Pedal away, sky’s the limit

Amarjot Kaur

We are about 9 feet 6 inches away from finding our Richie Trimble—the man who, as mentioned in the Guinness World Record, built the tallest ‘rideable’ bicycle called “Stoopidtaller”, measuring 6.15 m (20 ft 2.5 in) in Los Angeles, California, USA, on December 26, 2013.

Taking one step at a time, 39-year-old cyclist Rajiv Kumar created a 10-foot-six-inch tall bicycle in 2014. He is quick to mention that this is the third of his inventions and that his name finds mention in the Limca Book of Records. 

Childhood love

“I was in tenth standard when I first created a bicycle—that was in 1995. Ever since bicycles have fascinated me, even though they have been considered out of fashion, I have not outgrown my love for them,” he begins. Kumar proudly showcases an album containing pictures of his newly constructed bicycle. He had made it in 2014, a year after constructing an 8-foot-six-inch tall bike. “That too was mentioned in the Limca Book of Records and Unique World Records,” he says. 

At Sector 41 is Rajiv’s AC repair shop that also shares the credit for being a makeshift garage where his bikes are built. “I build these cycles under the name Johny Creations; Johny being my nickname,” he adds.

First attempt

Johny takes us back to the time when he first made his own cycle. He claims that there’s not a road in the city that he hasn’t travelled on his cycle, “My father had a welding shop in Sector 55. I frequented that shop and toyed with machines. As I got taller, the cycle I rode kept getting smaller. When I lifted the seat, my feet couldn’t reach the pedal, so I lifted it up too. That’s where it all began—at my father’s welding shop,” he adds.

Travel along

Borrowing Corbusier’s artistic signature for the City Beautiful, the Open Hand, Rajiv’s new bicycle has a body of stainless steel with fibre mudguards, and tyres by a tyre manufacturing company, Kenda. “With no official training in mechanics or engineering, I spent over Rs 90,000 to build this bike. Also, the headlight here is a rarity now... it’s TVS Luna’s headlight,” he adds. 

With a dream to make a Guinness World Record, Rajiv has been trying to make money out of his ‘Johny-good-creations’ by advertising for companies and campaigns. He has travelled from Chandigarh to Delhi in the past and wants to travel to Mumbai now, but with lack of sponsors, he is left to advertise for traffic campaigns and companies on his bicycle. 

“I have advertised for Britannia, Healthy World, Chitkara University, Amtrak restaurant, Fin Matters and an NGO called Arrive Safe, in the past. I got Rs 2 lakh to cycle for Chitkara, that too only on Sundays; but I do need to make more money to travel more on this bicycle and create some more perhaps,” he signs off, leaving us with an invite—evenings at Sector 42’s New Lake. “That’s where I usually am,” he says.

amarjot@tribunemail.com