I am going to post some pics in the gallery and build section today and I've been lurking long enough to know the RR vets like a profile to go along with it so here we go:
I'm an artistically inclined network engineer with a few of eccentricities, like not owning a TV and happily driving a 15 year old truck. When my job transfered me to Cleveland I started checking CL for a beater and found a Murray cruiser of unknown model & year. Since hardly anyone actually lives in downtown Cleveland you can ride all over the place after 5 pm or just about anytime on the weekends and not worry too much about traffic. At times you'll be on a 6 lane avenue with gothic stone buildings and skyscrapers on each side, but the streets are empty. It's almost a scene out of The Omega Man. That was my first real start as a bicycle enthusiast.
Then I bought a '74 Schwinn Speedster for $50 and was going to rat rod it. In order to get some experience I decided to first rat rod my Murray beater. I planned on an ode to the 50's hot rod style that used a lot of common rat themes, but then the ideas just started flowing, and I had new ideas for the Murray, more for the Speedster, and then more for "future projects". This was my start as a rat rod enthusiast.
What drew me to this site was the incredible creativity and resourcefulness, and the camaraderie and humor of the regulars. It's been amazing at times.
My rat rodding output can be very slow. Shortly after my transfer to Cleveland I was diagnosed with a neurological condition that makes me highly sensitive to airborne particulates and chemicals, and small doses of pollution or innocuous things like carpet deodorizer are now toxic to me. I can only paint outdoors with a high-end respirator and when finished I leave the frame in a neighbor's apartment for about a week until I can get near it again. During regular times I have to wear a N100/P100 respirator at least 8 hours a day and run two industrial grade air purifiers in my apartment 24/7. One of the purifiers I rat rodded for greater air flow, and one I had special ordered from China. I built a ram air system for another purifier but disassembled it after I got the two big boys running.
My days of riding are pretty much over but I still enjoy building the bikes and have a list of friends and family who want me to build rats for them. I should be transfered to a smaller city with better air quality in a couple of months, and hopefully I can take some short rides there.
Thanks for putting up with me while I didn't have an intro up. I can't wait to see what some of you guys are going to build next.
I'm an artistically inclined network engineer with a few of eccentricities, like not owning a TV and happily driving a 15 year old truck. When my job transfered me to Cleveland I started checking CL for a beater and found a Murray cruiser of unknown model & year. Since hardly anyone actually lives in downtown Cleveland you can ride all over the place after 5 pm or just about anytime on the weekends and not worry too much about traffic. At times you'll be on a 6 lane avenue with gothic stone buildings and skyscrapers on each side, but the streets are empty. It's almost a scene out of The Omega Man. That was my first real start as a bicycle enthusiast.
Then I bought a '74 Schwinn Speedster for $50 and was going to rat rod it. In order to get some experience I decided to first rat rod my Murray beater. I planned on an ode to the 50's hot rod style that used a lot of common rat themes, but then the ideas just started flowing, and I had new ideas for the Murray, more for the Speedster, and then more for "future projects". This was my start as a rat rod enthusiast.
What drew me to this site was the incredible creativity and resourcefulness, and the camaraderie and humor of the regulars. It's been amazing at times.
My rat rodding output can be very slow. Shortly after my transfer to Cleveland I was diagnosed with a neurological condition that makes me highly sensitive to airborne particulates and chemicals, and small doses of pollution or innocuous things like carpet deodorizer are now toxic to me. I can only paint outdoors with a high-end respirator and when finished I leave the frame in a neighbor's apartment for about a week until I can get near it again. During regular times I have to wear a N100/P100 respirator at least 8 hours a day and run two industrial grade air purifiers in my apartment 24/7. One of the purifiers I rat rodded for greater air flow, and one I had special ordered from China. I built a ram air system for another purifier but disassembled it after I got the two big boys running.
My days of riding are pretty much over but I still enjoy building the bikes and have a list of friends and family who want me to build rats for them. I should be transfered to a smaller city with better air quality in a couple of months, and hopefully I can take some short rides there.
Thanks for putting up with me while I didn't have an intro up. I can't wait to see what some of you guys are going to build next.
