Bikes in the Barn

I have 7 bicycles. I guess I’m a bit of a pack rat. I decided that some of them have to go, starting with the oldest. Here’s how that played out:

The silver bike is an old Raleigh Boardwalk (not the fold-able type) from the 60’s. My hubby worked at the Toledo Zoo and there were three of them which hung for years in the Medic’s Office there. He bought two of them. They are heavy and durable. I fully intended to sell them, but when I cleaned them up, I found the Toledo Zoological Society tag on them and started thinking about their “local historical prominence.”

I know it’s crazy, but I really have a thing about local items. I like thinking about what happened decades and centuries ago on the very ground on which I now walk. Again, I know that it’s crazy!
See, Toledo’s zoo is a tremendous source of local pride. It’s one of the best in the nation. And Butch was proud to work there. It’s fun to think about some veterinarian zipping around the 74-acre zoo on these bikes, with the big basket full of medication and supplies. And I think it’s neat that they were preserved because someone hung them on a wall. So, I’ve decided that I can’t sell them.

Then, there’s the red Huffy, another solid, weighty bicycle from that era. This is my bike of choice right now, although the chrome is really rusty. I love riding this bike because you sit up so straight and tall, which isn’t the case with any of the bikes I’ve ridden in the last 15 years. It’s been an adjustment getting back on a fixed-gear, I’ll tell you.
I can’t sell the Huffy, either. See, Huffy bicycles were made in Dayton, Ohio. That’s pretty close to here, ya know?