A lot of geezers like me still love our bicycles. Yeah, we like our motorcycles, fast cars, big trucks, motorcycles, and guns…but a bicycle was our first taste of freedom. You could just get on them and go, it was the first way we could explore the world, and those distant decades-old memories are reignited every time we clip in.
My first bike was an old green and cream balloon tired Schwinn my old man picked up for cheap. It was too big for me initially, but I grew into it. Then he bought me a brand new candy apple red and chome Schwinn Jaguar, another balloon tired, white walled anchor that I positively loved. I bought a Cadet speedometer and pedaled 2873 miles around New Jersey one summer when I was a pimply preteen, loving every second of it. On one downhill stretch, the Cadet indicated 45 miles per hour, all gravity based (I couldn’t pedal nearly that fast on the single-speed Schwinn).
It was grand, but what I really wanted was a 10-speed, and to be specific, my fantasies focused on a yellow Schwinn Varsity. A tank by today’s standards, but it was the subject of my dreams in the late ’50s. With their 10 speeds, the myth was that you could hit 60 miles per hour on level ground (no one could, but believing the myth made for delightful dreams…a freeway-capable bicycle, before freeways even existed).
Fast forward six decades, sprinkled with an addiction to watching Lance dominate in successive Tours de France. Old age was on the horizon and now it’s here, but I can still ride. None of us took any pleasure in learning that Lance cheated and indeed, we would have preferred not to know at all. But the bicycle bug had bitten, and like malaria or leishmaniasis (other bugborne maladies), the disease was incurable. Gresh wrote of collecting motorcycles; one of my serious afflications is a similar attraction/addiction to multi-geared roadbikes. I never got the Schwinn Varsity, but I’ve more than made up for it since.
One of my prize pieces is the Bianchi Campione you see in that big photo at the top of this blog. It’s one of my Italian thoroughbreds, made in a time where made in Italy really meant made in Italy (Bianchi frames are made in China today). You know, Italy. Where they make Ducatis. And Ferraris. And Lamborghinis.
Celeste green, the classic color common to Bianchi bicycles, is itself the subject of substantial and varying mythology. Post-World-War-II, the only paint the Italian manufacturer could find was OD green, and mixing it with other colors created the celeste of Bianchi fame. Don’t like that version? Another holds that it is the color of the Milan sky. Need more? How about my favorite, which is that when the Queen of Italy commissioned Edoardo Bianchi to build her bicycle, he painted it to match her eyes.
I saw the Bianchi on a Craigslist ad down in Laguna Niguel, and I was on it that day. The price was high but reasonable, the bicycle was in impeccable shape even though it was 25 years old when I bought it, and it had interesting accessories (like a color-coordinated frame pump and a stand). It was a steel-framed classic with classic down-tube shifters. Two chainrings up front and 7 on the cassette meant it had 14 speeds (less than other roadbikes I already owned but more than the 10-speed Varsity I was still compensating for), and at 55 centimeters the frame was my size. I was hooked.
I added a few extras to my vintage Campione, like the carbon fiber bottle cage
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This blog came about as a result of a phone conversation between Gresh and me. Our discussion followed its normal train-of-free-thought path and I landed on the Bianchi, and Joe suggested it might make for a good blog. I thought I might have done one on the Bianchi already (we’ve posted nearly 800 blogs here on ExNotes in the last 2 1/2 years), but I checked and I had not. We may do more bicycle blogs. Bicycles are a lot of fun. So is writing about them. Hopefully, reading about them is, too.
Do you pedal your butt all over town? Let’s hear about it. Please tell us about your adventures here in the Comments section.
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It surprised me some time ago that people who like motorcycles often have some similar appreciations. Not 100%, but close. To me, well made machines that are kept simple. So bicycles, cars, tractors, and motorcycles. The engineering becomes the beauty. Guns can fill the niche also. Music, a simple riff, some chords. Watches for some, hiking or survival equipment for others. Beautiful bike there.
Thanks, Steve. I noticed it several years ago when three interests seemed to typically be present in motorcyclce riders…motorcycles, photography, and firearms. Thank you for commenting.
I had two bikes stolen in my youth. A brand new Schwinn Stingray, two days after I got it for my 10th birthday ( the incident prompted my dad moving us full time to the Shore from Jersey City) and a spectacular Italy- made Atala with full Campagnolo kit stolen from a friend’s house when I was in High School. Both scarring experiences, remembered in full today. Your story reminds me I need to find something similar to that Bianchi. And perhaps not get it stolen.
