{"id":5837,"date":"2015-09-17T08:27:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T06:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conradstoltz.com\/?p=5837"},"modified":"2015-09-17T08:28:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T06:28:00","slug":"my-first-knobbly-tyre-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conradstoltz.com\/index.php\/my-first-knobbly-tyre-bike\/","title":{"rendered":"My first knobbly tyre bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EersteMTB1979.JPG\"<\/p>\n

My \u201cKnoppebandefiets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plate number was the right one all along!<\/p>\n

I was a rabid cyclist at the age of 5. It was the year 1979 and it was Christmas.<\/p>\n

Santa (my dad minus the Santa costume) wheeled in the most amazing bike I had aver laid eyes upon- in fact, it was a little motorbike. Minus the engine.<\/p>\n

It was black with yellow plastics: Mud guards, a number plate, (#1) even a little bottomless petrol tank. The suspension was HUGE. (ok, I was 5) Double coil springs in the rear and the front end looked JUST like a \u201cScrambler\u201d. Except, after a few years my dad bolted the lions\u2019 head of our Peugeot hood ornament on the front mud guard.<\/p>\n

The bike had a long banana seat and a cutting edge back pedal brake. But most importantly- it had knobbly tires. At last, the \u201cknoppe bande fiets\u201d I had been dreaming about.<\/p>\n

Of course, the bike was way too big. The frame had some ridiculous guarantee, so my parents bought the bike a few sizes too big as it \u201cwould last forever\u201d and I would \u201cgrow into it\u201d.<\/p>\n

I remember not really being able to ride it properly for a while. (even though I was a little Greg Minnaar on my little purple 12\u201d tire bike)\u00a0 But soon I had built jumps in the back yard and went \u201cskidding\u201d with the other kids on an open piece of dirt behind George the Greeks corner Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

I loved that bike and went everywhere on it. After years of faithful service and many a scuffed knee or elbow it got stolen. Probably ended up in Bike Heaven. Also known as\u00a0 a \u201cTownship\u201d.<\/p>\n

By then the BMX mania was in full swing, and after a respectable mourning period, a birthday became a visit to heaven with a shiny Kamikaze BMX with a Chrome Molebdium frame, a number \u201c88\u201d racing plate, bear trap pedals and yellow tires. But thats another story in itself\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My \u201cKnoppebandefiets.\u201d The plate number was the right one all along! I was a rabid cyclist at the age of 5. It was the year 1979 and it was Christmas. Santa (my dad minus the Santa costume) wheeled in the most amazing bike I had aver laid eyes upon- in fact, it was a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1625],"tags":[1857,1749,1754,1855,1856],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n