[Tobra]

I remember when I broke the frame on my Stingray. Had a paper route at the time, so I needed some wheels. Dad was good enough to let me use his bike, which was like a cross between ten speed and a cruiser bike, sort of bike you see in old movies, Schwinn Traveler. It had much larger diameter wheels, like a ten speed, but a wide seat, with a coil spring suspension system on it, fenders that were nice on the rare occasions that it rained, basket that looked stupid, but was very handy. Most importantly, it had the magic of gearing. There is only so fast you are going to be able to spin a set of pedals, that was the first bike I ever rode that was not a one speed. It was a revelation. I could keep up with traffic around town on that thing, if I was not toting anything. It was heavy, so it took a minute, but it would really move, once you got going. Oh yeah, the brakes were horrible. In retrospect, it is a little surprising I was not killed riding it. I suspect new brake pads would have helped, the ones on it were as old as I was at the time. I took them off and sanded them down a little, thinking that freshening up the surface would make them work better. It did not. It was collecting dust in the garage for a long time before I pulled it out of hibernation for paper route duty. Tires were probably pretty old too. Bought myself a Centurion 10 speed with the dough I earned throwing newspapers. I could flat run away from anyone on that thing.

Dad never rode that Traveler, I don't think even once. He had an XKE, what would he want with a bicycle.