GeneNichols.com

My hobbies center around gadgets and mechanical stuff. I guess that’s why lately I have this fascination with long wheel base recumbent bikes. I have always enjoyed biking. Like most people it started when I was 6 or so living in a small town in mid state New York. We did not get training wheels, rather my dad or older sisters pushed me down the slope in the back yard on my bike and after falling a few times I got the hang of it.

I vividly recall standing in a small bike store with my dad. It was an old shop the next big town over. He bought a used Schwinn 20 inch wheel bike that was light tan with dark red trim work. I have a clear memory of dad telling the store clerk we would need to test ride it and we rolled it out of store. Of course I jumped on and rode down the sidewalk for several blocks. I never will forget those big balloon tires bouncing over the uneven seams in the sidewalk… That was the greatest feeling in the world!

After we moved to Indiana I got another used bike. Don’t know what happened to the first one. Probably didn’t make it on the move to Indiana. Dad says he bought so many bikes over time the guy at the bike store said if he ran out of parts he would just come see him for more. Like father like son? Probably why I have a barn full of old bikes and parts.

Here is my red bike on the left. My uncle Gene was a cop and he brought us a bike from a police sale. A Sting-ray style bike called a GTO which went to my younger brother Craig. I wanted that bike but realizing it was too small, I convinced him it would look better with my handle bars and seat on there. Hence me with the ape hanger bars and banana seat! Freddy got the Purple bike but no shoes…