People often comment on my bike saying things like, “Wow, that’s an old one.” Actually it’s not all that old and all sorts of retro bikes are back on the street. What these people might mean is that this thing has been through the ringer. It’s a fat tire, one speed, back pedal brake, city cruiser but I put a sprocket with less teeth than the standard issue on the back wheel so the bike is in like sixth or seventh gear on a ten speed.
I used to ride to work downtown in rain, snow or shine to work. Use to pass Arthur Shawcross on his bike as he was headed to work at G&G Foods on East Main. The bike had a fair amount of rust on it and it was hard to tell what color it was. So I took a wire brush to it and Peggi buffed the rims with some steel wool. Today I painted the frame Rust-oleum Sunburst Yellow. I’m thinking safety after what happened to our friend.
Last time I painted a bike was back in Bloomington where I went to school for a few semesters. I used some brown, lead-based paint that we bought at the dollar store on Kirkwood. I was living in a trailer and mowing lawns for the University. My boss smoked Lucky Strikes and had mouth cancer. His jaw was deformed and he had open sores on his lips. First time I ever saw what cancer looks like.
1 Comment
thanks4shout-out! let’s see your ride after it’s put back2gether.