Some nights you got to take an L and others you got to take more than one. Tonight was definitely one of those nights. There was plenty going on tonight, lots of people having lots of fun, Austin Pride, Misfits, and Saturday night in general. Some of those folks having too much fun.
I had found a decent little flow, but first ride of power hour, I must have lost part of my touch in reading people’s inebriation levels, because the nice couple that got in my cab to go to their lodgings, was half sensible shoes, clear speech, good at directions of where to go, and the other I thought was just quiet. Well quiet, was hammered, I glanced back and saw a bit of a slouch and asked sensible wife if high heeled wife was ok, and she assured me she was. So I kept on riding. When we get to the drop off I noticed a nice tip notification, but high-heeled wife was head between her knees and her and my cab were glistening, but not in a way that had anyone feeling shiny.
It has been over 15 years (probably more, but I don’t know exacts) since I let a puker sneak past me into the seats of my cab, and that one had the courtesy to puke off of the side, much easier to clean up.
But sometimes the bar gets you, and that’s a risk of this job because the person the bar got, tends to pay it forward. Thankfully, the sensible wife was very gracious about it, and payed a cleanup fee, with the assurance that high-heeled wife would be paying her back in the morning.
So while I had to do the less glamorous work of cleaning puke off of floorboards and a seat cover, and gear bag, I may have had the easier night. Since I wasn’t having to clean it off of a person.
Blog
Breaking New Ground
My pedicab came from Franklin, TN, where it worked the streets of Nashville. I brought it back to Austin in late 2008. The farthest it’s traveled since was Round Rock to work bike nights at Twin Peaks. It took a king to get me to break out of my comfort zone.
Preflight
I hooked up a trailer, and did my preflight checks in the wee hours after working Friday night. Threw everything I could think of or find in my truck and prepared refreshments for the next two days. Did my best to get 4-5 hours of sleep.
The next morning I loaded up the trailer thanks to the help of a friend with a key. This was a rare time in which my tile let me down. The fob didn’t ring and claimed the key was back at my house, so after loading up I ended back home, asked tile again. The key was in my truck! Good thing my house was on the way out of town.
The road was smooth enough and the bridges were high enough, and we would find out soon enough, if I could be a fabulous thunderbird.
Settling in
After doing a lap, I decided to park behind a friend’s business. There was shade, eyes for eight hours, and it wasn’t that far out. Unloading took longer than expected, but there’s plenty of room to streamline that process. Rides started right away, cruising the large parking lots on the outer edges had rides, but there was greener grass out there somewhere. I saw a familiar friendly face so I followed for some fair fares. The intersection didn’t allow for an easy crossing so when I got a text about a great spot, I was more than happy to switch gears.
It took me awhile to get to this little gold rush, but that just means I was getting rides. When I made it, it was definitely the place to be.
Dinner bell
As rides started slowing me and a bud decided it was time to take a break and we ventured out to grab a bite. It’s always a good sign when a cab is parked out front, so we ordered some sugar chicken and chowed down. After the rest, refueling, and a quick count, we knew we had made a good decision. The rest of the night would be gravy!
I should have stayed in a certain distance, I should have charged more money, but I was pedaling and my fares were happy. Traffic just grew thicker with each ride out. Frustrations were growing all around me, but I just kept my head on a swivel and my feet on yo-yos. The planned check-ins came and went, and when it was time to let it all hang out, my buddy coach turned into a pumpkin. I was halfway to Hell tonight(Hilton I ought) to give this one last ride before I turn into a tow truck.
My last ride was a lost boy, trying to get to a party, I let him know as long as our paths are the same he rides. Once they diverge, he ventures alone and pays what he values. He was a good kid, a strong negotiator, but I had my mission, and was not going to veer off. I made edits to his map to give him one turn to make, we shook hands and parted ways.
