When I was 8 or 9 I saw my first 10-speed bicycle. Some guy who lived in our neighborhood had one. Every so often I'd see him ride past our house. I thought the guy must be a famous bicycle racer or something.

The bike was exotic and strange with its gears and levers and cables and hooked handlebars.

I thought, "What a cool bike!" I had to have one.

It was about 8 years later, in 1970, that I bought my first 10 speed. I was a junior in high school. I got a job and as soon as I earned enough, I bought a used Raleigh from a friend at school.

The Raleigh was nice, but then I visited my older brother Jim who was at the University of Wisconsin. Jim worked at the Yellow Jersey bike coop in Madison. He had a high performance bike with sew-ups and toe-clips. He let me ride it. It was so much nicer than my Raleigh. I had to have one.