Lucky 13

Bicycles have changed over the years. Each morning I see lycra clad stickmen on ultra light thin wheeled speed machines pedaling furiously along the roadways. Over patients, I discuss bicycling with several surgeons who are among the triathlete crowd. Much has changed. Bicycling used to be fun. A boy's bicycle was an expression of himself, with a roll of Spiderman comics under a bungie, a baseball glove strung on the handlebars, and an ace of spades beating in the spokes. What happened to turn bicycling into competitive one-up-manship?

When I made the decision to get back into bicycling, mainly for my health, I purchased a hybrid bike, but quickly found a Raleigh PUB. The PUB fit my style better, but still, something was missing........I did not build it. Thus, when I found a beat up "Sharkfire" bicycle for a decent price, I bought it.

The frame is aluminum, and I quickly stripped it of unnecessary bullshit. The front forks were some kind of spacey looking thing, so I tossed them and installed a springer fork with a bullet light. Some Texas "longhorn" bars with bullet grips topped the springer off. The seat was trashed, but a Raleigh Retroglide seat was available in the bike shop's take-off bin. I quickly snapped it up and put it on.

Small touches, like lowering the rear reflector to the axle, and polished aluminum butterfly pedals followed. Finally, it was time to replace the dry rotted and flat rubber. I found some brick red "Grand Tycoon" tires at a great deal, and ordered some along with new tubes.

The bike had taken on a decided Hot Rod/Rockabilly look, so I went to a decidedly Rockabilly/Hot Rod company to finish it off. I attached some Lucky 13 stickers to the tank plate, and straddled that puppy for a ride..........


The PUB is cool, but when I'm feeling rebellious, I want Lucky 13.