Tag Archives: bike ride

Retro Fair Haven Ride

A special Fair Haven bike ride in the 1960s Photo/courtesy of Peter Mauger
A special Fair Haven bike ride in the 1960s
Photo/courtesy of Peter Mauger

There’s nothing quite like taking a ride with your buddies when you’re a little kid, especially if your bike is a tractor, too.

What kid rides a tractor in the Rumson-Fair Haven area? Well, back in the 1960s, Fair Havenite Peter Mauger did. He, the pint-sized driver carted Nancy Wilson down Lake Avenue in what was a combo tractor-bike with a cool little trailer to lug stuff or a pal in — a “dump trac,” to be exact. Susan Wilson, old and cool enough to ride a two-wheeler with a bell, rode along.

No power wheels in the form of high end, luxury cars. No helmets. No special permission needed to drive a dump trac, because, you know, they’re rural kinds of vehicles.

And the streets were barren enough in those days to ride up and down and even around the block on a seemingly endless loop. Hey, neighborhood kids used to also play dodge ball and hopscotch in the street. But, that’s a retro pic for another day.

Today, the Retro Pic of the Day, courtesy of Peter Mauger, honors a kids’  bike ride of a simpler time — not that there’s anything wrong with helmets and designer power wheels.

What kind of bike did you have? Your dream bike or foot-pedaled car? Remember those?