# Just a boy....



## runner (16 Mar 2012)

Cycling and bikes has always made me think of a great childhood in Northern Ireland and a fun introduction to the world of cycling which continues to this day....many years later
I grew up in the countryside around Portadown on a semi-farm in the 60's and with so little traffic around cycling was an ideal interest for a young boy. My dad came home one day and said "son I've got you a bike!"...what I said as I rushed out and was confronted with a rather dilapidated mens racing bicycle...eh thanks Dad I said....but I loved that bike and painted it a dark crimson added "chequered flag" transfers...oiled...and chromed...and bought it back to health. I spent many a happy day roaming the back roads around our home... and received many a bruised and cut knee When I was 10 both myself and my sister received for xmas brand new Dawes Kingpins..small wheels and with a trendy set of panniers on the back...I loved that bike and once again roamed the countryside creating imaginary stories and enjoying the summer sun (cause the sun always shone) I used to visit on a regular basis my local bike shop Ross Raymond cycles (if I remember correctly the original Ross went to school with my mum) the shop is still in existence and that rich smell of rubber always takes me back to my early visits to that shop. So the love of cycling was in my blood from an early age and now at a mere 56 I am still a keen cyclist...the proud owner of a Defy 1 and Kinesis racelight tk2 ( and a genesis ridgeback in need of repair for those really...really bad days)For those of us who have grown up with cycling...for those of us who have discovered cycling, our lives are made so much richer than the computer generated kids of today, and although our roads and highways are much busier it is great to see a trend back towards cycling and an appreciation of a form of transport that is both timeless and inspiring........


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## LarryDuff (19 Mar 2012)

Nice post!

In the late 60's my brother and I would be roaming the countryside between Hillsborough and Moira on our bikes on many summer days. I still remember the farm where the sheepdog would always chase us down the road.
Parents must have been much more laid back in those days, we would have been gone for hours with no method of contact.
I guess they were simpler times, there was certainly less traffic around anyway. Ironically for all our riding all over the countryside my brother was hit by a car at the end of out driveway. It was about 1972 and he had a Raleigh Chopper, we was riding to the end of the drive and doing a quick 180 turn when the rear wheel skidded on loose stones and he drifted on to the road just a car came past. His leg was broken and he was in plaster for about 6 weeks.


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## biggs682 (19 Mar 2012)

i did all my first riding around the Worle area of Weston super mare and beyond use to have some nice rides last time i was down there majority of the lanes had gone to be replaced by housing estates could not believe it .

my next lot was with the Kidderminster section of the ctc , we had some great rides and fun along the way


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