up hill struggle
Well-Known Member
- Location
- newtownards, county down
i to once had a Raleigh race bike, it was the best bike in the world ever, fact.
By todays standards it may not have been all that great a bike no carbon & it was heavy but to me it was fantastic.
it belonged to my uncle who bought it for riding to work but after the novelty wore off it was never used. Last time he used it he cleaned it after & it was stored in his bedroom there it caught my eye & where i used to climb onto it & pretend it was racing it making motorbike noises & shouting at other racers to get out of my way cause i was gonna win this race, lol.
as i got taller i remember him adjusting the seat height so i was able to reach the pedals initially & as time went by & i grew up i was able to reach the floor.
then one week i was asked to take it for a test ride up the street, my heart skipped a beat as the thought popped into my head, this is it, hes gonna give me the bike so i threw my leg over the bike & rode up the road, turned at came back down the hill pulled the brakes and found they slowed me but didn't want to stop the bike, eventually the bike came to a stop & i got off a little shaken but grinning from ear to ear.
its not quite ready to go yet said my uncle
go where? I asked.
im getting rid of it since i never ride it he said.
well my heart sank as those words left his lips.
next week when we called round he said to me got the bike sorted now & it was ready for its new owner.
Really i thought feeling kinda pissed at him for giving my future bike away.
Wanna see it, may be take it for a spin before it goes?
Well how could i resist one final race even if it only took place in my head.
Bike looked amazing new tyres set it of nicely, so what was wrong with it last week i asked expecting to be told that it was my fault it didn't to stop.
he smiled & said turned out that keeping it the bedroom had made the brake pads rock hard & ruined the tyres.
everything had been effected by the heat from the radiator in the room as it had been there for years not being rode, but he left it in for a service, got new brake pads, tyres & the gears had also been sorted after somebody had wrecked the cables by racing the bike in the bedroom & changing gears while the wheels weren't turning, at which point he looked at me & i feeling rather guilty looked away saying who would have been silly enough to do that. I wonder he said with a smile.
so we took the bike outside he talked me through the gear levers & what each one did so i didn't wreck it on the new owner, again i felt disappointed he was selling it but as i was just beginning to realize s**t happens.
so excitement building i threw my leg over the bike & set off up the hill quick brake test proved that they were indeed fixed and in full working order, so it was now time to head down the hill quick as i could, straight passed grannies house to the other end of the road i went, turned & came back, into grans garden and parked up, got off the bike grinning again, my once future bike was being sold but at that moment i didn't care.
The bike was everything i had expected it to be & more. after all those years that i had pretended to ride it, i finally got the chance and finally got that race win that had until now been just out of reach & i won that race by a mile (in my head anyway).
so my dream had been reached i went inside buzzing with excitement.
when were heading home i give the bike one final glance & for a second my heart sank before the thought of the ride popped into my head & filled me with joy, that was a good race i thought.
just as i put my hand on the handle of the car to open the door my uncle says, so after all these years your not taking it with you, i turned to see him pointing towards the bike.
You mean its mine? I said in disbelief.
of course it is ya twit, he laughed. who else would i have given it to?
i think i hardly slept a wink that night, couldn't wait for morning to come to get riding it again, im just glad next day was Saturday & not a school day.
Spent most of the day riding it to my friends houses to show it off, some of which admitted that they thought the bike only existed in my head.
I was the coolest kid on the block for a while at least, lol.
eventually the bike was stolen & found wrecked but not before i had covered countless miles & went as far & as fast as i could as often as i could.
it wasn't my first bike or my last, just the one with the best memories attached to it & i awoke this morning feeling rather nostalgic for that bike and felt like sharing the story with you lot.
So which bike brings a smile to your face looking back on your childhood & how did you end up with it?
By todays standards it may not have been all that great a bike no carbon & it was heavy but to me it was fantastic.
it belonged to my uncle who bought it for riding to work but after the novelty wore off it was never used. Last time he used it he cleaned it after & it was stored in his bedroom there it caught my eye & where i used to climb onto it & pretend it was racing it making motorbike noises & shouting at other racers to get out of my way cause i was gonna win this race, lol.
as i got taller i remember him adjusting the seat height so i was able to reach the pedals initially & as time went by & i grew up i was able to reach the floor.
then one week i was asked to take it for a test ride up the street, my heart skipped a beat as the thought popped into my head, this is it, hes gonna give me the bike so i threw my leg over the bike & rode up the road, turned at came back down the hill pulled the brakes and found they slowed me but didn't want to stop the bike, eventually the bike came to a stop & i got off a little shaken but grinning from ear to ear.
its not quite ready to go yet said my uncle
go where? I asked.
im getting rid of it since i never ride it he said.
well my heart sank as those words left his lips.
next week when we called round he said to me got the bike sorted now & it was ready for its new owner.
Really i thought feeling kinda pissed at him for giving my future bike away.
Wanna see it, may be take it for a spin before it goes?
Well how could i resist one final race even if it only took place in my head.
Bike looked amazing new tyres set it of nicely, so what was wrong with it last week i asked expecting to be told that it was my fault it didn't to stop.
he smiled & said turned out that keeping it the bedroom had made the brake pads rock hard & ruined the tyres.
everything had been effected by the heat from the radiator in the room as it had been there for years not being rode, but he left it in for a service, got new brake pads, tyres & the gears had also been sorted after somebody had wrecked the cables by racing the bike in the bedroom & changing gears while the wheels weren't turning, at which point he looked at me & i feeling rather guilty looked away saying who would have been silly enough to do that. I wonder he said with a smile.
so we took the bike outside he talked me through the gear levers & what each one did so i didn't wreck it on the new owner, again i felt disappointed he was selling it but as i was just beginning to realize s**t happens.
so excitement building i threw my leg over the bike & set off up the hill quick brake test proved that they were indeed fixed and in full working order, so it was now time to head down the hill quick as i could, straight passed grannies house to the other end of the road i went, turned & came back, into grans garden and parked up, got off the bike grinning again, my once future bike was being sold but at that moment i didn't care.
The bike was everything i had expected it to be & more. after all those years that i had pretended to ride it, i finally got the chance and finally got that race win that had until now been just out of reach & i won that race by a mile (in my head anyway).
so my dream had been reached i went inside buzzing with excitement.
when were heading home i give the bike one final glance & for a second my heart sank before the thought of the ride popped into my head & filled me with joy, that was a good race i thought.
just as i put my hand on the handle of the car to open the door my uncle says, so after all these years your not taking it with you, i turned to see him pointing towards the bike.
You mean its mine? I said in disbelief.
of course it is ya twit, he laughed. who else would i have given it to?
i think i hardly slept a wink that night, couldn't wait for morning to come to get riding it again, im just glad next day was Saturday & not a school day.
Spent most of the day riding it to my friends houses to show it off, some of which admitted that they thought the bike only existed in my head.
I was the coolest kid on the block for a while at least, lol.
eventually the bike was stolen & found wrecked but not before i had covered countless miles & went as far & as fast as i could as often as i could.
it wasn't my first bike or my last, just the one with the best memories attached to it & i awoke this morning feeling rather nostalgic for that bike and felt like sharing the story with you lot.
So which bike brings a smile to your face looking back on your childhood & how did you end up with it?