Karen: We've mentioned bikes in previous posts and comments when discussing how we got our comics. But thinking about it, bikes were so essential to life as a kid. A bike was mobility, and freedom. I had about three I can recall. The earliest one I remember had one of those awesome banana seats on it! I graduated to a 5 speed, and later a ten. Your bike was your key to adventure. I recall riding to friends' houses, the park, stores, even in my teens pedaling the ten miles across town to get to my job at the comic shop. I didn't need to get a ride -I had a bike!
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Yeah, the bike gave me my independence. Most of my friends lived within walking distance, so that was no biggie, but also I rode my bike across town to the comic shop, and I also remember riding it to McDonalds repeatedly the summer of '84 when Micky D's had that Olympic promotion and then the Soviets boycotted and I got lots of free Big Macs! I also remember I had to ride my bike to our earth science teacher's house very early one morning for a stargazing project. I guess my parents weren't bothered by me riding in the dark. They'd probably be thrown in jail for allowing that nowadaya, but I had enough common sense to stay on the sidewalks and not get hit. I'd ride my bike to the local convenience store for my afternoon snacks, also. Heck, later on in life I'd even just ride my bike occasionally for the exercise.
Ah, an ode to my bike, my 1976 Schwinn Varsity 10speed; at times it was my Eagle from 1999, my Viper from Galactica, my X-Wing from Star Wars.. It was my hero and Companion.
As for spiderbikes, I had one early on back on the farm, then had it stolen once my family moved into town (apparently a friend of my older brother made off with it..). Anywho, it was great riding downtown to the LCS in '74/'75 for the classics, as well as local stores for Megos and models.
My fore-mentioned Schwinn (purchased on the day Elvis died..) was even better in college in Milwaukee.. After the first 2 years of having to walk or take the metro bus everywhere, I felt like I was soaring when I'd zoom out of the dorms on my Schwinn down to the local comic store or these downtown bookshops for oodles of vintage comic deals.. By 1985/86 I had a healthy collection of Silver, while filling up Bronze holes.
A few years ago, my wife was into buying new bikes and asked several times whether I'm going to get rid of my old '76 Varsity in the garage.. (ever?).
NOT a chance.
Like Admiral McCoy shared with Data in Next Gen's first episode, "You treat her like a lady and she's always bring you home."
Same here, I had a Schwinn Tornado, "graduated" to a Schwinn 10-speed. The local comic shop was 5 miles away, so I'd end up biking 10 miles every 2 weeks to pick up my subscriptions. On hot Summer days, that 5 mile ride was tough.
I love mapquest. Apparently, I used to bike three miles each way to the comic shop in Monterey from Pacific Grove in the late 70's. Of course, I never just biked there and back. Heck, there was the beach, the convenience stores, the used bookstores, my mom's office for extra funds, maybe a movie somewhere, and a friend or two. Also, plenty of hills. We used to sneak onto the Presidio or into the empty buildings on Cannery Row to explore a lot, too. So much to do, so little time.
James Chatterton
Yeah, my bike(s) meant so much to me as a kid in terms of mobility and freedom; my family lived in a pretty rural area, and the nearest rather small town was 3 miles away (while the closest smallish city was about 5 miles away). Most of my friends lived relatively far away, too. So as soon as my parents were comfortable letting me out of eyeshot on my bike, I was zooming to town to get comics, maybe some candy, and visit a buddy who lived really close to the little corner shop where I did my shopping.
Anyway, I don't remember the brands, but my first bike was a simple kid's bike with a banana seat, then I inherited my older brother's 3-speed, and later my older sister's 10-speed, which served me until the end of high school. I still love bike-riding - that sense of freedom never goes away.
A BAB No-Prize to the first person who can tell us what song our post title comes from (no Googling!!).
Karen
Bike by Pink Floyd. Written and sung by Syd Barrett. The last song on their first album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I love that song, especially the psychedelic ducks at the end.
James Chatterton
And the No-Prize goes to James! Well done sir. You can expect it to not arrive in a non-plain brown paper wrapper, folded down the middle of course (who here got subscriptions to Marvel books only to have them mutilated this way?).
Ahh, bicycle memories! As a youngster, I too had a spyder bike; apple red. Loved the chrome "sissy bar"; felt like a chopper biker. That bike took me back and forth to friends and the neighborhood drug store (where most of my comic purchases were made).
Later graduated to a Schwinn 10-speed, that I rode clear across town to High School when our districts changed. Ironically, that bike was stolen one morning while I was in Driver's Ed class.
In college, my best friend and I rode 7 miles each way to the comic store we frequented, carrying our newsprint treasures in a backpack. Often had to stop for Noble Roman's Pizza to build up for the ride back...
My first No-Prize "choke".
James Chatterton
Somehow avoiding ALL temptation, I never subscribed to comics through the mail.
I never trusted the mail service that much.. In hindsight, I missed some great key issues due to the distro problems at local stores, but luckily we've all made up for at LCS and eBay 40yrs later.
Another thought on carrying stuff on bikes..: When I had a few bikes between the spiderbike and my newly-purchased Varsity, I had paper routes.. My parents insisted I had those big baskets on each side of the back tire. After a month, I saw all the 'cool kids' just had the big bag slung around their chests, so you know how I had to be.
Was a bit more to contend with, but at least the bike looked cooler, which was far more important.
Re: subscriptions. I had two: X-men, because after missing issue #130, I was got really paranoid about missing any more issues of the increasingly captivating Phoenix saga due to spotty spinner rack distribution. However, as I recall, my subscription only kicked in with issue #137 - which I had already bought in the store anyway, so I had 2 copies (one with that lovely crease down the middle).
The other subscription was Jones' and Anderson's Ka-Zar, which I was really loving at the time, and I subscribed in a panic when I read the letters page announcement that the title was going direct market. In this case, the subscription issues started coming at around the same time that I discovered my first comic book shop. So both of my subscriptions ended up being less than satisfactory.
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