Larry got his first very used single speed bike from his Uncle Bud at age twelve.  Larry  painted it a cool chocolate brown to cover up the dinks.  But he didn’t care; the new wings gave him mobility to connect with the neighborhood kids since he had been the only one without one.                                                                     

My first bike was a tricycle with large wooden blocks my dad taped on with style.  He kept the electrical black tape handy when one would fall off.   At age four, my short legs flew and I knew I was hooked on biking forever. 

Old Blue Bell was my next prized possession.   I learned how to ride my first two-wheeler by crashing into the nearby hills.  After painting myself black and blue, I finally learned the concept of balance.   I talked to Blue Bell, my old friend, and she very affectionately learned to cooperate. 

When Larry and I got married in 1968, we couldn’t afford bikes until after our third child, Aaron, was born.  Taking care of babies aged four and under kept us well occupied.  But the day arrived when we finally bought brand new Sears black three-speed bicycles and tooled around the neighborhood in fashion. Aaron, who was under a year, would face Larry on the front carrier while Deb, with her long thick blond hair blowing carelessly was perched in the rear carrier. Julie, traveling on the back of my bike, would be giggling and laughing with her red curls bouncing up and down.  Later, we fearlessly ventured on the prairie path in Wheaton, IL to visit our favorite ice cream shop, Cock Robins.  Larry would have to wait for me to take baby Aaron off the front carrier before he could dismount.   Traveling as we did helmet less in the 70’s was the standard unsafe mode. 

Now the kids have all flown the coop and we have an assortment of bicycles including road and mountain bikes along with crash resistant helmets, but our prize possession is our beautiful red aluminum framed, carbon fibered forked 27 speed Santana tandem.  Each year along with 5,000 of our closest buddies, we travel to Bloomington, Indiana to participate in the Hilly Hundred bicycle event.  Our goal is to ride into infinity.