Winding Down
Should we have stayed later, probably. Would we have if that spare battery were on board and not a mile and a half away, likely. Was it a good decision to head home, yes! Back in Austin in the later of the witching hours, and thankfully the spirits did not haunt as I unloaded my cab. Still catching up on sleep though.
My first real venture out of town after 18 years of having my chauffeur’s permit, 16 years of being in control of my own ride, and it was a flying success. 5 Starrs, would do again!
Strong Night!
Thursday
Starting strong, show of strength, strong finish.
So the Fuerza Regida fans come strong! I missed the in crowd (bringing people to the show), but I heard it was one of the better ones of the year.
I gave a few rides out and la gente was ready to party. I took what I thought was going to be my last ride of the concert. I threw them a deal, because as my one reader likely knows by now, charging a lot of money isn’t my strong suit. They did me right though, and threw a little love on top. On the way back to the show however I got a ride North which is rare, but I wasn’t going to stop them, I gave them a 30% discount because I wanted to go that direction and right after I took a wrong turn and was renavigating, they wanted to go back downtown. I let the leader of the group know same rate the other direction and he said, Let’s ride!
I’ll take the back and forth rides all day long!
I was also able to get a few of the folks that make the Moody Center run, back to their cars and that’s always a win win.
I spent about an hour chilling with another rider before going back downtown after he had a run in with a runaway hot dog cart. It sounded like it may have been an attempted hit and run, but hot dog carts don’t have motors, so the law was able to get there to do their investigation. I got him some water, and another guy stopped in and gave him another refill. I threw his chain back on, gave his trike a quick test run. With his motor functional and the law saying he could leave, he committed to get his ride back to his shop before heading to the ER to get his stitches. I hope he heals fast, because stitches on the knee is a no ride situation.
The kicker to the night was a late night tour. It started as a quick tun to one hotel than another, but homegirl wasn’t ready to sleep just yet and her friend didn’t really have enough time to sleep before having to go to the Airport. So a tour we went on. Got a few tourist shots We got the capitol building, the atx sign, We rode by a century old bridge and saw a train rolling down the Missouri Pacific railroad. All to a Reggaetón soundtrack to bring back some Miami memories.
I started heading back to end the ride about 1 minute before being asked if we could hit up the hotels.
I said, “of course” switched gears and dropped them off. The tour definitely helped make up for the lost time being wingman. It’s always nice when the nights even out.
Not the
Trying to Get Home at a Reasonable Hour
Saturday
The night started strong. The first ride was a great couple, we had a good conversation and they let me nerd out and play my bicycle song playlist. I’m fairly certain though, it wasn’t their glass of wine. since they said they would hit me up when they left the JT concert and didn’t follow through on that. I guess Yves Montand1 doesn’t bring riders back even though La Bicyclette does!
Well y’all, it turns out I’m too tired to write this one at the moment I might get some of the stories out soon. It will likely be a thing on Sat. nights especially when I am teaching people to throw hatchets early on Sunday. Lets hope the Sunday crew is as chill as my last few rides this Saturday were fun.
I definitely wanted to stay out longer, but my practical side won.
The fun that I was missing out on has been recorded for posterity.
Your Favorite Pedicab!
My apologies to Brooke
Friday after close
Due to the misunderstanding between me and another cab, I had to match the energy of being followed and stared down with that type of energy. The only problem I saw with this, in hindsight, is I didn’t time it well.
I had just made some progress in restoring a person’s faith in pedicabs. She had been taken advantage of, scammed, by a few pedicabs in the past, and she was just in a frustrating conversation with another who kept ignoring her questions, for the sake of negotiating a ride she didn’t want.
I stepped in and answered some of her questions to the best of my knowledge. ( I learned later the other cab knew more of the info, just refused to tell her for fear they would just walk, [which was a valid fear since they wanted to walk]).
