Hasta La Ideas

Some of you may already know about the fella in the picture above—after all, he makes a living by performing in a heavily trafficked intersection in Chicago, where he is colloquially known as the “Bike Flip” guy. It turns out that his full nom de guerre is “Flip Bike Travis,” and while I didn’t press him for further biographical details, I did have the opportunity to witness the showman in action—in a special St. Patrick’s Day costume, no less. This, folks, is what the iPhone 5S slo-mo cam was made for:

Those who frequent Wicker Park have surely seen the DIYer extraordinaire at some point, though I consider myself lucky that he elected to brave the intermittent flurries (and heavily inebriated revelers) on a chilly Saturday night, layered up in his winter gear and a fantastic costume—one of my colleagues described it as “a giant koosh ball”—for the occasion. (He remarked that he thought that the slick streets would make for a nice visual effect, and that he’d actually made the costume before he built the bike itself.)

As for his sweet ride? Travis estimated that it weighs in at about 70lbs (let’s just say it’s not crafted from Reynolds 853 or Columbus SLX) and it’s hard to tell from the photos, but there is a tread along the outside of the outer arc. The LEDs are powered by a NiMH battery pack under the saddle, and the switch is hidden inside of the foam, er, dongle off the front.

Travis was also confident enough to go for a double—don’t try this at home:

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