One thing that I have vivid memories of from growing up is learning to ride a bike. I learnt to ride one summer, in the grounds of a health retreat that my Mum worked at at the time. I must have been 5 or 6 years old, something like that anyway. One minute I was being pushed along, and the next I was doing it all be myself and I didn’t even realise. When I did realise, I could have been flying through the sky, I was so excited. I can remember the gravel path, the buildings around me and that new found sense of freedom like it was yesterday.
From that point on, having a bike was a big deal. I lived in a village, so being able to get around on two wheels was invaluable. It meant I could visit my grandparents when I wanted to and go exploring the surrounding countryside as I got older. One year, I had my heart set on having a girl’s racer for Christmas. This particular year, my wish came true and a shiny metallic blue racer arrived on Christmas morning. I was over the moon. It had white handle bars and a white seat. I seem to remember I spent a lot of time cleaning it, I was very proud of that bike.
This bike got me everywhere. In the summer, my friends and I would badger our parents to make us a picnic, and we would take off for the day to the nearby villages. If we were really lucky we might get a few pounds pocket money so that we could go into the Swiss Garden. We loved exploring here, with it’s beautiful grounds and old summer houses. We didn’t appreciate those quite so much back in those days, but what we did appreciate was the big hill we could roll down giggling and laughing all the way. We spent a lot of time on that hill in our shell suits and illuminous socks. Nobody would have missed us, that’s for sure!
Halford’s have also been thinking about bikes through the decades and if you want a trip down memory lane, then you have to check out this post. They picked the Raleigh Vektar as the top bike from the 80’s. I can definitely remember being wowed by it’s super cool alarm system. Every boy in the village wanted to get his hands on one of these bikes. Nowadays, the choice of bikes for kids is very different, but it would be great to see the Raleigh Vektar make a come back.
Thinking about my blue racer, I can remember how much I loved that bike and the freedom it gave me. Did you have a favourite bike when you were a kid? I’d love to hear about what you had and the things you got up to on it in the comments below
This is a collaborative post