to learn to ride on the sly and lied to her about how I got the scrapes and bruises on my legs.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the sound of baseball cards in the spokes of the worlds coolest bike on a warm summer morning; an unbeatable experince in the mind of every little boy. But definitely not a chick magnet. Rust? No way.
ReplyDeleteDarryl and Ruth :)
One Christmas my brother and I received new bikes, his was blue, mine was red. We rode everywhere on those bikes. One day we stopped at the house for a drink of water before continuing our ride. The duration of our stop was minimal but when we came back out the blue bike was gone. Hard lesson. My folks found my brother a used black bike at St Vincent's. Now a days on my early morning walks I see many children's bikes left outside overnight and think how lucky those bikes are still there and wonder why parents don't have their children clean up the front yard at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteThe rust does make a beautiful picture! We used to use playing cards on our bikes. I always loved riding my bike on the beach which was only blocks from our house when I was growing up. The salt water was not kind to my bike though!
ReplyDeleteI love rusty details like this one.
ReplyDeleteLOL! loved your story. :)
ReplyDeleteWe could call that a rusty light, couldn't we?
ReplyDeleteI remember the tall "sissy" bars on the back of the older bikes. Nice shot.
ReplyDeleteAlways had a hand-me-down bike but had the cards and the streamers until that stage was outgrown . . .then it was riding no-hands until the Great Gravel Spill.
ReplyDeleteHello! I have not a bike...but I have thought a lot about it...
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a brand new bike but a friend of my dad's gave me his Schwinn 3 speed. Not too many kids had bikes like that back in the 60's. I loved it and took it on many adventures in our little town and out in the desert in Utah.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
ReplyDeleteGreat shot. When I first started riding we'd clothes-pin a card to the spokes for that r-r-r-r-r-r- sound. Do you have a bike now?
ReplyDeleteCOOL BIKES NEVER GET THE CHICKS???
ReplyDeleteIf you remember correctly, when we decided to get married, I got a Schwinn bike instead of an engagement ring!! (my decision)
Us back to earth hippies of the 70's........
I always preferred bikes over cars :)
ReplyDeleteI remember my blue Raleigh with a rack on the back fender - beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't let it get that bad either but it's a cool photo.
ReplyDeleteit is a brilliantly captured image!
ReplyDeleteGreat texture!
ReplyDeleteMy bike experience is 35 years old(.
Birdman -- I got a Schwinn retro bike for my 55th birthday -- compliments of my kids. I used to talk about my old Schwinn fondly so they surprised me with this almost identical one. Keep talking and maybe some family member might surprise you for your birthday. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteI have seen even worse, but this color is perfect for the photo!
ReplyDeleteI lived on a bike as a young kid, but I didn't have an emotional bond to it. It was how I got around, like my cars today. Don't have a bond to them either. I think I am missing a gene.
ReplyDeleteFlipity flap, flipity flap until you lose a cloths pen then it's just flipity, flipity.
ReplyDeleteyou ARE the coolest!
ReplyDeleteAloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
What a great photo! The rust makes the photo look great.
ReplyDelete