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No spoke reflectors, either

Posted 19 January 2006 | Filed under Bicycling

the boy's own paper

    4 Responses to “No spoke reflectors, either”

    1. George Says:
      January 20th, 2006 at 04:05

      I used to do stuff like that when I was a kid.

      No helmet, gloves or pads either:-)

    2. Bill Manewal Says:
      January 24th, 2006 at 01:04

      I’m 61 years old and one of my fondest memories, which this poster brought to mind, is when I was about 8 years old and my father, who had taught me to ride a a $6.00 second-hand JC Higgins bike 2 years previously showed me something marvelous.

      I was born when my Dad was 41 years old, so he would have been pushing 50 at the time. I always thought of him as old, since he looked older than my friends’ fathers. He wasn’t particularly athletic, and was very much in the mold of being a staid, German and often severe personality, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him mount my bicycle.

      He then proceeded to do two things which utterly shocked and fascinated me:

      First, he placed his left foot on the left pedal and then positioned his right leg through the diamond of the diamond frame and, standing on the side of the bike, pedaled along with is right leg operating the right pedal from the left side of the bike.

      Then he came back toward our house (with me watching from the curb) riding my bike backwards. That’s right: Sitting on the saddle facing backwards with his arms behind him holding the bars.

      As a kid, I quickly mastered his first trick and, as I write this, I realize I’ve never attempted his second.

      He never again displayed such playful outrageous behavior and from that moment on he was a hero and the bicycle was the vehicle upon which he rode into my heart.

      And now I’m on my Stokemonkey SUB in San Francisco making younger kids’ eyebrows raise! Amazing: he would have been 103 this year and he would have loved Stokemonkey.

    3. Andy Says:
      January 24th, 2006 at 10:16

      The shoes really look quite silly, especially in contrast to the black tights he’s sporting under the shorts. Funny how most of what he’s doing & wearing seem pretty normal. Oh, and there is a decided lack of “splendid coloured presentation plates” nowadays.

    4. Caroline Says:
      March 4th, 2006 at 23:48

      In cyclocross they call that the “Superman.”

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