thecorbies
New Member
OMG! I've often wondered what happened to my bike - lol. Apologies in advance ladies and gents, I'm probably going to ramble on for farrr too long about my beautiful Sun Snipe Plus. Who knows? Maybe some people that are interested, so here goes.
In December 1964, when I would have been 13yrs old, my fabulous parents bought me (after me choosing it), a beautiful Sun Snipe Plus - which as I remember it WAS definitely metallic green (a previous comment suggested that it wasn't metallic). Sorry, can't remember how much it was, but I do remember that we got it from the quite large bike shop in the high street of Ruislip Manor, Middlesex (as was), now Hillingdon most likely. I lusted after this bike for about 6 months, only ever had either 2nd hand, or bikes that I had put together myself. You know, frame form Dave, cowhorn handlebars from Peter etc. I though the WORLD of my new bike, so much so that I can remember taking upstairs to bed with me so that I could look at it as soon as I woke up.
I was quite lucky I suppose in that the secondary school I went to allowed people who had passed their cycling proficiency test (who remembers taking that?), to ride their bike to and from school. Fortunately, I had passed mine with 93%, and out of the whole of that day’s group – maybe 10-12 people, I think only Derek Parsons beat me with 94%.
Anyway, needless to say that I rode to school and proudly parked it in the bike shed. Yes, there genuinely were bikes sheds – how else would some of the pupils have smoked their Senior service or Players weights ‘fags’? Of course, some got up to other things behind the bike sheds too, but that’s a different story ha-ha.
My Snipe Plus and I were inseparable until some friends and I went swimming after school in the then newly built Highgrove swimming baths. After swimming I looked for my bike, which had been padlocked, but it was nowhere to be seen. One of my mates gave me a ‘crossbar’ home, and told my parents. Luckily because it was a brand new bike, we had a receipt for it which showed the frame number, which we gave to the police, so that if it was found etc.
I continued to ride a cobbled together bike until about a week later, shock horror, I saw my cousin riding it. It was VERY distinctive, and pf course I knew that it was MINE, and asked him where he got it. Fact is stranger than fiction so they say, but it turned out that he had bought it off a guy that lived about 30 doors up the road from me. In the same road! So we told the police, they took mum and me I think round to his house, checked the frame number, it matched, and so it was returned to me. Can’t remember what happened to him, probably just got a warning, but any way I had my a beautiful Sun Snipe Plus back!
We lived in Eastcote, Middlesex, and my dad used to ride to work in Southall. Seemed like quite a way really, but now that one of my 22yr old twin sons is into road bikes and racing, he’ll think nothing of coming home from work and doing a 30 mile ride. With his club Sunday morning ride he’ll do as much as 60 or 80 miles, and still occasionally go out in the in that afternoon for another 20 miles!
Sorry to have reminisced for so long, but may I say a HUGE, HUGE thank you to the person who put these pictures on here so that I was able to re-live part of my youth.
Thanks - Mark
In December 1964, when I would have been 13yrs old, my fabulous parents bought me (after me choosing it), a beautiful Sun Snipe Plus - which as I remember it WAS definitely metallic green (a previous comment suggested that it wasn't metallic). Sorry, can't remember how much it was, but I do remember that we got it from the quite large bike shop in the high street of Ruislip Manor, Middlesex (as was), now Hillingdon most likely. I lusted after this bike for about 6 months, only ever had either 2nd hand, or bikes that I had put together myself. You know, frame form Dave, cowhorn handlebars from Peter etc. I though the WORLD of my new bike, so much so that I can remember taking upstairs to bed with me so that I could look at it as soon as I woke up.
I was quite lucky I suppose in that the secondary school I went to allowed people who had passed their cycling proficiency test (who remembers taking that?), to ride their bike to and from school. Fortunately, I had passed mine with 93%, and out of the whole of that day’s group – maybe 10-12 people, I think only Derek Parsons beat me with 94%.
Anyway, needless to say that I rode to school and proudly parked it in the bike shed. Yes, there genuinely were bikes sheds – how else would some of the pupils have smoked their Senior service or Players weights ‘fags’? Of course, some got up to other things behind the bike sheds too, but that’s a different story ha-ha.
My Snipe Plus and I were inseparable until some friends and I went swimming after school in the then newly built Highgrove swimming baths. After swimming I looked for my bike, which had been padlocked, but it was nowhere to be seen. One of my mates gave me a ‘crossbar’ home, and told my parents. Luckily because it was a brand new bike, we had a receipt for it which showed the frame number, which we gave to the police, so that if it was found etc.
I continued to ride a cobbled together bike until about a week later, shock horror, I saw my cousin riding it. It was VERY distinctive, and pf course I knew that it was MINE, and asked him where he got it. Fact is stranger than fiction so they say, but it turned out that he had bought it off a guy that lived about 30 doors up the road from me. In the same road! So we told the police, they took mum and me I think round to his house, checked the frame number, it matched, and so it was returned to me. Can’t remember what happened to him, probably just got a warning, but any way I had my a beautiful Sun Snipe Plus back!
We lived in Eastcote, Middlesex, and my dad used to ride to work in Southall. Seemed like quite a way really, but now that one of my 22yr old twin sons is into road bikes and racing, he’ll think nothing of coming home from work and doing a 30 mile ride. With his club Sunday morning ride he’ll do as much as 60 or 80 miles, and still occasionally go out in the in that afternoon for another 20 miles!
Sorry to have reminisced for so long, but may I say a HUGE, HUGE thank you to the person who put these pictures on here so that I was able to re-live part of my youth.
Thanks - Mark
