The 1st bike I really remember was a candy apple green Stingray... I rode that from age 6 'till maybe 12. Most of the time on dirt roads, cow trails, off jumps. I stripped it down and rattle can painted it may 5 times. In Jr high I got a road bike. Rode that every where the Stingray went. Started doing longer rides in the canyons of the San Gabriel Mtns. In summer we would be gone from morning until after dark. 1st year of college I got a nice Centurion. Still riding the dirt canyon roads on 25mm tires. I was into triathlons for a while at that time. Loved the bike and run but I swim like a stone. Next was a Univega Gran Rally. I loved the way that bike rode.
Then mountain bikes came on the scene, I bought a 1983 Schwinn Sierra, Snakebelly tires, a 14-38 Suntour freewheel. I probably didn't ride that Univega ever again. For at least a decade I road 100% off road. I went through a number of MTB's after that, a 1st year 1986 Rockhopper, Fisher HKK, Bridgestone MB-2, Fisher Mt Tam. I started racing MTB's Mammoth, Big Bear, Keyesville, anything within driving distance. As full suspension bikes came on the scene and downhill speeds increased I lost interest in racing a bit. Owned a few full suspension MTBs but I ended up going back to a hardtail 29er. I also bought a Ciocc road bike and started doing more road riding, Some centuries and organized rides. OK but not my cup of tea. I prefer adventure rides where I almost get lost or have to climb fences to get home. I picked up an early version of the Soma Cross bike and re-discovered mixed terrain rides. Did my first multi-day bike tour. Bought my 1st Riv, an Orange Hillborne, equipped it with 40mm knobbies and had a blast. Found a nice green Ram and sold the Sam H. The ride was just so much nicer for me. I still have an MTB, a custom steel 29er hardtail, but most of my rides are on a lugged steel 650B custom with Hetres. Got a mountain cross custom about done for 700c x 45mm tires. That will probably get a lot of use too. So not much of an evolution, I love riding dirt and going places I've never been before, the bikes are custom now and tailored to my passion. Big fat tires, no suspension, fun, fast rides and sometimes I may stop and admire the views. ~mike Carlsbad Ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
