If you’ve ever glanced at Cape Cod Craigslist, chances are you’ve seen the eccentric work of Christopher Metcalfe.
He is the man behind the lawnmower bicycle, the toilet bicycle, the golfbag bike, and the merry-go-round bike.
He buys bikes from all over: yard sales, the dump, Craigslist and stores them in the basement. Some of them get fixed up and sold on. When I arrived a customer was just leaving with a refurbished bike to explore trails on Cape Cod. Other bikes go on to become wackier inventions.
It all started 30 years ago when his dad who was president of the Dennis Chamber of Commerce wanted to raise money for the local libraries. His dad was the owner of a B&B, the WestWind. Christopher had the idea to get all the B&Bs together to have a bed race. He started looking for old bikes to take apart and build beds on wheels. The bed race, by the way, still happens. It’s now moved from Dennis to Yarmouth.
Christopher Metcalfe doesn’t work on his own. He has people come from all over to work with him. Students and seasonal workers help out to learn the craft and then go off to set up bike repair shops of their own.
Over the years, he estimates he’s sold around 9,000 bicycles. Businesses especially love the themed bikes. In the past he’s done a snow plow bike that you might have seen in the parking lot of Mid-Cape Home Centers. He says he can’t keep up the number of lawnmower bikes he’s sold.
Other bikes come from his imagination. “Just anything we run into. I think can I make a bike out of that,” says Christopher Metcalfe.
Christopher Metcalfe Creations can be found online and on Craigslist.
By Rebecca Romo, Lifestyle Reporter CapeCod.com