My Schwinn Bike

I was looking at Jami Krause’s FB page (an avid bike rider and balloon artist), and she made a cute little bike out of balloons. This instantly brought me back to my childhood and my Schwinn bike. The fun I had on that bike. It was the first bike I learn to ride, jump, and flipped over trying to do a wheelie. The back tire was flat and wide, like a race car.

I remember, after a good rain finding the right puddles at the end of the driveway, positioning my bike just right that the training wheels would have the back tire raised off the ground, but submerged in the puddle.   I would ride like a banshee at full force, spraying water all over the place with most of it spraying on my back because the back fender stopped under my banana seat.

Later, after the training wheels, I learned that big-flat tire in the back was great for making skid marks.  I became so efficient with it. I would have black fishtail marks all over the sidewalks.  For one summer, that was the only way to stop.

The neighbor down the street had a bike that was cool too!  It had a steering wheel instead of handlebars, a spring shock absorber built into the front forks, and he had a wheelie bar for wheelies. Jay never needed it because that kid did a wheelie on everything, bikes, ten speeds, and when older, dirt bikes.

If you look close at the picture, you see a steel bracket at the back tire – training wheels!  Hey, that Brady Bunch look was how we dress back then.

I still have the training wheels.  My mom always asked, “Why are you saving those things?”  Now I know why – to help me write this blog ;0).

I have to admit the banana seat was the most comfortable seats I had on a bike. I’ve had many bike seats since, but the banana seat is my favorite!

As time went on, the bike was replaced with a 5-speed, which was transformed into a 12 speed. Making skid marks wasn’t as fun, but that is a whole other story.

Back to my bike story – Seeing Jami’s balloon bike, I decided to make my childhood bike out of balloons, which I created from memory.  Which then made me dig through some pictures to get the image above, which then lead me to write this post.  Follow?

The Schwinn bike is made from 260 twisting balloons with a little rubber glue to secure things together.   It’s just under 30 inches long and 22 in height.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at it, I should have made the handlebar lean back, but when I was older, they leaned forward.  That’s my bike from when I was a kid.  What kind of bike did you have?

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