Who loves bicycling?

This is my favourite bicycle, a Robin Hood [England]. It was a second sale. My uncle had bought it in 1958. After him, my maternal uncle was using it. Later when I grew up, this has been my favourite ever since.

Riding the bicycle has a joy of its own. We can relax and move at our own pace. Maintenance expenditure is negligible. There are cycle mechanics around to set right minor problems, besides filling air to the tires. They usually sit by the roadside with their toolboxes. Recently, I got the Original Dunlop tires fitted to it. Dunlop has been my favourite too. The smoothness of the ride is different with these! In fact, I fitted it myself. I bought these tires from the same shop my uncle bought the cycle in 1958! But the owner's son is now in charge. So he knew a bit of history. Even before that, my grandfather too used to get his Sunbeam cycle taken care here as well. So it is a long association with this dealer. This one is of the 1914 era but I have put it to temporary rest. I'm still using the Robin Hood for short errands, though traffic is too heavy for a relaxed ride. I enjoy it nevertheless. Days are not far when the bicycle era will return, given the rising oil rates and depleting resources.

Dinu

That was about the bicycle. It has taken me many a mile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp25hxgTQao

Watch this video.

Dinu - very beautiful architecture! thanks for sharing. :)

You saw the architecture, but did you see the bicycle handle?

yup :)

Dinu, I really enjoyed this.....my husband manages a bicycle shop here, and we build handmade custom bicycles....we both really like the older bicycles....thank you for sharing your bike with us.

This is one of the bicycles my husbnd made recently....

Wow, that's very interesting. The design with ours is comfortable compared to the racing style ones. It suits us for relaxed riding. We don't travel fast on the bicycle here for obvious reasons. As such the older generation will like the old design though many mountain bikes and sports models are available here. It is such a fancy among school kids who use them mostly.

I have an old Raleigh that I often ride to the market. We ride a tandem bicycle on weekends, visiting different places around our area. We love all kinds of bicycles and have been riding and building bicycles for over thirty years. We have a couple of friends who collect old bikes and we enjoy going through their collections. When our two children were very small we rode a bicycle built for three with our son (he was 8 years old at the time) and our daughter (who was 7 months old) rode in a trailer that we pulled behind the bike....we did a trip with them from here in Washington to San Francisco, California. We really had a lot of fun. No more long trips....my rides now are never more than fifty miles, but we still enjoy our rides.

My father's old Raleigh bicycle was stolen when an uncle had borrowed it for his errand to a bank. My father was no more when this loss took place. I have been using this Robin Hood since the 70s after another uncle's and cousin's deaths. I used my grandfather's Sunbeam bicycle for some years while the R/Hood hibernated. Need of scooters pushed the cycles to corners, but I've kept my dear R/H in condition even now while the Sunbeam has been put to rest.

50 miles is a long journey, itself! Roads and traffic prevent people to use the bicycle less. Not to speak of the urgency and restless minds of the present day world!