Perhaps one day I'll sit down and list, and possibly write remembrances of, other bikes I've owned and ridden.
While searching for something else on the internet, I came across this photo in ratrodbikes .
My very first bike (that I can recall, anyway) was the diamond-frame version of this bike: a Royce Union three-speed.
The bike was my grandfather's last Christmas gift to me. I was seven years old, if I recall correctly, and it would be another three years before I could ride the bike! Being the eldest sibling, and growing up in a time when adults (including my parents) rarely, if ever, rode bicycles, I had no worries about my treasure becoming a hand-me-down.
I rode the Royce-Union until I got my first ten-speed at age thirteen: a department-store Murray that I managed to wreck within a year. Then, with money I saved from delivering newspapers, I bought a Schwinn Continental for the princely sum of 105 dollars, including tax. The shop in which I bought that Schwinn also sold Peugeots, including a PX 10 for 250 dollars. Then, I thought it utter decadence to spend that much on a bike. Three years later, I would pay 350 dollars for the very same bike--used!
I hope that one day soon, I will list all of the bicycles I've had--or, at least, the ones I recall. Until then, consider this the "down payment." In a sense, that's what my Royce Union three-speed was.
How bizarre! As I clicked the link to this blog, I was thinking to myself "I wonder what Justine has to say today. There is so much remembrance of the past along with the present observations, it's as if she's a sort of (less windy) Proust with a bicycle..."
ReplyDeleteAnd there you go.
I will see if I can find a good Madeleine recipe to share.
Beautiful little three speed, by the way. There are some interesting differences between makers that I'm just now learning.
Happy Labor Day.
Corey K
I would love a post listing (and analysing!) all the bicycles you've owned. But for now, thanks for the downpayment!
ReplyDeleteCorey: Thanks for the compliments and your offer. I have yet to make Madeleines, though I'd like to.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Toulouse (where I began and ended a cycling trip I took through the Pyrenees from France into Spain and back), I visited a cafe that was supposed to be the one Proust frequented and that served "authentic" Madeleines. Whatever they were, they were delectable!
Velouria: I'm wondering whether I could or should analyse them all in one post: I think I've had about 50 bicycles in my life! Also, I may not undertake such a thing until the weather turns bad.