We all have memories of riding our bikes as a kid. What is your best memory? When did you first get you bike? Did you have adventures related to riding your bike? What is the best bike you ever owned?
We all have memories of riding our bikes as a kid. What is your best memory? When did you first get you bike? Did you have adventures related to riding your bike? What is the best bike you ever owned?
When I was younger I was a bit of a BMX fiend and I will never forget the day I got the best bike I have ever owned. It was a Rally Falcon Pro all white with neon green 5 spoke wheels, I loved that bike even though it caused me many injuries the major incident being, when our local council decided to build a dirt track all of us BMX’ers went down to tear it up. Halfway through a back flip I realised I was going to land on my head so, when attempting to bail my foot got caught on a stuntpeg and as I landed on my back my bike decided that in order to soften its landing it would land on my shoulder which was greeted by a yelp from me and 2 hours in casualty getting my arm put back in its socket… still love that bike
One time when my brother and I were taking turns riding our bikes up and down the street the one of us who wasnt riding would stand on the side of the street and try to throw sticks into the tires of the brother riding by to see if they would snap in half or stop the bike…yeah, kids do some dumb things
Speaking of kids doing dumb things, did you guys ever make your own ramp? While I’m sure this was a common thing — especially for the BMX’ers of the world — my group of gal pals didn’t have the necessary skills to pull of the construction effectively. I recall laying a thin piece of plywood over a stack of firewood assembled in a staircase fashion. The wipeouts were spectacular.
My friend Ben and I would ride down this huge driveway which was very steep. We would be “On Call” because we were immitating “CHiP’s” from the night before. We would arrest other kids in the neighborhood. What a blast. Havent thought of that in years until I saw this question.
The Bike Patrol is awesome. It reminds me of my early years riding around the neighborhood pretending to patrol the streets as John from Chips. My friend was Ponch. I had blonde hair and tan gloves, he had black hair and black gloves. After watching the Captain America tv movie I tried to customize my bike to look like Captain America’s motorcycle, pretending to leap out of the back of his van. The van was my garage.
I remember it being May of 1983. I was riding my 10-speed to grade school everyday in the Spring at that point with my next door neighbor. He called me one morning before school and told me to turn on the Today show. They were showing a clip from the new blockbuster Return of the Jedi coming out that week. Of course the clip they showed was the famous speeder bike scene. My jaw dropped. Me & my friend would then ride around on our bikes pretending to be either Scout Troopers or Rebel Commandos that entire Summer. We grew up with a huge woods behind us with a great path for bike riding in it. We did a lot of re-enacting on Endor while riding back there. Never saw an ewok though.
I would never claim to be an adrenaline junky. I gave up on snowboarding after my first fall; I climb rocks (small ones), but then am afraid to climb down; and I get nervous doing anything beyond 10 MPH past the speed limit; but when I was a kid, I got my biggest thrills on my bike. The feature I enjoyed most about my red 3-speed Schwinn was the speedometer. I would ride to the top of the steepest hills in my town and fly down as fast as possible. I loved to watch that speedometer needle waiver around 30 miles per hour. I felt like the wind itself.
I made $14/week on my paper route, when I was 13. Every penny I made went into a coffee can for my dream BMX bike – really the first affordable BMX bike – the Redline 500a. I had a centerfold of it from BMX Action magazine above my dresser. It took me nearly a year to save for that bike and when I had enough cash, it was the middle of an Adirondack winter. Still, I ordered the bike from a local bike shop and I rode it in circles in my basement until spring.
I miss that bike.
When I was growing, it became a contest to see who could trick out their bike the most. I had a 35 dollar bike with 100 dollars worth of extras tacked onto it. I loved cruising down the street on the bike.
I still love riding my bike with my kids and I have been showing them the Bike Patrol. They are 8 and 10 and just love it. They want to start their own bike club. Thank-you and I hope this keeps going for a long time.
