CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - A southeast Missouri man is creating an unusually tall mode of transportation.
Parker Bond handcrafts tall bicycles, a subcategory of what he calls "freak bikes." The Cape Girardeau resident's own cycle stands at 6 feet tall, the Southeast Missourian reported.
"It's like being a kid on a bike for the first time, every time," he said.
Bond, 26, first saw tall bikes in New Orleans, and built his first one last year. He makes his bikes with spare parts he collects and keeps in his backyard.
He said his creations are meant to be a financially and environmentally responsible mode of transportation, and he rarely encounters issues with other motorists when traveling.
"No one ever gets mad at you on a tall bike," Bond said. "Most people are just so stoked to see one or they are trying to figure out what's going on."
Bond hopes to build taller bikes, and currently wants to build one that would stand 9 feet tall.
"That's the ridiculous, punk-rock side of the whole thing," he said. "It's about doing something just because it's ridiculous."
Bond said he'll teach people to make or ride a tall bike, but would never make a business out of it because "it's really just (about) trying to redeem something that's otherwise useless."