Welcome to the first ever edition of LGBG's Friday Flashback! (applause) Which means two things. One...I stole the idea from my long-lost twin in Iowa that I've never met: Tracey, and two...I finally opened the scanner that I've owned for 10 months and have been using as a footrest under my desk.
Today's vintage circa 1967 Instamatic print features my daddy, an infant Little Girl Pre Glasses, (me) and the most bitchin' 1966 Rollfast Tandem bike EVER.
A few things to note:
• I can really rock a bonnet, no?
• Check out my dad's awesome Elvis hair and tortoise shell shades.
• And, see that basket? They used to put us kids in there. And ride around. Which was totally cool. Later, when my younger sister was born, she'd be up there in a baby seat, my parents would be on the bike seats, my older sister sat on the luggage rack, and I was somewhere... anyway, the whole fam damily could fit on this bike. It was like an eco-friendly open-air SUV before its time. Also it had a headlight. For night trips.
I have recently become obsessed with getting myself an exact replica of this bike. We live in a very bike-y neighborhood, all kinds of great places to go like taverns, parks, bars, taverns - all within biking distance on pretty tree-lined streets. And, didja know? The person on the back only has to pretend to pedal, so basically I could just ride around relaxing with a cool beverage and possibly even a book while Big Dude pedals me around and works out his thigh muscles. (Which are really fine the way the are but he seems to enjoy working out, so who am I to deny him?) A win-win, really.
So...I'm searching for a black and white 1966 Rollfast Tandem Bicycle which means, of course, they're rare. Apparently, they made a gazillion red ones, but not too many black ones. I've found them on craigslist in other states, but no one will ship me a $200, 200 pound bike.
I also found this ridiculously cool painting of one.
If any of you out there in webosphere have a dusty black Rollfast tandem bike in your garage/barn/grandma's basement/neighbor's toolshed, let me know...in the meantime, I'm trying to fit a 135 pound twelve year old on the handlebars of my mountain bike and it's just embarrassing.
UPDATE! I just got an email from Taliah (The bike artist. Try to keep up.) and she's going to paint a whole new version of the Rollfast Tandem in acrylics on paper, kind of like this painting and I'm so excited I could dance like Snoopy because honestly I was totally going to have to redecorate most of my house (or move to a loft) to match that red background. If you know someone who appreciates the bike form as art, please go to her website and get them some nifty notecards or a shirt or something. She's totally cool.
Ah the tandem bike. That one rocks, I can see why you'd want to track one down. If you ever find one in the tri-state area of Missouri, Iowa or Eastern Nebraska let me know. I'll ship the goddamn thing to you.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has a real knack for finding things on CL. I'll put him on the trail, too. You'll get yer bike, missy.
You might want to try setting up a Google Alert for "black and white 1966 Rollfast Tandem" or something along those lines....maybe just "1966 Rollfast Tandem." I would use quotation marks to keep to the desired subject. Google will email you when anything is posted on the subject.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of Taliah Lempert's work. That's how I found your blog. :)