05/04/2026
My First and Only Bicycle
When I was seven years old and wanted a bicycle so bad. We lived in a house on Gasser Road (now H.C. Walton Rd.) just outside the Jackson TN city limits with lots of paved streets to ride on. My cousin and best childhood friend, One day in the early summer of 1957 my dad brought home a bicycle for me. It was no special occasion but a bike! It was a special day for me. I was graduating from an old warn out foot propelled red scooter to a BICYCLE!
The Schwinn bicycle was not new, but well used. My dad had obtained it from the Madison County sheriff office. My dad’s office was in the court house along with the sheriff’s office. My dad, who worked as a University of Tennessee Extension Service, office was on the basement floor and the sheriff’s office was on the top or 3rd floor. The county jail was also on the 3rd floor at that time. The bicycle had been stolen and was pretty much in pieces but my dad had bought some parts and put it together enough to ride. It was a 1953 Schwinn, red with one black rear fender. It did not look like much but mechanically it was sound. Anyway, I was proud of it and now I had freedom to ride!
I saved my birthday and Christmas money and began to buy parts (front fender and a new tire and tube). It began to look like a decent bicycle.
The bike had 26 inch wheels and seemed big to me but I had long legs and I was determined to ride it. I had ridden my cousin Patsy Kay’s a little when visiting here the previous summer. I wabbled around on it at first but soon mastered the balance and brakes. I don’t remember dropping or ‘dumping’ it although I came close a time or two.
There was a grocery store just down the hill from our house that I like to ride to. As I learned to maneuver the bike, I ventured out more and more. Riding the neighborhood and even to the Jackson/Madison County Hospital where my mother was a dietitian. Sometimes I had lunch with her via riding my bicycle. The hospital was about 1.5 miles from our house. I also rode to Highland Park just pass the hospital. Highland Park had a public swimming pool. It was a rather shallow pool. The deepest part being about 3-4 feet deep but a great place to cool off in the hot summer. I rode all over that area of Jackson by myself. The world was different then with little crime, no threat to children on bikes, no child snatching or kidnapping. Children were safe by today’s standards. I usually called my mother and told her where I was going. She was OK with that. Of course there were no cell phones.
The city parks had activities for kids almost every day during the summer months. I rode my bike and participated in the ones that interested me. One day they had a Best Decorated Bike Contest. That really interested me, so I dug out some crape streamers (brown and blue) decorated my bike and entered. I won first place! I was so proud. Maybe that influenced me to my current hobby of showing old cars?
We moved to the farm in September of 1959 when I was nine years old. Of course, my bike came with me. At that time the road in front of our house was gravel but I still rode my bike everywhere, even on the farm roads. I remember riding it out to the Clarence Harville Farm. It was little more than a logging road. It was a hard ride out there but easy coming back. The roads were rough. By today’s standards these roads would require a mountain bike.
When I was about 12 years old my dad bought me a horse, named Baby Doll. It was a medium size horse so I could bridle and saddle by myself. I rode that horse all over the farm and let the bicycle rest.
When I was 14 years old I decided to completely take the bicycle apart and paint it. I took it apart on the front porch, sanded it and painted it black with white accents. I did a really good job and it looked great.
I got tired of riding on the rough gravel roads around the farm and longed for pavement. So one day I ask if I could put the bike in the trunk of my mother’s car and take it to town when she went to work. I wanted to ride the streets of Savannah all day while my mother worked at the Hardin County Hospital. It was fun day. I thought about riding it to town and back (16 miles one way) but after careful consideration, I decided not to try it.
I received my driver’s license when I was 16 so the bike was pretty much left alone. The other children had their own newer bikes. When I entered the Navy at 18 years of age my mother stored the bike in the old wood shed by the chicken house. There it sat in storage for 58 years collecting dust and corrosion. This year (2026) I decided to get it out and restore it beyond what it probably looked like new. I completely stripped all the paint off of all parts and repainted the color of my 1956 Ford F100 truck, replaced all the rusty and broken spokes, bought new fenders and axles, had all the rusty chrome re-chromed, new tubes and tires and a new seat. It now looks better that new. Note the 'Sweetheart' skip tooth drive sprocket. Besides riding it some, I plan to show it with my truck at some car and truck shows in the coming years. Maybe someday one of my grandchildren or great-Grandchildren will want to ride it.
