There it goes, that zany, canary yellow-trimmed vehicle powered by the raw enthusiasm of 16 passengers.
Pedal Pub is off and running in Baton Rouge.
Part of the boozy bike movement gaining popularity nationwide, the franchise opened in the Capital City in late 2021, specializing in BYOB group bike tours in downtown Baton Rouge. Participants sign up for excursions aboard a Dutch-designed vehicle that holds up to 16 riders and includes up to three stops at bars, restaurants or historic sites. It also includes a trained pilot who helps brake, steer and keep things moving.
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Take a seat at the “bar” (the table in front of you), bust out the restoratives, and pedal away. Eleven spots actively pedal, while five just enjoy the ride. There’s room for nibbles or catered fare, and you can fire up your playlist on the Bluetooth.
Business partners and friends Herb and Chandra Piert and Karl and Ashley Thomas are responsible for bringing Pedal Pub to Baton Rouge, a venture that was more than a year in the making.
The Lake Charles-based owners discovered Pedal Pub in fall 2020, after the Pierts escaped to Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, the Category 4 storm that made landfall in southwest Louisiana in August of that year. While in Houston, they joined other family members on a Pedal Pub excursion.
“At first, I was hesitant, but it was something new and different,” Herb Piert says. “Two hours later, I was asking the driver, ‘Can we go another block?’ And at that point, my wife and I both said, ‘We’ve got to bring this to Baton Rouge.’”
The four business partners believed the Capital City was ripe for this kind of amenity, Piert says. The Thomases are Baton Rouge natives, and they appreciated the major changes in the city’s downtown. The two couples believed it was the right concept for a city with expanding tourism.
“New Orleans already has so much going on, and with all the new restaurants and bars in Baton Rouge, we thought this would really add to what’s available,” says Piert, who works by day as a Lake Charles golf pro.
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After securing permits from the East Baton Rouge Metro Council and the Baton Rouge Taxicab Control Board, Pedal Pub opened a storefront last November on Government Street near St. Ferdinand Street. Patrons meet there, or at another designated pick-up location, and embark on a tour of downtown at a leisurely 3 miles-per-hour pace. The average tour is about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The routes have generally been chosen to give the bike room to pull over for car traffic.
Riders can bring along beer and wine (but no hard alcohol). And guests don’t have to drink to enjoy the fun, Piert says. Young people can book the bikes as long as they have an adult on board. “We’ve had families rent it for scavenger hunts,” he says.
This article was originally published in the March 2022 issue of 225 magazine.