You Never Forget Your First...

[Neon Ignition]

A thread of nostalgia, reminiscing in our collective memories of first times given how seasoned we're all getting now.

Each day a different subject will be presented to relive any precious, heartwarming or amusing tales we might have that relate to those moments where we experienced something for that very first time.

We'll start off with a very common one from peoples childhood



You Never Forget Your First...

Time Riding a Bike

[Asura]

Time Riding a Bike

As a rather disappointing kickoff, I really don't remember the first time I rode a bike. I was way too young.

But I do have fond memories of the mountain bike I had for most of my childhood. In fact, it looked like this:



That's just a picture off google, but I remember it had this weird triple-triangle design (with "TRIPLE TRIANGLE" written on the frame), so it was easy to find.

Pretty sure it was second-hand, like many things I had as a kid. But it's funny, because I used to crave what my friends had; they had newer bikes with disc brakes and quick-change gears. Meanwhile, I had this bike pretty much from age 10 to 16 (at the start it was too big, at the end of it was too small) and it still sold for £50 when someone came to buy it. I guess in that case it must've been a good quality bike, as other than a few tire changes I don't ever recall it needing to be fixed, and I thrashed the hell out of it, literally every summer.

[Dogg Thang]

I don’t remember my first time riding a bike. Have I failed the thread on the first one?

I do remember my blue and yellow Raleigh Burner which, in all honesty, is the best bike ever made. It was stolen and I’ve never quite over it. Some day I will own another Raleigh Burner. Some day.

[teddymeow]

I don’t remember my first time riding a bike. Have I failed the thread on the first one?

You and me both, mate.

We'll just sit in the corner with a pint while others do wheelies outside.

[charlesr]

I had a tricycle first. Which made my first normal two-wheel bike learning experience very annoying, because on a tricycle, you just turn the bars left to go left, whereas on a bicycle, you turn the bars right which makes the bike fall to the left and then you turn the bars to the left a moment later at the right moment to keep that angle to go round the left hand corner. Same reason stabilisers are such a pants idea and should be banned.

The first bike I actually remember riding was my mum's fold-in-half step through in girly blue, which I rode around on constantly after school. Pretty sure it was a death trap waiting to happen, but I survived.

[Neon Ignition]

My parents bought me a BMX when I was around 7 years old and I remember my Mum taking me out to learn how to ride it but I never did and a year or two later they sold it on. I didn't learn to ride till I was around 12 years old. We'd moved house and were on a nearby playing field with some of the other kids and parents who lived nearby. One of the Dad's did the old trick of saying he'd hold the back of the bike whilst I peddled and then quietly let go when I wasn't looking and after that I was fine with it.

[Brad]

@Dogg Thank check this out:

https://www.raleigh.co.uk/gb/en/tuff-burner/

They reissued the Tuff Burner. You can buy one new, right now.

I also had a Burner. Wasn't my first bike though. My first bike was actually 2 bikes. My dad would buy EVERYTHING from Chelmsford market whenever he could and one day he came home with this gold thing, bit battered but the right size for me. But also, a Raleigh Chopper in purple, that was too big for me. I was lying ill on the sofa but as soon as I was well that was it, out on my bike all the time. Not sure how long it took me before I could ride the chopper but I was certainly on it before I should have been. So cool.

[Dogg Thang]

Amazing. I want it!

[Lebowski]

My Parents got me a Second hand Red and black Raleigh Burner BMX one Christmas when i was about 6-7, they did it up for me but it was a pain as the chain constantly came off. I remember the weird foam padded handle bar things looked cool and it had the words BMX plastered all over it. Was always jealous of my friends Raleigh Wildcat and all its stupid plastic sound effects glory until the battery's ran out and he never replaced them. It was a stupid bike with a plastic frame that became a real hazard after a few crashes and falls as it was covered in broken and cracked bits of sharp plastic.

[Brad]

I still ride a BMX now:

[Protocol Penguin]

I won a BMX bike when I was 4 years old in a lucky draw held in a supermarket, as my dad entered on my behalf. (Can’t remember which supermarket chain, other than it was one that doesn’t exist any more.) Of course, I was far too small to ride it, and by the time I was the right size, the bike had rusted up in the garden shed and was unusable.

[teddymeow]

The bike that was really popular when I was growing up (pre-teen) was black with bits of plastic moulding stuck on it and a noise box that made machine-gun / laser noises.

I can't remember what it was called

[kryss]

Optimus Prime fixed-wheel BMX-ish bike which my dad said I couldn't learn to ride on and I, being the idiot child I am, believed him.
A few years later, my uncle gave use one of those folding bikes, which I could ride. Of course, some dick then had to tell me it was a girl's bike as it had no bar across from the seat to handlebars, and then pre-teen me got all self conscious about it.

I ****ing hate people.

[Anpanman]

My first bike was a second hand generic I was given.

The first one bought as a present was a Moulton (Tri-ang) 1980 bought in the early 70's. Flared two-tone pants, skinny ribs, three star jumpers and platform shoes weren't required to ride it.

https://shop.onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/product/1970s-tri-ang-junior-1980-moulton-mini/

They became a bit infamous when it was found out years later that they suffered from metal fatigue and Tri-ang designed a retro-fit bolt on to support the frame.
Mine had already snapped above the forks, a weld repair also snapped so we had the frame buttressed which did the job.

[fuse]

Can't say I remember my first time riding a bike or any of my bikes in particular? The one I used to do my paper round on was red and had shimano gears, I remember that much

But hey, you know what I do remember - two particularly nasty accidents on bikes! One when I was very young, while riding on the pavement and scraping my arm along the top of a brick wall, and the other coming down a hill in the rain and misjudging a corner, ending up going over the handlebars and then ending up with the whole thing on top of me.