Pedicab Profiled
Decatur Metro | March 18, 2010 | 10:43 amCreative Loafing’s red fox of journalism, Thomas Wheatley, profiles Decatur’s Mike Gerke of Easy Living Pedicabs in its latest issue.
Here’s a sample question…
Red Fox: What was it about Decatur in particular?
Gerke: One of our criteria was it had to be bike friendly, had to be year-round bike climate, and had to have the infrastructure that you could be car-free if you wanted to be. We choose to be car free, but does the city allow it? At the time, it looked like Atlanta had pretty decent mass transit, had buses and trains that allowed bikes. It wasn’t a bike friendly community as a Boulder, Colo., Davis, Calif., or Seattle. But it had everything else. So with our education background we thought it’d be nice to move in Atlanta and help them become more of a bike friendly city. And that’s our passion is to get people riding on bikes. A lot of times we use the pedicab to show people you can ride on Peachtree and Marietta. And if you don’t believe me, jump on the cab I’ll show you.
I’d rather be the Redd Foxx of journalism, myself. I can highly recommend the trip taken by my family during the free Xmas shopping… from the square to TDS. It’s downhill all the way, and you can get going pretty fast. Mike’s a nice guy.
Thank you, Thomas, and thank you, Mike!
And thank you, DM!
We’ve ridden Pedicab from the square to home a few times when we miscalculated and either didn’t leave enough time to walk home or had some tired kiddie legs on our hands. Also rode it once around downtown just for fun. It works real well for us that Pedicab often hangs around the square and is there when we need it. Not sure if that works as a business model but it works great for us.
Could I fit a family of 5 in a pedicab? Or would we need to toss one of the kids overboard on the uphill stretch of McDonough?
Mike’s got some strong legs. You could take two trips!
Hmm. The most we’ve done at once is two svelte Mom friends with their two overexcited children. Not positive that a family of 5 can be accomodated. Maybe Pedicab needs a trailer on the trailer!
What’s a typical charge?
Mike (?) was kind enough to pick up my son and I after the fourth of July fireworks. I was carrying my son and an armful of stuff. I expliined I didn’t have any cash and he just said, “hop on!” I will always appreciate that!
SO glad everyone loves the pedicab. If the family comes in around 500 lbs, I can take ‘em all…Rides start at $5…..tours start at $10. I’m out about 4 nights a week, usually after 7pm. Call, text, or email for a ride
Ooops, our family of only 4 is slightly over. My husband needs to lose weight!
It’s interesting reading this from Austin, where pedicabs are the norm downtown. They are convenient, plentiful (there must be 30-50 out on a busy night), and cheap (they work only for tips; not sure if that’s mandated by law or just the industry standard). As I walked several miles each day over the past few days, it was reassuring knowing that pedicabs were always nearby if I needed a break (and if I’d been schlepping lots of stuff or the weather had been inclimate, hiring a pedicab would’ve been a no-brainer). We’re very fortunate to have this option in Decatur as well, and I hope folks really appreciate and enjoy the concept.