"And coming around the final turn is OddJob on his 50's muscle hog; 'Helen Wheels' . Will he make the finish by the end of August? Stay tuned, and keep the rubber side down!"
So, a little back story is needed to appreciate this bike. When my grandpa died tragically at the age of 61 back in '68, my grandma (Helen) wasn't ready to try and keep the farm going, since both my uncles were off in college and headed for careers. So she sold the farm, and moved into a house in the small town nearby.
She was a feisty woman, who once told me when I was 14 and riding in her 1969 Gran Torino with her,
"I can beat anybody off the light in this car!" And then promptly dusted the guy next to her.
She also continued to work well into her 70's. Her mainstay for a few years was as a combination janitor / lunch lady at the local elementary school. One day, while doing some waxing of floors a couple weeks after school was out, she noticed that there was still a bike chained to the bike rack outside. Deciding that it had been there long enough, she grabbed the biggest pair of bolt cutters they had, and made the bike her own.
For the next few years that she still had the house, all the grand kids would ride this bike whenever we were visiting. None of us had one of these at our houses, and we thought it was cool. The seat was big enough for two, if the passenger was a younger cousin. When she moved into an apt with little space, we took the bike out to our place, and my youngest brother rode it with us older ones taking a turn now and then as well.
When my dad passed away 7 yrs ago, we all spent a couple days at Mom's cleaning out the attic in the garage. My dad was great at valuing the old stuff / memories, and I gleaned my original trike, and some of his old logging / carpentry tools. My brother grabbed the bike (the day before I got there) and his Coast King pedal tractor along with the stave wagon my dad had custom made for the tractor.
As I was gazing at Chad T's 'Sting Rat' build the other day, a thought burned in my head,"I wonder what happened to that old bike of Helen's?" I remembered it had a purple seat cover, and that it was sprayed purple, but there was original green underneath. I couldn't for the life of me, remember if it was an actual Schwinn or not. So I sent my brother a text, and sure enough, he has had that bike in his garage attic for the past 7 yrs. You know, the kind of brother that doesn't volunteer any information unless he is asked.
I asked if he would bring it along on his next trip north, and on Thursday, I picked it up at my niece's house.
Through Chad T , Kingfish, a guy on the Muscle Bikes fb site and The CABE, guys have said it's a pig bike, some Schwinn stuff, Columbia frame (likely), Huffy crank possibly, etc. The term 'pig' feels a bit derogatory to me. I prefer 'muscle hog'.
And after 50 years, Helen Wheels has found a new home in the BACK40....
So, a little back story is needed to appreciate this bike. When my grandpa died tragically at the age of 61 back in '68, my grandma (Helen) wasn't ready to try and keep the farm going, since both my uncles were off in college and headed for careers. So she sold the farm, and moved into a house in the small town nearby.
She was a feisty woman, who once told me when I was 14 and riding in her 1969 Gran Torino with her,
"I can beat anybody off the light in this car!" And then promptly dusted the guy next to her.
She also continued to work well into her 70's. Her mainstay for a few years was as a combination janitor / lunch lady at the local elementary school. One day, while doing some waxing of floors a couple weeks after school was out, she noticed that there was still a bike chained to the bike rack outside. Deciding that it had been there long enough, she grabbed the biggest pair of bolt cutters they had, and made the bike her own.
For the next few years that she still had the house, all the grand kids would ride this bike whenever we were visiting. None of us had one of these at our houses, and we thought it was cool. The seat was big enough for two, if the passenger was a younger cousin. When she moved into an apt with little space, we took the bike out to our place, and my youngest brother rode it with us older ones taking a turn now and then as well.
When my dad passed away 7 yrs ago, we all spent a couple days at Mom's cleaning out the attic in the garage. My dad was great at valuing the old stuff / memories, and I gleaned my original trike, and some of his old logging / carpentry tools. My brother grabbed the bike (the day before I got there) and his Coast King pedal tractor along with the stave wagon my dad had custom made for the tractor.
As I was gazing at Chad T's 'Sting Rat' build the other day, a thought burned in my head,"I wonder what happened to that old bike of Helen's?" I remembered it had a purple seat cover, and that it was sprayed purple, but there was original green underneath. I couldn't for the life of me, remember if it was an actual Schwinn or not. So I sent my brother a text, and sure enough, he has had that bike in his garage attic for the past 7 yrs. You know, the kind of brother that doesn't volunteer any information unless he is asked.
Through Chad T , Kingfish, a guy on the Muscle Bikes fb site and The CABE, guys have said it's a pig bike, some Schwinn stuff, Columbia frame (likely), Huffy crank possibly, etc. The term 'pig' feels a bit derogatory to me. I prefer 'muscle hog'.











And after 50 years, Helen Wheels has found a new home in the BACK40....