I had offered to take Brooke, who had strong Felicity Shagwell energy with the crochet dress, and her two friends a free ride, but a 3rd friend walked up putting the crew over the legal limit. I knew she was done talking to the other cabbers, and she didn’t want to prevent us from making money. I assured her, I was in my charity portion of the night, and what I was offering was a legit free ride, just to get me moving too. She grabbed one of the friends, I took them half a block for free, and agreed to bring them right back if they didn’t like the look of the place. As Brooke was looking for a few bucks to share, I told her it wasn’t necessary. She let me know it would maker her feel good to throw a little love back my way. In this moment the other pedicab rolls up and starts staring daggers our way.
When a dude follows ladies and stares that direction you learn quick working downtown that if you tell them loudly to fuck off, they almost always do, so I did just that. Turns out he was following me, not them. He tells me to calm down, I stay the course and yell back at him “Dude, you’re the one who followed me”. I don’t know about most people, but if I’m followed, that is aggressive behavior and my mirroring ass struggles to play nice with aggressive behavior. What I had lost sight of, is how this is affecting Brooke. This was not the right move on my part. I rarely yell, but when patterns match patterns I have seen before I will raise my voice. A number of seasoned downtown going people see it, and are here for it, understand that calculated fuck offs are part of urban life. This reinforces the perceived benefit of this behavior. Some folks aren’t here for it, and it will wreck the vibe. While I will still likely be ready to stand forcefully between a dude and ladies when being followed, I should have ignored him after the first fuck off until the ladies got inside the club.(When I am wrong about mirroring aggressive energy, it’s at worst a buzzkill like tonight, but if I’m right in my actions it can be a quick preventative solution).
This wasn’t the truly worst part. All this above nonsense is part of the profession, the worst part is when my brain told me, to ask Brooke to tell this guy what she told me, that she didn’t want to ride with him while she was getting he bag checked by the door guy. I should have already known from the earlier interaction, Brooke is the type to avoid all or most confrontation of any kind. And while this would have settled the dispute in question, it wasn’t her fight. When I saw her face, as I very much overstepped my bounds trying to find the quickest resolution, it was at that moment I knew I fucked up. What little progress I had made to restore her faith in pedicabs as being a fun form of worthwhile entertainment that also gets you where you’re going, was torn down and likely made unrepairable. When Brooke saw two grown men have an argument over something she didn’t really want to do in the first place, and then try to bring her in the middle of it, I saw in her eyes the confirmation of her feelings that pedicabs are to be avoided.
So for all this Brooke, I apologize. I can’t give you back the good vibe I had a part in ruining. I would offer a free ride the next time I saw you if I thought it would mean anything. (This is a legit offer if you decide to claim it) I know you’d just rather not deal with it, or pedicabs in general, since you had already sworn them off before all this.
With regret,
My sincerest apologies,
Your Favorite Pedicab (no longer).
South Padre Represent
Not South Padre, but it’s the right vibe.
Thursday
Tonight was a late start. I was hoping to see the closeout couple from the night before, to keep those good vibes going. They didn’t show up, but a golden turtle1(A’Tuin) and his crew came up to the line, wanting to take a ride.
It was a close ride and I wasn’t the first up, so I was just along for the ride myself. A’Tuin wanted his own cab and wanted the bright lights, so the local who used to ride back before motors got his own cab as well, and I got Matt and Cindy from South Padre. Matt and Cindy had a great vibe about them and invited me to hang in South Padre, but not in the just being polite way. You could tell Matt wasn’t fucking about, if he tells you he’s going to hook you up, he will.
After we dropped them off they wanted to get picked up, and since A’Tuin worked service and knew how to take care of people they got two of are numbers and we agreed to come back for them.
Once I got the “Please come” text I knew what to do, I rounded up bright light social cab and we headed over, (they didn’t mention if they wanted three cabs again, so we figured 2 of us could easily handle the 4).
He mentioned getting a text that said 20minutes, which ended up being the more accurate timeline, but when the people take care of you, a little wait is worth the time.
