Now your really going back some.!…. Flushing N.Y…..(1951 or 2).. Got my first “two wheeler” for a quarter and some “Wings” picture cards. Ah yeah,…”A 28inch Columbia with no fenders, chain-guard,.. and most of one pedal missing…..” Could`nt wait to get home from school so I could push it,….. (without loosing my balance along the way and falling over)…. to a deep depression in in the street,…(usually alongside a sewer) on one of the four street corners…After three or four attempts and some “skinned elbows” you could (push off) enough to get started. Could`nt reach the seat and pedal`s at the same time so ya just…. “pumped” …..up and down the street for hours till Mom called for supper..By that time,…… those Dad`s who had cars were home from work,… it was real hard to find a “high curb” to get off,.. most of the time ya found a grassy area, (that the neighborhood dog had`nt found) and just laid it over..trying to hop off before you hit the ground. Sometimes it worked…… then there were the other times…. You were in such a hurry you completly `forgot` about changing your “New School pants”,. no matter how high ya had em rolled they always managed to get caught and ripped in the “Greasy Chain”….Another nite with no supper…How I missed the Tomato soup and toasted cheese Sandwich`s!!

I my first two wheel bike was a black Schwinn Typhoon. It was a regular bike (not a Stingray) and had 20″ Wheels. It came with training wheels. Somehow I managed to lose a training wheel and thats how I learned to ride a two wheeler. I think for several weeks I rode leaning to one side until I eventually learned to do it. My parents later converted the bike to a Stingray because that is what every other kid was riding. It had a white banana seat, Stingray handlebars and a Sissy bar on the back.