Why (and how) Bikes?

 I love to tinker and fix old stuff if I can do it successfully and on the cheap.

I love old cars and guns.
I'm REALLY bad with old cars beyond bolting on new parts, as evidenced by the '68 Chevelle that's been sitting gathering dust in my garage for 20+ years.

I REALLY need to get rid of this sled and free up some garage space.

I'm fairly good with guns, and enjoy them still to this day.
Both of the above require deep pockets...which I ain't got.
So...the bike thing came up after I just couldn't stand seeing a fixable junker on a buddy's scrapping trailer.

I biked as a kid in the late 60's and 70's and enjoyed the freedom. Back then bikes and skateboards were how we got around.
Except for a Sears stingray knockoff, which was soon destroyed, I never had a new bike as a kid. It was always hand-me-downs or something I cobbled together from scrapyard parts. I got a lot of grief from my buddies for some of the jalopies I slapped together and brush-painted with dark green house paint! I used these rigs for my paper route.
My folks were too broke to afford an always-lusted-after Schwinn. Geared bikes were a fantasy for me back then.
I dreamed of a Varsity, Continental, or the pinnacle...LeTour.

In 7th grade I bought a used lemon yellow Collegiate from my social studies teacher with my paper route savings. I was in heaven! I had the local Schwinn dealer do some upgrades because I wasn't confident in my abilities with the fancy schmancy bikes and I didn't want to mess it up.
I rode the wheels off that rig.
Then I got my drivers license, and that was the end of cycling for a little while.
I discovered chicks, beer, and weed...and the bikes were forgotten.
I experimented with university for a couple of years and had the yellow Collegiate there.
That experiment failed miserably, so I joined the Marine Corps and dabbled with that for a few years.

In the meantime, my Dad got rid of the yellow Collegiate because he was tired of it taking up space in his garage.

I met a wonderful women in the late 80's. We got married in 1990.
We bought brand new matching Schwinn Frontier MTBs.
We started a family. Two sons and a daughter.
Many bikes for me to maintain. I was not having "motorized" anything for them.
All pedal power.
No fat, unfit kids in my house!

It paid off. They are all fit, active, intelligent uni grads!
Much smarter and better looking than their old man.

That's my story in a nutshell.
Sorry for boring you to death!