Dreadful experience, I would imagine. I’ve never had a bicycle stolen, but it’s on my mind everytime we stop for coffee and bagels when I’m riding. My mom grew up in Jersey City. Henry Snyder High School.
Good buddy Steve has a vintage Schwinn Stingray that is sometimes on display at CSC Motorcycles.
I have another Bianchi with Campy gear. It will be the topic of a future blog. Demand for any road bike is high right now; it is one of the few things we can do during the pandemic. Bicycle stores report brisk sales.
Thanks for commenting, Andrew. Stay warm (and healthy) back there in the Garden State.
While nowhere near in the league of a Bianchi, I have a Trek 370 that I bought from a former coworker who was moving overseas. Steel frame, 25c wheels, and it fits my oversize body pretty well. It’s not worth much, and that’s fine with me.
Trek makes a good bicycle. It’s what Lance and the USPS Tour de France team rode. I always liked them. They made one about 25 years ago that had carbon fiber frame tubes and aluminum joints. I always thought it would be cool to own one of those.
Ride on, Ron, and stay safe.
I had a Peugeot road bike back in the late 60s which at the time was suppose to be state of the art Reynolds frame. My Peugeot was stolen from when locked onto a street sign so I upgraded to a Steve Bower 12 speed with the first Shimano index shifting in 1984.
As I got older (63), and couldn’t keep up riding with my 23 year old daughter, I purchase a carbon fibre Cannondale Team bike that worked just fine, especially riding from Tehachapi CA to Bakersfield and back in the California hills. Bike still running good here in Kelowna BC hills but this 78 year old rider not working as well as the bike with riding from Kelowna down to Penticton, only needing a car ride back home. You only get old if you quit riding whether a bike or a motorcycle. Still missing the 3 Flags rides after having riding in 5 of them over the years.
Gary, you are my hero. I’m 8 years behind you and feeling it already. But I still ride a bit.
I know that area (Kelowna/Penticton) having ridden through there on the 2005 3FC. Pretty country. Must be cold up there today, I would imagine. Just checked it, 30 degrees, not as cold as I would have guessed. It’s 46 degrees here today and for us Californios that’s bitter cold!
Keep riding, my friend, and stay safe.
I have an Olmo San Remo I built myself in 1987. Sold it to best friend’s bro in law and bought it back about 10 years ago. Of course, I’ve had a number of bikes along the way, but it’s nice to have the simple, old school Olmo back in my garage. I still put a thousand miles on it each year on my trainer.
That’s awesome, Jef. I got myself psyched up to get up and ride today, but it’s snowing outside right now. Maybe tomorrow.
In my 40’s I commuted to work MWF by bicycle. 20 miles each way from Irvine to Anaheim in Orange County. Record time was 57 minutes, an average speed of about 21 MPH in morning rush hour traffic. Some times I was going 0 MPH at a red light averaged with other stretches at 40 MPH drafting behind a bus in traffic. In my 50’s I moved to Long Beach and my commute was only 10 miles each way. Now in my 60’s I am in Garden Grove and only have a 5 mile ride to work. All of my current level of health and fitness I attribute to my years of bicycling. All of my aches and pains I also attribute to years of bicycling. Would not change a thing. Bicycle or motorcycle for me, I don’t like driving a car.
Awesome, Chris. Averaging 21 mph is impressive.
I had a Schwinn LeTour in college. I bought it as a replacement for a boat-anchor Roadmaster that I’d just snapped the rear derailleur on. At the time I was going to college in Houghton, Michigan. I walked across the bridge to Hancock, went to a bike store there, and told them I wanted a cheap road bike. The mountain bike craze was in full swing and $40 cash got me the LeTour, which I rode back across the bridge.
It had downtube shifters just like your Varsity, and as you note, they’re surprisingly convenient and comfortable to use — after a while my hand just fell naturally to them without looking. It was geared a bit high for Houghton’s hilly streets, but I still got a lot of great use from it. I topped 30 mph going downhill on more than one occasion. Fortunately, it also had excellent brakes.
Even after I got a car, it became a good around-campus bike and parts runner for the frequent times when the van broke down. I kept it until a few years after college, when it was stolen off my front patio — I’d developed a bad habit of leaving it there unlocked. I have a mountain bike now but somehow it doesn’t match the ride quality of that LeTour.
That’s a cool story, Orv. Thanks for sharing it with us.