The Amazing Silver Cruiser

 It was the mid-nineties, a glorious time to be alive. I was starting my transition from Denver rave kid into mountain town ski bum. My bicycling life was also transitioning from BMX freestyler into mountain biker. My '89 Haro Master had served me well as a ramp ridin' trick machine, but it was no longer needed. I gave it to my good buddy Randy.

Some time after I moved to Leadville I was visiting him and he told me he had something for me. He explained he had traded the Haro for another bike and now I needed to take it. That was the first time I saw the Firestone Silver Cruiser . I was immediately taken by the chromed cantilever frame and shining chrome fenders. I didn't know I needed a cruiser bike in my life, but here it was. 

You hear the phrase "all original " thrown around which sounds a lot better than " never maintained, worn out and faded." But this rig was exactly that, nothing had been changed since it was assembled some time in the olden days. (Google ai says 1959-1962) The spring seat was hard, flat nylon. The pedals spun to the sound of loose worn bearings. The painted gas tank and tail flare must have been a dazzling red at one point, now they had faded to a sickly pale pink, leaving the pin striping and logo that identified it as a Firestone Silver Cruiser. Capping off the "original" parts were a set of white-walled Firestone 'Speed Cushion' tires

This was before the big cruiser fad of the 2000's and most people had only seen one other iconic cruiser

At first I didn't do much with it. I lived in Leadville over a winter with a big snow year, but the following year I moved to Crested Butte. The land of the townie bikes. My cruiser would now rest in the bike rack among others of it's ilk.

Moving into Crested Butte presented it's own little logistics challenge. I drove into town in a Bronco camper and camped until I landed a room to rent. I had my mt. bike and the cruiser, but I had left my Toyota Corolla in Salida and needed to retrieve it. I devised a plan to ride a bike from the top of Cottonwood pass down to Salida and get the car, it should be mostly down hill right? A practical choice would be the mt. bike, but I thought, No! I'm a Crested Buttian now, so I will ride the cruiser.

I caught a ride in back of a pickup to the top of Cottonwood, at the time the west side was still unpaved. The driver said, you know I can take you to Buena Vista. But I politely declined as I pulled the cruiser out of the truck. I confidently stuck a water bottle in the newspaper carrier on the front fender and put on a floppy hat. Then I began my descent from the 12,000 ft summit all the way to town at 7,800 ft.

The 'origional' coaster brake worked for the first couple of switchbacks and then it became useless. From there I just hung on tight and let gravity take me. The 'origional' Speed Cushion tires hugged the turns and held together without any catastrophic blowouts. I made it to Buena Vista and realized I was no longer going downhill as I rode the one-speed most of the way to Salida before hitching another ride.

The Silver Cruiser loved living in CB. All of us had a townie bike, vintage Schwinn's were the most coveted, but the Firestone was unique.  I would ride it to Camp 4 Coffee for my morning brew, then hang out at the front door of Mountain Auto waiting for my boss to roll in after a hard night of partying. Sometimes I would come out of a bar and, like Peewee Herman, my bike would be missing. Then I would walk down Elk Ave to another bar and there it would be, safely parked in the rack by someone else who couldn't resist taking it for a spin.

One Halloween  I dressed as The Greatest American Hero. I already had the curly blond fro, I just needed a suit.

The red long sleeve shirt and tights were easy thrift store finds. Then I slipped black Speedo's over the tights and tied a cape around my neck. This was pre-internet and no one could remember exactly what his chest emblem was. I settled on a big 'G.' The crew assembled and we pre-pre-partied before we pre-partied, then we went to the party. Then we headed to the bars. I was pedaling down Elk on the Silver Cruiser when the cape got pulled into the back wheel and nearly yanked me off the bike while choking me.

In winter time I would strip the fenders and accessories off the cruiser and fit it with mountain bike tires. The shiny chrome frame looked dope as a clunker bike. Eventually I got sick of the 'origional' paint job because it looked like crap, so I painted it black. Also the crappy seat, pedals and tires went into the trash. I did a little research when the internet came out I learned that if it had been the deluxe "Super Cruiser" it might really be worth something, but it wasn't.

Sadly, one day I left Crested Butte. I took the cruiser with me and I've had it ever since. The 2000's brought an explosion of cruiser culture. Suddenly cantilever frames were back, only they were more comfortable, lighter and had three speeds. In 2026 most of the Electra retro cruisers have faded away too and now the only thing cruising the sidewalks are ebikes.

When I move to Longmont in '06 I found the Cruiser's mate in the metal recycling bin. It's a Firestone girl's bike. This Firestone Pilot is actually older than the Cruiser because it has the unique skip tooth chain that was phased out in the early 50's. 

I don't need either of these bikes so my plan is to bring them to Crested Butte and release them into the wild. I think I'll stop at Cottonwood Pass on my way out and take one more run down the hill...