Re: your worst touring bike

I was 15 and I didn't weigh enough to drive the tractor so I could work on gthe family farms so in June of 1953 I decided to ride my single speed, 26X1/38 "English Racer" made in Austria to a little town south of Eagle Pass to visit a girlfriend.  I had on my biking outfit, blue jeans, cowboy boots, a polka dot seersucker shirt and a straw hat.  I loaded my 2 PB & J sandwiches and my 1920 era boyscout canteen on to my spring rear rack and with my marine band harmonica in my pocket I set out on my great adventure that was to be 17 miles out and then back.  It turned out to be 27 miles out and back.  At about the 25 mile mark I saw a girl in red shorts, a sleeveless white blouse, white moccasins and two blond ponytails playing with a black dog.  After about 2 more miles I forgot about the "g
 irlfiend" and turned around to get another gander at the girl in the red short shorts.  I rode by showing my consummate skill by riding no hands and huffing away on the harmonica.  In lookin
 g back all of these years I think she liked the way I sat my horse better.  I don't have a horse any more and she never complains when a new set of wheels or a frame arrives.  Turned out to be the BEST "tour" of my life on a bike that wouldn't fit the definition of a "tourer".

Jerry (the fortunate beyond comprehension) Rhodes