Electro-Rat
Some newcomers to the Rat Patrol have begun to take things in a new direction. Paul's specialty is mobile audio, and Todd rigged up a mobile FM radio station on a trailer for use on Critical Mass rides. Here's one of Todd's latest creations, the electro-rat. This bike's Whispering Wheel motor makes absolutely no noise. With the batteries disguised (say, in the false bed of a trailer for the Tour Da Chicago) there's almost no indication that this bike has a motor. Yet it can get up to 45 mph! He chopped out the rear triangle a bit to accommodate that small wheel (smaller wheels = more efficient) and made his own batteries. It weighs 60 pounds and has a throttle on the right drop. I find it a bit too fast for its crappy, trash-bike front brake. But I wholly endorse the idea of cobbling together trash to make a vehicle that can get around town faster than anything else AND evades certain legal issues by being a vehicle without precedent (most electric vehicles being too slow to require a license and helmet, for example)
St. Ratrick's Day
St. Ratrick was a legendary saint who drove all the snakes from Ireland, leaving the country safe for rats. Every year a huge parade is held in Chicago to honor the many Irish immigrants who settled here. But how can we forget that other immigrant to North America: the Norway Rat?
The 2003 Parade was an unusual situation for rats which usually only come out at night. This is the first time the Rat Patrol has been an official participant in the parade. To celebrate this occasion, we invited the Black Label Bike Club from Minneapolis and the Chicago chapter of the Scallywags to join us. There were even two representatives of the Minneapolis Scallywags there!
The weather in Chicago in March can be bitterly cold, but this year the icy fingers of winter loosened and we were treated to an amazing 60-degree balmy sunny day. This was important, because it turns out that participating in the parade involves far more standing around and hanging out with other parade units than ever moving anywhere.
Images submitted by Bikefreeek.
Loading up bikes to supply waiting Rats.
Mpls Scallies picked up these nice loud horns down in Brazil.
Reddude is the Rat Patrol's senior member and font of wisdom.
Bored Black Labels.
Gotta love a homemade wooden recumbent. You can make one too by chopping a bike in half and clamping two long pieces of wood in the middle!
The plowbike's blade is raised and lowered via brake lever. A good tactic is to get up a head of steam before you drop the blade and clear a swath.
Click here for more pictures of St. Ratrick's Day!
