Cycling Santa rides in Kansas City

At Christmastime, Overland Park resident Mike Mullen transforms from an avid bicyclist to a Santa on wheels. . . .

Mullen loves onlookers’ reactions. Cars slow down, drivers honk and children holler “Hi Santa” through the windows of their cars.

“As we go by them, I see big grins on people’s faces,” Mullen said.

Shiny ornaments dangled from his bike’s crossbar, itself wound tightly with metallic greenery. Multi-colored lights covered the rest of the frame, and special spoke lights made patterns when they spun.

Mullen bought his Santa suit, complete with a curly white beard, just this year.

He crisscrossed the fuzzy suit with red lights, cropped and tapered the legs so they wouldn’t get caught in the spokes and took in the coat — Mullen, who rides up to 100 miles a week, is a trimmer Santa than most.

His helmet was securely fastened but hidden by a Santa hat and white miniature lights that blinked.

To power his glowing get-up, Mullen stocks the nooks of his bike with custom-made battery packs. He sewed special pockets inside his coat to hold batteries for the lights on his costume.