Did you have favorite toys, games or modes of transportation when you were a kid? I can remember a few, and one of my favorites was my bicycle.

My first bike was a small, used, blue Schwinn that my parents bought at a local bike shop. I remember the trip to get the bike. The owner of the shop, whose name was John, showed my parents a few bikes that were my size, and they picked out the best of the bunch. It had a metal basket on the front, which was a great place to put things like dolls. I chipped two teeth on that basket when I rode down a grassy hill and fell forward off the bike. The chips weren’t too bad, and the dentist simply filed the top tooth even and left the bottom tooth alone.  That didn’t stop me from riding.  I loved to ride that bike!

When I outgrew that bike I got another blue bike, but this time it was my choice! It was a Sting-Ray and boy was it cool! The model name “Slick Chick” was written on the chain guard. I wasn’t keen about that so I covered it up with some white tape.   The bike had a banana seat and butterfly handlebars. That made it great for doing wheelies!  My bike served me well, on rides to the playground, friends’ houses, and to the candy store.

Then one day, the bike was gone. Stolen. Someone took it from the side of our house where I occasionally parked it. We searched around a couple neighborhoods, but had no luck finding it. My parents weren’t mad at me. They were disgusted that someone would take the bike. They did buy me another bike that was the same color, make and model. I was much more careful with the new bike. It was always stored in our laundry room when I wasn’t using it.

I don’t remember what eventually happened to that bike once I outgrew it. Maybe we traded it in for another bike. Or maybe we gave it to one of the cousins. That’s what we did in my family. We shared when we could. I do remember that I had a lot of fun riding that bike. I still remember it and smile at the thought of that “Slick Chick!”