Do you have a ride-or-die kind of cat? I'm Adam from Ripley's.com, and this is your Weird Minute. Today, motor drones, circular board racing tracks to put the popularity, speed and power of motorcycles on the map, are nearly extinct. There are only about three left in the United States, but their history still intrigues. Already putting their lives on the line, some stunt riders in the 1930s upped the ante, adding an additional element of thrill with living, breathing lions.
They called it the race for life, as these lions were deliberately released to charge after speeding bikes, trying to tackle them and swat at them with their massive paws as if they were prey. If that wasn't enough, some riders trained lions to sit in specially built sidecars during their races. These guys were going about 80mph at an almost perpendicular wall with these big cats by their side.
Too many fatal accidents eventually ended the incorporation of lions into motor drones. An escaped lion killed an unlucky audience member in 1933. The most popular rider, Marjorie Kemp, was mauled on four occasions and even had to spend a year in the hospital. The final straw? A drunken carnival worker was bitten by a lion named King.
For more strange stories, and to see some footage of the motordrome, visit ripleys.com. Rate the Weird Minute if you haven't already, and tune in tomorrow for another Minute of Odd.