THINKING OF RASPBERRY KOOL-AID

A story of makeshift bike ramps and safety-second in the '70s

By the time the tanker truck’s tires bark and buck to a stop, the rig is forty yards downhill past the entrance to the parking lot. It’s 1979 and your bicycle is wrenched around the front axle — a permanent yellow and scraped silver knot of alloy. Its black banana seat has skidded to a stop against the far curb. Scattered pieces of reflectors, spark-red…