My brother and me would ride our bikes all around town trying to get into these types of adventures. We never found anything that fun, but this is kind of the stuff we were trying to do.
I think the closest we came to an adventure is when my bike broke down 3 miles away from home. My brother pushed his bike the whole way so I would not get upset. He is a good brother.
I remember my first bike because I had saved up for it with money from a paper route. It took me months to get enough cash, but the day I started putting papers into the basket on the front of the bike is one my proudest early memories. The money I made on that bike delivering papers would later go toward the purchase of my first car.
P.S. Delivering papers in upstate New York in the winter WAS a constant adventure.
My bike was also because of a paper route, but I actually won my bike for getting the most new subscriptions in a month. I rode that bike until I was too large and then my little brother rode it. It is still in the basement of my parent’s home.
I now feel like I should go fix it up.
Thanks for the story.
I built my own bike as a kid from parts I fished out of the trash around town. It took me about 6 months and when I was finished I painted it matte black with red pinstripes.
2 months later the bike was stolen.
OMG, I did the same type of thing with my friends. We tried to find lost pets around town. We never found one, but it was fun trying. Thanks for this great story, looking forward to more.
Me an my older brother took out bikes to Disneyland once. Took us forever to get there through the city, but we didn’t know what to do with them once we got there. The people at the front gate were so impressed with our journey that they held them for us in a room off to the side.
We got in soooo much trouble when we called out parents for a ride home that night.
Worth it.
I remember one time I had a really bad accident on my bike, while jumping a ramp that I was not supposed to be jumping. I endured a week of silent pain, but my Father never found out.
Last year I found out both of my parents knew the whole time. They just wanted to see how long I could quiet about my bruises and cuts. Sneaky parents.
I used to follow my big sister and her friends around on my little huffy while they rode 10-speeds. Usually they just went to the mall, but sometimes they would hang out by this lake near our house and talk about stuff I did not understand.
I felt sooooooo grown up. Great times even if I was just being a pain in the neck little sister.
We would ride our bike every day in the summer to go fishing at the lake. One day my pole got into my spokes and I took a horrible tumble. Ruined my pole and chipped a tooth. The next day I was right back on my bike with a borrowed pole. We felt invincible back then.
Great story and I like the illustrations. I would like to very much ride my bike in American. I have no such adventuring here.
We had a quarry near my house growing up and we had the Bike Stunt Team. Whenever we found a bike or anything with wheels on it being thrown out, we would ride it into the quarry. It is a miracle none of us ever broke our necks.
So far I really enjoy this comic, simple and relatable. Reminds me of my youth.
I grew up in central New Jersey. Right near a very big mall. My friends and I would ride around the parking lot looking for exciting things to happen. 2x we found wallets, 1x we found someones holiday gifts. We turned them into the mall, but never heard anything else. It was always fun and it was nice to be food court adjacent when playing with your friends.
I can vividly remembering one summer morning riding like a bat out of hell down the hill in my neck of the woods and a young neighborhood girl stepped out of the trees and thrust a tree branch in between the spokes of my front wheel. I also vividly remember being sent sailing head over heels and hitting the drainage ditch to the side of the hill after she did so.
She ran home and I pushed my damaged bike back up the hill to my house, my father was able to fix it pretty easily. Some minor scratches on my faithful ’steed’ and my own arms but thankfully no broken bones…only my pride was really hurt. Ha, ha.
Between ther ages of 6 to 11, my bike and I were one in the same. If I was outside of the house, I was on my bike. Around my grade school, we had a series of small woods which had easy to ride trails and went in just deep enough wher eyou couldn’t see the schools or houses arounds. My friends and I “lived” in those wood, building our own personal Helltrack (“Rad” forever!) with whatever scraps of wood and tools we could sneak away from our parents. Most tracks would only last a few days before teenager came in a trashed them, leaving skin mags and empty beer bottles scattered around. I never understood the teenage need to destroy our bike tracks and club houses. At least it allowed us to rebuild and make “improvements” next time.