You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Alright show-off, let's see a wheelie 

Has anyone else seen the ever-growing hoard of people riding radically modified bicycles around town? “Tall-Bikes,” as those in the know call them (Google = fountain of all knowledge), have been around since the 17th Century. Some of these homemade towers on wheels are more than 10 feet tall. But why? What makes people collect old bikes, weld them into strange creations, and then ride atop them? A need for attention, adrenalitis, or just a slight chemical imbalance?

About a month ago, I was walking through South Minneapolis. In the distance, I saw a woman on a tall-bike traveling in the opposite direction. I stopped and watched this ten foot tall piece of metal and its ‘pilot.’ There was pretty heavy traffic and cars parked bumper to bumper all along the curb. Suddenly the van in front of the pilot slammed-on the brakes… she deftly swerved around it, missing by inches. The international symbol for ‘F You’ was used and she continued on down the street.

Now can you imagine the scene had she not been able to dodge the van?

If you spend some time around the Twin Cities, especially Minneapolis, you will see these tall-bikes everywhere. There is an entire subculture, a group of people not unlike “Trekkies” or D&D fans. They have their own language, their own hierarchy, and their own ‘gangs.’

An unspoiled/untapped subculture…hmmm… I wonder how long before it is featured in a Mountain Dew commercial. Or Hollywood snatches-up the subculture’s story for “Skypedallers” starring Keanu Reeves as “2 Tall” the tall-bike ‘guru.’


Has anyone else had any run-ins with these sky commanders?