While we were waiting a random guy struck up a conversation with us and asked for strip club recommendations. Not being places I frequent, I let him know of a few I had heard of from other fares in the past. He was interested in heading to Red Rose, but he wasn’t interested in the pedicab. He was trying to save his money for the destination not the journey. I hadn’t heard of Red Rose, but for the old school Austin folks, it took the place of Exposé. I started to jam my knew bicycle playlist and put on this Norteño2 song I like, and random guy forgot what state he was in, and made the snide remark, “Your not going to get the good fares with that music. You should play some Indian music.” I acknowledged his not so subtle racism by pointing it out, and another cab mentioned if he wanted to ride he could have a say in the music. I did however give him a taste of a South Asian bike song, because it is a fun song.3 As if on cue, not even a minute into the song are crew walks out the door.
It was a fun ride to Cesar Chavez, and they got a couple more nights in town, but they’re also ready to get back to the beach, and I don’t blame them. It’s been too long since I’ve made down to South Padre Island and now I got a few friends to go visit, next time I go!
- Golden turtle – I didn’t catch is name, but a golden turtle hung around his neck and he was taking care of all of us, so maybe I’ll call him A’Tuin for now. (A’Tuin is from Terry Pratchett ) ↩︎
- La Bicicleta – Enigma Norteño ↩︎
- I have no idea if it has to do with a pedal bike, I don’t speak Telugu but it is a fun tune with bike in the title. Pulsar Bike – Dhamaka – Bheems Ceciroleo ↩︎
Couples Night
Just enough dirty to get the taste, but not so much as the weekend to feel like you need a shower before you even get home.
Wednesday
Wednesday is for lovers, the majority of my rides tonight were couples. (Majority being a loose term on nights with only a few rides.) I definitely understand the appeal of going downtown on a weeknight instead of a weekend. You don’t need to play the numbers, you are already with the one you want to go home with (hopefully anyway).
Bookending the night were some fun couples.
The first ride came up ready to go while I was chilling on San Jac. Lucky for me too, because I had been waiting for quite some time. They were ready, and I like my first ride to set the tone of the night, so I let them pay what they wanted. I also gave them stereo control so they could play what they wanted as well. I found out pretty quick that a leisure cruise is not what they signed up for.
The gentleman let me know the lady liked pedicab rides of a royal purple flavor from 1984. (I could easily paraphrase him with “Let’s Go Crazy”.) So, I obliged as safely as I could for my sake, but started cranking those pedals. We hit multiple yellow lights after entering the intersection like it was scripted. We got to their destination pretty damn quick, and they decided it was worth a fair price. Everyone walked away happy.
This was confirmed when they flashed big smiles at me, and waved when they crossed my path back on dirty 6th later in the night.
Speaking of later, the last couple to hail me down were in town to laugh. And, while one was ready to find humor in the tiny wheels of a scoot scoot, the other was willing to play it safe and walk. Then they saw me. The compromise that is a win win, Speed and safety. When they told me their destination, I decided to stick with the pay what you like trend I had set for the night, and this couple did not disappoint. We had a pleasant conversation inspired by my trike bike playlist, (they wanted me to choose the music, so I stuck with the playlist I had just made). The song that was playing when they got in was La Bicyclette by Yves Montand. I was asked if it was Italian, I said French but jokingly guessed maybe from the border. I looked up Yves when I got home to find out there was a good reason for that guess. Yves Montand is indeed from Italy!
If I end up seeing them again this week, I’ll have to do my best to remember to let them know!
Riding the Pedicab of Life: A Joyful Journey with Your Favorite Pedicab
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A Memoriable weekend.
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Friday
Not much to say, skipped out on riding, to say fair thee well to a good friend being shuffled on from this town of ours, the velvet worn away long ago.
Saturday
The town was a blurry buzz, or a buzzy blur. I got out late, had some productive procrastination and got the backend edits to a clients website done. The rides came quick enough. A couple of fares stood out.
