The Purple Rat Heart Medal of Honor goes to those brave individuals who have put their life and limb on the line in the service of the goals of the Rat Patrol organization.

Purple Rat Heart Award #1 - Susanna Kim rescued the Workhorse from the clutches of a drunken would-be bike thief on top of Montrose Mountain on April 16, 2000. The thief attempted to walk off with the bike while two members were standing on the edge of the hill. Sue bravely pulled the bike from the thiefs hands, smashing her fingers in the brake pads while doing so. Meanwhile, the drunk stumbled and collapsed into the grass.

Purple Rat Heart Award #2 - Matt Bergstrom (me) was cooking dinner in the kitchen on July 15, 2000 when I heard a slight noise out in front of the apartment. Thinking it was a friend returning from a concert, I went to the window to say hello. But outside the window, a stranger leaned over the Workhorse and Chicken Chopper which were both locked to a post, in preparation for that night's ride. Without much rational thought about what I was going to do, I threw open the door and ran out barefoot to confront the stranger. The startled bike thief whirled and struck me in the head with his bolt cutter, then took off down the alley screaming epithets at me.Around the corner there was a van poised to escape with the loot. I pursued the thief and the van down the alley until I realized that I didn't know what I would do if I actually did catch the thief. Meanwhile, the front door was wide open and two bikes were sitting without a real lock on them. I wheeled them to safety in back and returned to the kitchen to discover that my dinner was on fire and the whole apartment filled with smoke.

After I'd calmed down and aired out the room, the sheer stupidity of the whole thing struck me. There's no way you could hide the fact that a thief had stolen the Chicken Chopper. It'd be easy to spot anywhere. Besides, the whole thing is made from trash. Its not worth anything! I want to tell the thwarted bike thief, if he ever finds himself reading this: If you want a bike made out of trash, just ring the door and you can come back to the storage room and pick one out. We've got plenty. Its completely ridiculous to go around stealing trash bikes!!! You idiot!!