Pedicabbing Report

Went out last night since FOX was having a show. Good crowd. It's warm enough now even at night that it's fine to wear shorts, though I banged my shin pretty good on the bike frame somehow. Somehow the freewheel stopped working -- so had to cut things short before midnight.

Thanks everyone!
Ken

Live from the bottom of the Ocean

Somewhat unrelated to pedicabbing...

PBS is now showing BP's live feed, with an oilpocalypse gallons-gushed counter.

Check it out here and on our Media page.

Thoughts on the lingering effects of the oil volcano on Gulf Coast habitat and communities by Richard Heinberg over at TheOilDrum.

Memory Lane

This post has little to do with pedicabbing but everything to do with travel, vacations, trips and memories.

Normally we're rather against the label "consumer" but that is what we all are to some extent.  Either air, water and food, or those three and much more.

I've spent the last week sorting through thousands of receipts mostly from 2006-2010. What I notice about these is multi-fold...

• They tend to pile up and go with you from apartment to apartment;

• Receipts chronicle your exploits more accurately than any blog can due to the printed cost, date, address and timestamp;

• They show your "consumer" metabolism -- in between jobs, few receipts, perhaps the telltale "EBT" on certain grocery receipts if you were really down and out.  Making money hand over fist but no time to cook? Lots of train tickets, restaurant receipts, parking receipts.

Thrown into the mix with receipts are business cards, brochures, flyers, scribbled notes or letters or diagrams; statements, knick knacks, coupons and point cards. I've had fun reviewing where I've been, what I ate.

Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle, 144 East Broadway, NYC 10002 Tel.: (212) 566-6933 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (212) 566-6933      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. "We Delivery" (A couple days after New Year's 2009. BEST hand-pulled and -cut noodles I've had in my life, except for Lin's grandmother's noodles, and cheap! Starting at $4.50 a bowl.  The owner pounds the flour out next to your head while you eat.)

Kimi Ryokan, 36-8, 2 chome, Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0014, Japan. PHONE: 03-3971-3766
(May 2009 super nice and super cheap "international house" hostel right in the middle of Tokyo. Say hi to Miho for us.)

City of Oakland parking receipt for 12/17/09, 02:05 PM. $2.00. Doesn't say where.

1 2 3 4 (front)
All sex maniacs pick 3 (back)
Compliments of Todd The Bubbleman 510-848-6017
(The guy in tie-die at the pasta stand, Jack London Square farmers' market, Winter 2010.)

Hand drawn map of Ikebukuro station and roads to nearest drugstores.
(I was helping a Chinese mainlander find safer baby formula for her sister on a layover. How do these people find me? May 2009.)

The pieces of paper jog my memory better than a polaroid can.  A polaroid photo has no date or other context. 

Time flies when you're pedaling

It's late April 2010. It's been a year since we soft launched. Happy Birthday to Backseat Driver Pedicab, BDP!

I made myself a mojito yesterday under careful guidance from a bartender friend. Will do a full on party next year.

We've been busy training new drivers... here's hoping they soon pedal effortlessly and gainfully across downtown. =)

More pedicabs in San Francisco now!

Golden Gate Pedicabs is now operating five pedicabs in Golden Gate Park.

So says SFExaminer. Also see CBS5 article. Good work GGP!

GGP is also keen on plying the East Bay market.

See GGP's Facebook page.

Ken

Valentine's Day

I was lucky enough to be commissioned to give a woman and her husband a romantic ride around Lake Merritt for V-Day. (aka singles awareness day)

The ride itself was nice, though more hurried than I would have liked, since I was a bit late in picking them up.  Of course, it being mid February in the early evening, it was a little cold and cloudy toward the end too.  However, the sunset was nice.  I'd do a ride a little sooner for any future VDay rides. 

For future rides I think the pedicab should spend less time lakeside, and more time on the road, since the cab takes up nearly the entire width of the walking path at some narrower stretches.  I don't like inconveniencing others, including joggers and walkers.  However, for a few stretches it is okay and nicer to be by the lake.

Thank you Sarah & Francisco and hope you enjoyed it!

All the best,
Ken

Old news: attacked by uncouth passenger

I've posted up most of the details of my attacked-while-blacked-out attack on the main bike taxi website.

Read the first and follow-on reports here.

I'll post suspect sketch and other info in the near future.  Stay safe out there people -- lots more unemployed young men running about these days.

Ken