By Alane Wilder Brown

Photo caption: Here’s a picture of my bike. That’s Craig Jones (currently the mayor of Troy) cleaning off the snow with Amy Haithcock Morton and Garry Windley (Ruby Lake’s grandson) looking on.  

A bicycle was the preferred mode of transportation for the youth of Mt. Gilead back in the ’60s and ’70s. We were super proud of our bikes! Maybe you had a Murray Fleetline or Schwinn Spitfire that you couldn’t wait to hop on after school and cruise to town.  

With the introduction of the “muscle bikes” of the mid 1960s, bike riding took on a whole new look. The higher the sissy bar, the more sloped the banana seat and the more unusual the monkey bars, the cooler you were! Handlebars – for those who don’t remember – were sometimes called ape hangers and the coolest of the cool had rams horn handlebars. These bikes were built for poppin’ wheelies. We tinkered, adjusted and practiced until we could hold that wheelie longer than any of our friends. You may have had a Stingray, Spyder or an Eliminatior. I had a purple Eliminator with the ever-popular sparkly seat which, in my mind, made it somewhat more girly.  

We rode the streets every afternoon, only taking a break when the mills let out. Why, you ask? That’s when United Mills and Russell-Harvell changed shifts. About 3:30 every weekday afternoon the streets were a traffic jam of cars and bike riding became hazardous. It didn’t take long for the adults to get the mail, visit the variety of grocery stores like Wilder’s, Haywood’s, Spivey’s or the Piggly Wiggly and head home to cook dinner. Finally, the streets were once again safe for us kids. We literally rode till the streetlights came on. 

We raced to the old fire station when the fire sirens went off to see what the call might be. As the local version of a scanner radio, we quickly disbursed to let folks know where the firetrucks were headed. It was our public service and we took it seriously. 

During hot summer days at Stanback Park you would see a full line or two of parked bicycles outside the pool or pavilion. And don’t forget the end of summer Park Program Parade! Bikes were decorated to impress with streamers, cards in the spokes, horns and any other accessory we could find. 

In my day, Little League baseball was played at the old Mt. Gilead School ballfield. Players and other kids would pull up on their bikes for the games. Monkey bars or that high sissy bar made the perfect ball glove hanger. Coaches brought the bats and balls in a big canvas bag. You didn’t bring your own bat back in those days.  Later baseball was played on the then “new” fields at the park. We still pulled up on bikes. Only adults arrived in cars. 

As we progressed in age, bike riding and the order of things changed a bit. Stay tuned for my next article which will delve into our after-school hangouts. And if you see me in town please stop and tell me your “bike memory.”  I’d love to hear it!