Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

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Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby harry ashburn » Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:15 pm


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(bad old embed code originally meant for old windows media player embeds of some sort. now removed from main posting screen.)
here's what was enclosed in old wonky embed tags:
Cuban man's tall bike a new sight in Havana

Felix Guirola rides 13 feet above the ground on his homemade bike, dodging the Detroit classics in Havana. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... avana.html









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Felix Guirola dodges the Detroit classics in Havana while riding his 13ft high bicycle Photo: AP Photo/Franklin Reyes

























1:18PM BST 06 Jun 2012

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Many people would be leery of cycling through chaotic downtown Havana, sharing its narrow, potholed streets with the darting scooters, incorrigible jaywalkers and hulking 1950s Detroit classics that clog every byway.


Felix Guirola does it every day, and not on just any bicycle.


Guirola rides 13 feet (4 meters) above the ground atop his homemade super-tall bike, peering over pickup trucks and even buses and without a helmet or other protective gear to break a fall.


"I feel good up high. I don't get nauseated or dizzy, nothing like that," the 48-year-old Guirola said. "Up there I see the scenery better. I feel relaxed. There's more of a breeze, I breathe it and I feel freer."


Since Guirola sold his home in the central province of Ciego de Avila and moved to Havana in November, the odd spectacle of him pedalling around town at eye-level with second-story apartments has become a daily occurrence. But neighbours still turn their heads and gawk, and smiling tourists whip out digital cameras.



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"It's crazy. It must be difficult to keep his balance up there," said Rafael Trejo, a 55-year-old motorist. "And when he comes to a stoplight, he must be a ninja to be able to climb down from there."

In fact, Guirola more resembles a daring child on a jungle gym than a deadly assassin. To mount, he has other people stabilise the bike while he scrambles up the metal frame. When a red light looms, he starts lowering himself while the bike's still in motion, leaps to the ground and grabs the frame before it can topple.

"It's easy. ... It's perfectly normal for me," said Guirola, an athletic man of medium stature who practised judo and boxing in his youth. "I never get scared, nor have I fallen, and I obey all traffic laws."

Guirola has been riding tall since 1983, when seeing a tandem bike inspired him to build up instead of out. He said his first tall bike measured 5.3 feet (1.6 meters), and they got progressively taller until five years later he was riding 18 feet (5.5 meters) in the air at Ciego de Avila carnivals.

That would put Guirola in the ballpark of the world record.

A representative of Guinness World Records told The Associated Press in an email that it currently recognises as the world's tallest rideable bicycle an 18-foot, 2.5-inch (5.55-meter) contraption that was ridden more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) in 2004 by Canadian Terry Goertzen.

Guirola is nearing completion of another 18-footer to use in Havana, and he's planning a 26-footer (8 meters) sometime in the future. But he said he was returning to Ciego de Avila this week to work out some residency issues, so he's not planning an immediate attempt to mount the taller bike.

His dream is to earn a living from the bike through tips or performance payments, and along the way honour the memory of his disabled sister, who died two decades ago. Guirola's sister Eneida had a brain tumour that was operated on when she was in her early 20s, and afterward had problems with balance and was unable to walk without assistance. After living that way for about a decade she died at age 33.

"I told her that one day with my giant bike I would make enough money to buy her everything she needed for her disability," Guirola recalled tearfully. "Eneida is no longer around to see me, but I want to keep my promise. And if one day I win an award, I'll give part of the money to help disabled children in Cuba like my sister."

For now, the occasional tip is not enough to pay the bills, and he lives off savings and the meagre income from his wife's privately run cafeteria.

A welder by trade, Guirola has used the proceeds from the sale of his home to buy parts for the new bike he is building. A nearby workshop charges him a nominal fee for a space to store and work on the bike, which he has yet to try out even though it lacks only the finishing touches.

"I haven't ridden the 5.5-meter one yet," said Guirola, "because I want to do it when it's painted and all pretty and try to win a Guinness record."

Source: AP
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby harry ashburn » Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:17 pm

again, i failed to embed properly, i guess.. sorry
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby Pele'sDaughter » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:00 pm

That's absolutely insane. :shock:

Ever the curious female, I had to go find it and discovered I couldn't do anything with the photo either. When I right clicked on it there were no properties and no option to copy or save. :shrug:
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And at the same time,
Don't believe that they say anything without a reason.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:30 am

8)
Image
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby elfismiles » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:39 pm

These have been very popular in Austin the last couple years... though I don't think I've seen one quite THAT big.

scroogle "tall bikes" for more pics.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby harry ashburn » Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:35 am

dear pelesdaughter... moderator Jeff sez the "embed" function no longer works,you need to use a "image-sharing service". NOT!

sMiles: watch your head at underpasses!
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby Allegro » Thu Jun 14, 2012 2:21 am

.

    ^ Meet Cuba’s tall bike cyclist
Art will be the last bastion when all else fades away.
~ Timothy White (b 1952), American rock music journalist
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby Nordic » Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:13 am

I've seen bikes like that around here, although not that tall, and I've always wondered how they get on and off of them. Seems like a long ways to go.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby harry ashburn » Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:55 pm

re: how to mount and dismount: unicyclists shimmy up the device real quick and start pedalling. they climb down the same way, or let it scoot out from under them and land on the ground.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby elfismiles » Thu Jun 14, 2012 5:01 pm

Most of them have a sloped backend with steps along that spine they walk up very quickly.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby Stephen Morgan » Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:20 am

When did Scroogle come back?
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible. -- Lawrence of Arabia
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby elfismiles » Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:39 am

Stephen Morgan wrote:When did Scroogle come back?


Nope ... sorry Stephen. Just an old habit of using the word.
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Re: Cuban Man's Tall Bike a New Sight in Havana

Postby Schmazo » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:43 pm

Perhaps some day he will even build up enough circus-trick gumption to slam-dunk a basketball from off of his bicycle and into here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andhewasfouled/3049956413/
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