Re:
Bike number 1: A Raleigh Budgie in pale blue, second hand - like this one:
The decals were scratched so my dad carefully removed them and replaced them with some sticker replicas of a Deltic nameplate from the National Railway Museum in York which gave it its new name: Alycidon. Lovingly accessorised with a massive, red, square Eveready back light so I could always clearly see where I'd been. This was the lean, mean speed machine on which i was seated when I first magically heard my dad's voice receding into the distance and realised that I was riding without stabilisers, and immediately after that, also realised that just one brake felt somehow inadequate. A long seat like its big brother, the Chopper, meant that its carrying capacity was as many four year olds as dared climb aboard. I thought it was the absolute bees knees. With its centre of gravity so far aft, and its big, squashy back tyre, it was surprisingly easy to jump and comfortable to land on. But then, Matt Murphy - whose parents were pretty well off - brought in the Raleigh catalogue, and directed our attention to the Raleigh Burner in team colours which he assured us Father Christmas would be delivering to his house in the not too distant future. Which meant that my next bike was a...
Bike number 2: Kuwahara Laser in chrome with red crash pads and a red Aeroyal seat - hell yeah!
This was an incredibly generous Christmas present from my uncle Paul, who I'd guess probably left his Quattro pulled up on the pavement outside the bike shop with its hazards on, popped in, and asked for the best BMX they had because he was in a hurry. I had literally no idea what I'd got. I hadn't even watched ET. I just liked the Japanese flag stickers that you could put on yourself and the slow tease of freeing it from its box on Christmas Day morning. I tamely pootled round on this awesome machine for a few years until my dad announced that I had outgrown it and it was time for me to have a "proper bike". The Kuwahara went to my cousin and then vanished into thin air, and my dad bought me a...
Bike number 3: miniature Viscount racer - 16 inch frame, 5 speeds, replica KP Crisps racing team livery; like a tiny version of this:
I daringly added bright blue bar tape and a Selle Royal Pullman. We bought an aerodynamic water bottle for it, but couldn't figure out how to make it fit in the bike's tiny front triangle. This was the bike that made me realise that bikes are a mode of transport, not just a toy. My dad took me out to Shireoaks on the train and we did a loop through the countryside to Worksop, dad on his massive Carlton Corsair. I didn't know enough about the Kuwahara to brag about it, but I would go on about how awesome the Viscount was to anyone that would listen. When I started riding old bikes again, I came back to Viscounts and bought a blue and silver Aerospace Pro - that's it (and me) fourth from the left below in Sooper 8's picture from the first ever Death Fork Rally in 2013: