Riding bicycles has been an integral part of my life ever since getting my first one in 1971. Mom took me to the park where, to my surprise, Dad had a shiny new Schwinn Typhoon with training wheels waiting for me. That bike, pictured above, was the love of my life.

The first cruiser I paid for myself was a bargain variety that lasted one day. If memory serves, my friends and I jumped it into a swimming pool with a ramp we’d built to catapult us into the water. Not surprisingly, we broke the frame in two. Next, I went with a steel frame number that today would be considered ‘vintage’ and have since accumulated an ever-growing collection of cruiser bikes in my garage, much to my wife’s chagrin.

Thirty-seven years later, having again fallen in love with the bicycles of my youth, I have come full circle. Everywhere I go I see bright-colored cruisers parked in bicycle racks. The pure fun they radiate always brings a smile to my face. That’s the beauty of the cruiser culture–it comes with a smile.

So does Kickstand.

This magazine is just a snapshot of the massive amount of fun being had by people riding cruiser bicycles. We wanted to create something that not only chronicles the culture, but provides a way for others to tap into that. So if there’s some cruiser event going on in your town, or you are making custom bikes, or you have a whole collection of cruiser bicycles, we want to hear from you. Share your stories, your antics, your collections; you certainly aren’t alone and we’ll find a place for them here, somewhere.

We’ve created CruiserRide.com to enable cruisers everywhere to connect with each other and share their passion. Mountain bikers and road bikers have their own magazines, Web sites and sporting events. But cruiser bicycles and the people who ride them have have largely been left out, until now. Kickstand is the first step to highlighting the riders, the rides and the fun that’s inherently attached to these classic bicycles. And we’ll be bringing the fun to you this summer with a series of launch parties in cities around the U.S. Stay tuned for details.

Launching this venture is both exciting and nerve-racking. It’s awesome to be able to combine our professional experience with something that we are passionate about and see it all come together. That’s part of the fun, and this first issue is the result of those efforts.

The ride thus far has been exciting, and we’ve only just begun.