I started the summer I turned 12 (1962), with a 2-speed Schwinn "middleweight." Before that I lacked the physical coordination to balance a bicycle confidently. Once I learned to ride (don't laugh -- it was a slow process), I was smitten with the freedom of mobility and the joy of cycling, and moved up to a cheapo Bianchi 10 speed that Christmas. (My father was delighted to get his physically inept, overweight, nerdy klutz kid into any sort of sport). Through my high school years I enjoyed riding to the local electronics and surplus stores to fuel my emerging hobby of building and repairing home audio equipment. My interest in cycling ticked up another notch when I started at UCLA and commuted to/from my grandparents' house in Rancho Park. Bottom line: 57 years of participating in the only sport I have truly deeply loved (and still do).
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069