Coveted items of youth #letsblogoff
It’s the design, stupid!
This round of LetsBlogOff is about what we really wanted when we were kids. After thinking back on it, I realized that all the things I wanted had something to do with design. I’m a designer from honest roots.
The Be-All, End-All: Spider bike
As a youngster, I absolutely drooled over Schwinn Stingrays. Which I called a Spider bike, even though I think Spider bike was a sort of generic term.
I was madly in love with these bikes. They had 20″ tires, reach back handle bars, a cushy banana seat & short fenders. And you could get a mid height or super tall sissy bar behind the seat.
This baby was the boys’ model. The girls’ model just didn’t have the same awesome look.
Away from the watchful eyes of my folks, I’d live for a chance to hop on one of my friend’s Stingrays all summer. They rode wonderfully, easy to pop wheelies on, & good for skids.
Two houses down, my friend got a hot pink one for Christmas. Tall sissy bar, tassles on the handles, the works. And even though it was a girls’ bike I had to ride that thing. Of course Dad drives by & sees me on it, boom, I’m grounded.
According to Dad, spider bikes were heinously dangerous. I could never understand this. People wrecked on bikes on our street all the time & plenty of them were not spider bikes. That logic had no impact on Dad’s opinion.
Another encounter I had with this beloved object was when I borrowed a friend’s bike for a quick spin. Like an idiot, this transaction took place in our driveway. So all my parents had to do was look out the window. And yes, I was doing all the ridiculous things pictured in this blog post. Which to me were not dangerous. They were FUN. & how one could possibly get in trouble for having fun was the most mysterious thing of all in my youth.
I swung my leg over the back tire to get on. Well, see that slight flare on the rear fender? The one that looks like a meat cutter? Yeah. 8 stitches later I was grounded yet again.
Many years later as a Responsible Adult, a friend of mine who ran a bike shop acquired a red stingray on a trade. I bought it immediately. Didn’t ride it much but I loved it as much as any I’d ever seen. I ended up selling it to make ends meet.
Maybe I’m just meant to look from afar at these beautiful machines?
I haven’t hear the term “sissy bar” in 30 years, thanks for the walk though memory lane.
My brother had a purple stingray that I ADORED. I remember that bike better than my own with the goofy plastic flower basket in front. Sigh.
Growing up in the 1950s the “in” bicycle was a Schwinn. They had three speeds and were more expensive than the regular bicycles we had. Not only did I never get one, I don’t remember even being able to ride on one!
Ah yes the “sissy bar” and Banana seat. Man could I do some wheelies with that bike. Probably still have some scars to prove it too.
“Maybe I’m just meant to look from afar at these beautiful machines?”
^I feel this same way about actual meat cutters. Yeah. No stitches resulted from my singular run-in, but a nasty cut on my thumb taught me to leave it to the pros behind the deli counter. I will just have to be content to watch that magical blade and swooping motion from the safety of the glass side of the case.