The Dirty 6th to West Campus escape.
A group of kids (college kids, I have to assume.) were going to West Campus. Some of the group was unsure, or debating, or some type of mumbling, but one guy was set on taking the pedicab, set on taking the young lady he was with via pedicab, and wasted no time with negotiations.
He asked how much but before I could come up with a quote for the longer than normal ride, he pulled out a number of Jacksons, and asked “[will] this get me to West Campus?” I asked, “just you two or is that guy coming with?” (that guy, being not as self assured and definitely not as enthusiastic about pedicabs). He confirmed it was just the two, and I was almost as happy to leave that group behind as he was ready to not have to wait on them.
The rest of the ride was more or less just a ride, I had some cash, he was rizzing (as the kids say) and the young lady was trying to convince him to not spend money so frivolously. I bought them a few minutes of one on one time before the group recongealed, and I wish them the best of luck.
The ups and downs of Warehouse fun.
The other stand out was a trio, taking a selfie in some low light. I broke out my trusty soft white light, I bought for working on my truck and had them take another. It helped.
After a little more time one breaks off to ask the ever important question, “How much?”
I give my standard it depends on where.
They name the pretty close apt. building, so I give them my favorite quote to give a good vibe, “You give me what you want, it’s a quick ride”
They ask about music, I give them the bluetooth name. The excitement just keeps adding to. I got them the lights, I got them the tunes. Time for some videos/memories, so we take the long way down the street where the trees are wrapped in light. I drop off some satisfied customers and they proved it as if Homer wrote the story. Little did I know this epic journey was going to have a twist. I see a cute lady with a familiar vibe walking down the street and I get some strong deja vu. Then the original breakout of the trio is right in front of me, asking if he left keys in my cab. I told him I didn’t notice any, but I only did a quick glance.
I feel like their night went from long to daylight, but I was generously released from obligation after searching the cab and under the seat.
Sunday
Well I had thought I would regret choosing to coach axe throwing early on Sunday, and Sunday was a caffeinated blur.
The dudes celebrating their friend tying the knot were a great group of guys, that along with another coach bringing in breakfast tacos started Sunday out right despite waking up a little earlier than I am accustomed to. I went straight from job one to the lake to get on a paddle board and hang out with three friends of mine in that lukewarm river water we call Town Lake. It was just what the doctor ordered, we followed that up with some Thai food, and searching for jewels in the pool.
Refreshed and Recharged I met up with the future King of Klein in town for a second round of bon voyage for my emigrant friend. Then I got back on the streets by midnight, and started catching rides pretty quick.
The highlight or beautiful pearl on a hilltop from Sunday was a lovely trio of ladies, the greeting started with one calling me over, but another looked at me as if I were a beast. My curious nature, kept me around to solve the mystery of this misplaced ire. Turns out their last pedicab, was both unpleasant and expensive. I know full well there are some riders out here on the streets that don’t actually like this job. They do it to extract as much money as they can and don’t think long term or care about how the immediate fare will fare after their interaction ends. Once I found out this nugget of information, I had a longer conversation with them, figured out their wants and needs, we negotiated a price we all found fair, and off we went.
While on this particular voyage, where conversation was wanted over a concerto, we found out there was a budding romance, where the fire got put out before given its full chance to burn. In other words the flirtation between one of them and a firefighter got cut short by the command chain, and we were on our way to try one last attempt to get a phone number in the right hands. As we pull up to Fire Station No1, the high fences and lack of trucks left the end of the ride all wet, but the shiny gemstone washed into view was a changed mind. Someone went from hating all pedicabs to knowing we are all different and now she has a Favorite Pedicab!
Pedaling Towards Positivity: A Life Coach’s Guide to Finding Your Groove
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“You were way better than that angry old man I took last time, I’m sorry I judged all of you based on that guy. You were awesome!” – Belle, Firehouse No 1 (Unfortunately her firefighter wasn’t there)