Bike Fridays -- My First Real Bike

In an effort to post on the blog more consistantly and to branch out of photography a little, I have decided that Fridays will now be Bike Fridays. Some Fridays may be pictures of rides from that week, others may be bike races I've shot, still others may be cool bike related stuff I've found on the web. Tonight's post is about my first "real" bike.

I had a couple of bikes before my first real bike. I had a kid's bike with training wheels that I learned to ride on around the age of 5. My next bike was a bit bigger. I don't remember the make but it was red with ape hangers and a black banana seat. Sometime when I'm at my parents house I will have to dig around for a picture of that one. But my first real bike was a Schwinn Scrambler. It was metallic walnut with yellow mag wheels. Why was it more real than the previous two? The Scrambler did not have a kickstand, thank you very much.


The Scrambler was a gift for my ninth birthday, I believe. This was the first bike I picked out for myself. I was so proud of the fact that this bike had no kickstand. Real bikes don't, you know. I rode this bike all over town. Back in the 70's, kids were allowed to do that in small towns like the one where I grew up. And without a helmet on or adults along. I rode it all over my neighborhood and beyond. I rode it off jumps that we would build from planks and mounds of dirt. I rode it to Wal-Mart where I would lock it up with a big chain and combination lock that I kept around the seat post. I even rode it on trails in the woods near my house to that secret place that the older boys would leave dirty magazines. This bike was freedom. One day I rode it over to my friend Sean's house about 2 miles away with my friend Brian. I photographer from our paper was out looking for a story. I think we made the front page. I did mention that it was a small town, didn't I?



Here is the catalog picture of it.

What was your first "real" bike?