|  By
Juliana Keeping
The curious crowd crammed onto
the platforms surrounding the wooden, cylindrical 1941 carnival
motorcycle attraction.
Standing on toes and peering
over the rim, sweating in the heat of the black-and-white
checkered tent, they waited for the Wall of Death motorcycle
show, and Rhett Rotten was there to give it to them.
"Please don't forget, this
is Rhett Rotten live. We're goin' to jump-start your heart.
Here we go," he told the crowd, revving up his 1957 Harley
Hummer.
Within seconds, his bike scaled
the walls of the cage as it ripped around and around, the
oak slats jolting under the weight of the bike and biker,
and the whole contraption, platform and cage, swaying and
creaking slightly.
On a 1927 Indian Scout, he sat
sidesaddle as the bike circled over the walls. He touched
his hands briefly behind his back in the position and the
crowd cheered and screamed. Moments later, he kicked his feet
onto the handle bars and crossed his ankles.
He also prompted the crowd to
hold folded $1 bills over the rim, which he grabbed one by
one as his motocycle spun.
"It was fun watching how
to do tricks and how he does really fast on the wall,"
said Danielle Gundy, 11, who was there with her mom, Pam,
of Rives Junction. "It was kind of scary watching, too."
Rotten includes a message in
all his shows for the kids watching: "You can fall many
times, but you'll never be a failure as long as you always
try to get up."
A welder before he became a motorcycle
stuntman, Rotten, whose real last name is Giordano, began
touring with the cage as a career three years ago. He's been
riding competitively for more than 15 years.
"I've been a welder most
of my life, and every weekend we'd go racing. When I got home,
after the end of the weekend, I would have no money left in
my pockets," Rotten said after the show. "I decided
I wanted to make my living riding on my motorcycle. I'm the
baddest man on two wheels."
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Click Event to View Article
Death-defying
stunts inside the Wall of Death
2006
A
Rotten Interview
December 2006
Rhett
Rotten Work can be a barrel of fun
December 2006
Another
round trip along Wall
October 21, 2006
Puerto
Rico Bike Weekend
Metal @ Work
February,
2006
Circular
Sicko
January/February 2006
"Indian
Larry He was my Friend"
December, 2004
"The
Wall of Death is His Life"
June 19, 2004
"Biker
Barrel"
October 4, 2003
"Driving
Himself Up a Wall"
September 12, 2003
"'Baddest
Man on Two Wheels' Wows Crowd"
August 7, 2003
"Spring
Car and Bike Show to be April 25-27"
April 23, 2003
Rotten
goes Vertical
March 6, 2003
"BBBBQ"
October 6, 2002
"Blues
and BBQ: Thousands of Bikers Expected for Event"
October 4, 2002
"Watch
Me Go"
September 28, 2002
"'Wall
of Death' highlights this year's Poags Hole Hill Climb"
August 15, 2002
"Rhett's
Wall of Death adds to the hillclimb spectacle"
August 1, 2002
The Gettysburg
Times
July 13, 2002
"First
Annual Gettysburg Bike Week set for weekend"
July 10, 2002
"Biker
Thrills"
May 26, 2002
"Daredevil
reaps 'Rotten' reward"
May 5, 2002
"The
Wall of Death"
April 21, 2002 |
