The 37-year-old former plumber spent two days building the bike, which allows him to launch the rocket fireworks by pushing a button on the handle bars. Colin came up with the idea to celebrate getting five million followers on his YouTube site and tested it out on private land near his home in Lincolnshire.
“When I was sitting on the bike, I was only one foot away from the first box of rockets, so I was quite nervous,” he said. “I’m not usually too worried about trying out my inventions but I knew with this one that once I pressed the button I couldn’t reverse it. I cycled for a while to get up speed, then pressed the button and all the fireworks went off together. It was really loud and an amazing feeling because I could feel all the energy behind me. It’s a shame I couldn’t see it too because it would have been an amazing spectacle.”
Colin converted a Raleigh bike by stretching the metal frame and attaching side compartments to fit the boxes of fireworks, which were supplied by Epic Fireworks in Sheffield. He then fitted a button on the handlebars which lights five electronic matches when it is pressed. The matches then ignite a strip of fuse on the boxes of fireworks so all the rockets are launched at the same time.
“It was quite hard work cycling as the bike was very heavy with all the fireworks,” said Colin. “I was surprised because once I pressed the button the fireworks went off really quickly, it worked very well. There were actually 2,000 bangs because there were two bangs in each rocket.”
Colin left school at 16 to become a plumber and worked in the trade until 2012 when he left to build wacky creations on his YouTube channel. His inventions include the world’s longest motorbike, the world’s fastest pram, an underground beach hut and the world’s fastest mobility scooter.
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