Pedicab Celeb (?) at 2007 Bike to Work Day

Posted back in June on the Denver Westword blog: the latest 'word.

Hey! We know Kayla! Didn't know she was a celebrity. Funny the stuff you find when you're not looking. Guess this means pedicabs are now part of the Denver landscape.

Brickshaw Buggy Promo Video

Rocky Chavez from Brickshaw Buggy in Oklahoma City was one of our first students. We had a chance to catch up with him again when he visited Denver a few weeks ago. They've got this great little promo video at OklaTravelNet.com. Snaps for Rocky!

Pedicab University: Stop talking and get moving!

There's always a lot of questions on the blogs, forums and boards from people interested in starting a pedicab business. Some actually do it. Some just keep talking about it. And some have come to our training and are now operating successful companies.

So stop talking about starting your own pedicab business and find out what it really takes to do it! Get answers to your questions from the experts in the industry. Learn from our experience - mistakes and all. Our training helped launch successful pedicab operations across the country.

Two training sessions scheduled for Spring 2008!

Pedicab Operators Weekend Intensive
February 9 & 10
Denver, Colorado, USA.

4-Day Pedicab Intensive
March 27-30
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Visit the web site at www.bigtreepedicab.com for more information. We'd love to see you there!

Comments from previous Weekend Intensives:

"We had a plan before we came to the seminar, but getting your advice greatly expanded what we can do with the business. You probably saved us a year of mistakes learning these lessons the hard way."

"This seminar is a must for anyone serious about getting into pedicabs at any level. It was great and very worth it!"

"I can't imagine doing this without attending your class first!"

Another Successful Student Adds Tours

Check out the blog post (at Bike Portland) about one of our students operating in Portland, OR.

Pedicab company now offers city tours

Pedicab entrepreneur Jonathan Magnus has expanded his offerings. In addition to regular service downtown, his company, PDX Pedicab, now offers special tours.

Here’s the menu:

Portland City Tour (1 hour $55)
Tour Portland as Portland should be seen, from the seat of a pedal powered pedicab.

Portland Pub Pedal (Includes drink specials $195)
Visit some of the countrys best brewerys and hippest bars, on a Portland Pub Pedal 2 1/2 hour Tour to three of Portland’s finest.

Gallery Tour (2 hours $95)
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home, view Portland’s best galleries on a two hour tour.

Sounds like the perfect plan for Valentine’s Day….

Be sure to read the post about their start-up operation from June 2007: New pedicab business hopes to offer taxi alternative.

Way to go Jonathan!

Pedicab butt

Every pedicab driver knows that someone is always looking at their butt. This one showed up on YouTube! Whoever you are, I hope you got a big tip for this!



I have to admit, I like the nice butt of a pedicab driver myself. If you watched the Tour de France, you might have noticed that sponsors now have advertising on the riders' butts. What a great idea! Any pedicabbies willing to do the same? I'll be happy to sell the ad space. Send me a photo!

Greetings from Austin, and "Are Pedicabbers Terrorists?"

Pedicabbers,

I have been asked by Greg of Mile high to contribute to this blog based on my experience with blogging and my outlook on the pedicab industry.

For reference, you can check out my other active blog at http://austinpedicab.org. I am trying to keep it more locally focused issues that affect the Austin Texas region. I see Pedicabblog.com as having more of a national or international focus.

One thing that has been missing in the AustinPedicab (Austin), PedicabNews (NYC), and the
PedicabBlog (Denver) is discussion about the differences and or similarities between pedicabbing in different cities and regions.

I'd also like to discuss the social place of the "Western" pedicab driver as compared to that of the "Eastern" pedicab driver.

One interesting tid-bit of recent news on this topic was that a Filipino who had been "posing as a pedicab driver" was arrested under suspension that he is a terrorist.

The group that he is accused of being associated with the Abu Sayyaf group is said to have ties to Al Quieda. He is accused of being involved in the beheading of 10 Filipino Marines.

My questions are these:

1. Do disenfranchised, underground economies give cover to extremists?
2. Are American pedicab drivers potential terrorists?

Perhaps the odd chacters that we see in the Austin pedicab community just like being independent contractors instead of employees. What ever the case, we all know that "Eastern" Pedicab Drivers can kick some ass.

Q: Does size really matter?

We've been having this discussion off and on. Does size matter? I mean, is bigger really better? Do bigger pedicabs get you bigger tips? In other words, does having more people in your cab get you more money? Is it really worth it to overload your cab?

Lucy Liu tells David Letterman she likes pedicabs

Lucy Liu was a guest on David Letterman earlier in January. Here's an interesting piece of the recap of her visit in the Wahoo Gazette, complete with comentary by the author.

What does Lucy like to do in the city on the beautiful day like we had today? She likes to exercise and ride her bike, and she’s started taking rides in those pedicabs so common now in the city. The pedicab is like a rickshaw where the passenger sits in a little carriage while he/she is bicycled around by a pedaller in front. Dave is familiar with the pedicabs and calls them a “litigation nightmare.” Yippee! I can’t agree more. I have no idea what insurance the pedicab drivers have and they have no respect for any traffic laws. They ride in and out of traffic, never stopping at lights, never signaling, never looking. I can’t believe the city lets them get away with that, and I can’t believe one of those pedicabs haven’t been flattened by an equally traffic law-breaking cab driver. And shouldn’t kids be required to wear a helmet when riding in the back of one of those?

Funny thing... pedicabs have appeared more than once on the Letterman Show.