The Three-Speed Bike

After sitting on the very back end of the banana seat of my two-wheeler for way too long, it was somewhere between junior high & high school that I graduated; graduated to a three-speed bike, that is.

With my brother dilly-dallying about the randomness of the ten speeds on his bike's handles, I couldn't have been more absolutely certain that I wanted my adult bike to be just a few speeds, ones that I could easily identify & know exactly what each could do.

Mom & Dad worked with me to find what I had in mind. There was a store that had one in their stock. It was one of those stores (it's now out-of-business) which keeps a display of their in-stock merchandise on the sales floor with a tag providing a complete description & it's price. The customer used purchase order paperwork the store provided to write-up any of the items they'd have an interest in purchasing.

So we went to the pick-up counter after Mom & Dad turned in our order slip & up the rotating belt, from the store's basement, came my three-speed bicycle.

Ever the mother, Mom did her work as being the wise adult & inspected the bike. There was a large area above the rear wheel where paint was missing. Mom requested another one from the store's stock room. The counter associates received word that only one other of this bicycle remained in the store's stock & the associates working in the basement stock area had made the discretionary decision that its condition was less than the one which had been sent up the belt.

Mom requested a discount. The bike we'd found in the sales floor would have already been on sale. Knowing my parents, they'd specifically looked to shop this store because they'd found a sale in the store's weekly flyer. Mom was now requesting a discount upon the sales discount. Of course, Mom was fine with this. She'd not purchase anything that wasn't what she expected it to be, especially not without the appropriate applicable discount in place. And so we got a fair price & we left the store - three-speed bicycle in tow.

I used that bike & I used it well. First speed, clearly marked with a "1", was the speed to use for biking up a hill; it would made the ride quite a bit easier to manage. Second speed, clearly marked with a "2", was the speed to use as if using the bicycle as a one-speed bicycle; it was the traditional speed, ordinary speed. The third & final speed, clearly marked with a "3", was the speed to use when biking longer distances; it helped make each pedaling stroke take bike's wheels that much further without the extensive exertion.

I used each speed plenty of times throughout the years. And I'll even be honest enough to share that a few times I left the bike in first speed more than I needed to - just so I could have the ease that comes with biking up a hill in first speed - even if I'd be on a downhill. Yep, so I cheated a time or two there 😇. I also remember that sometimes using second speed would be frustrating because the handle to change the bike's speeds would then be straight out - as if at the "3" on an analog clock - which placed it in a position to wedge itself into my hand where my index finger meets my thumb. If my hand wasn't in the right spot on the handlebar, off by an inch or so, it could make for a less pleasant bicycle ride.

Nevertheless, I rode that green three-speed bike around local neighborhoods, campgrounds, state parks, to school & back & plenty of other places. Before I was old enough to drive & our other Grandma, the one who'd lived locally, needed to stay in a nursing home for her final months, I used my three-speed bike to bike to the nursing home where she stayed, which just happened to be an even closer distance to our house than the house where she'd been living - & it wouldn't have been safe for me to bike to visit her in that house. Her living in a nursing home & my having a capable bicycle were an ideal fit at an ideal time of our lives.

Within the past year I donated that bicycle. It'd run its course & had many miles upon its wheels. It worked great, yet it wasn't something I use enough at this time of my life to have around. A few bad memories had formed surrounding it toward the end too. Passing along the bike made it easier to pass along & rid myself of those memories. I'd seen plenty of thrift store commercials over the years about children getting "new-to-them" bicycles because of the generosity of others who were no longer in need of their bikes. Besides, I could always get myself a new bike; maybe even this one 😉.

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