Six year olds have a vivid imagination and I was no exception to the rule. I had a sparkly, gold bicycle with a banana seat. Do you remember those seats? Small colored plastic tubes of varying colors decorated the spokes of the wheels and made clickity clackity sounds as they rolled over and over. Riding my bike through the mountains, over the desert and to the beach…well, in my mind’s eye…provided a wealth of experiences.
My favorite biking activities were called “bus stop” and “mail man” which proves that those great naming conventions of mine started long ago. Anyway, playing “mail man” consisted of riding to the pretend mailbox (the mailboxes were attached to the outside of the houses by the front door not at the end of the driveway) of the first house in the cul-de-sac, stopping my bike, pretending to take mail from the mail box and placing it in the flowered basket fastened to the front where the handlebars connected. Oh, how I did love my faux wicker adornment which was simply made from white plastic. To me, however, it was equivalent to a present day Gucci or Coach purse.
“Bus stop” was a little more animated. I would choose a “bus stop” and upon stopping at that point, I would say things such as, “Everyone get off,” “No pushing,” or “Good morning children.” This world of bright yellow buses filled with children traveling to and from school was of utmost excitement. I loved going to school and the anticipation I felt riding to get there was truly a highlight of each day. This explains why and how I could play “bus stop” for hours and hours without tiring.
I actually have pictures of my favorite bike riding route. Because my mother wanted to watch me from our home, it was physically a short ride, but it didn’t feel like that to a child of six.
“Hope you enjoyed the ride everybody. Now it’s time to get off the bus!”
I remember those seats, because I had one. I had a blue Schwinn with a blue-speckled banana seat. I never played postman, but I did play bus stop. Did you ever put playing cards in your spokes and ride up and down the street pretending to be a bus? Yep, I was a weird kid, but I had FUN!
Oh, the good old days 🙂
Hmmm? I'm curious. When you rode, did you also sing "The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round…"? 🙂
Hey! Thanks for finding me through BlogFrog! I'm seriously soooo new at this blogging stuff, but I'm trying!
We lived in the country and would ride our bikes miles away from home… well outta the view of a camera!
what an absolute treat it was to find your blog – thank u for following me on blog frog! i just became a follower of your blog and blog frog – would love to have u follow mangiabella! have a super blessed day sweet bella – i loved this post!
Good times!
I had a banana seat too! Lucky you with a snazzy basket.
Oh I love it! Your writing is great because I can visualize it..I swear I was there! I had a red banana seat bike with no brakes! We lived on a very steep hill and I always had nightmares I would loose control (not far from reality)! One time my friend jumped on and before I could tell her, she went down!!! she had to run into the curb to stop! What were my parents thinking?
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