The History of Everything : Well, my old bikes anyway ...

The previous article on the bike catalogue resource got me thinking about my old bikes.

The Peugeot wasn't my first real bike, I mean, other than toy bicycles. As I recall, my first bicycle was a Halford's roadster, rod brakes, single-speed, Westwood rims, etc. It must have weighed a ton. I learned a lot from that bike, and still bear a scar on my right hand from when I jammed it between the wheel and (very substantial) mudguard.

But in the late 60s/early 70s, Mum and Dad presented me with a Carlton Criterium. Not new you understand ... My father found it in a second-hand shop in Plymouth, UK, for gbp10.00. It was previously used by a Mormon missionary who had used it for transport while trying to save us.

I don't know what happened to it after I left home for Bristol in 1972, but the catalogue picture shows it pretty much as I remember it. Those stubby mudguards still look pretty cool ... shame about the riders ...