Photo by Howard Owens.
Sheri Sumeriski was preparing for her nuptials Saturday and had seen something that she thought would make a perfect pre-wedding activity.
“We just had to do it. We drove by it at the high school graduation,” she said during a stop at The Harvester Friday evening.
She was referring to the Batavia Pedal Party bike, which she ended up booking for a fun night out before the big day.
A novel business that has taken off in larger cities, including Buffalo, Rochester, Toronto and beyond, and is becoming popular for pub crawls, has been introduced locally by entrepreneur Kyler Preston of Batavia.
Armed with a bachelor’s degree in finance from University at Buffalo, Preston’s professional goals are clear, if not easy.
“I just like to figure out the best way to invest in the local economy and invest in myself,” he said earlier Friday before the launch of his first official group bike tour. “I think it takes a while to get a group together and then book an event. People are booking up into August and September. I kind of felt bad for Batavia, I felt there was a need for a nightlife we lost that with COVID. I want to promote business in Batavia and bring life back to the bars.”
The 22-year-old wants to do that responsibly, he said, by being the "DD" -- designated driver for a group of adults that wants to go out for a couple of hours and have some fun on city streets.
A two-hour tour allows you to bring your own cooler with two canned drinks per rider and food if you like, and a playlist of music is waiting to entertain your group while a licensed driver escorts you to two establishments of your choosing within the designated city limits.
Riders may pedal the vehicle, though it is also fully motorized, Preston said, and there is a bench on board for those not wishing to get that physical during the trip.
About an hour into the trip, Sumeriski’s group made a stop at The Harvester on the city’s southeast side. Bar owner Melissa Kibler was pleased to see them stroll in for a refreshment and hop off a large pedal bike to boot.
“It's great. I'm very excited. Like, I'm excited to get the crowd in. I think that's a new innovative thing that we could use,” Kibler said, adding that she wasn’t sure where the big group came from at first. “I was like, where did they come from? And I thought they were just bikers biking around. And then I came out, and I saw it. And I was like, wow, okay, that's a new thing. I might want to do that at some point. I think that's kind of interesting. You know, there's a lot of bars downtown. But if you're gonna do something like this, I mean … let's take a little ride.
“That's what I was so excited about, is that they decided to come in here because we're usually the one that gets passed because we're out this way. Versus, like, everybody goes to TF’s and all the ones over there because they can just walk there and do that,” she said. “So that's awesome about the biking thing because they can come down here.”
That’s exactly what Preston is hoping for. He has gauged rides to as far out as Batavia Downs and made a trip over to Dwyer Stadium so that folks could catch a Muckdogs game if they wanted to include that in a package. He said that he wants to help bring people — literally — to Batavia businesses, one group at a time.
Although he is booking into September, there are other dates available from now through the fall, and he said that cooler temps could make for a great event, especially if riders want to give those pedals a full workout. He can even envision a moving Bills tailgate party.
“There’s so much that could be done,” he said.
As with anything, there has been a challenge or two, he said, such as the online flak he has taken from folks concerned that the pedal party is unsafe. Preston feels confident, however, that this bike — built in the United States and not in China as are many others, he said — passes muster for safety regulations. It has a wider wheelbase, has turning signals, and being built in Texas means it’s “better built” and is “100 percent safe,” he said.
“People didn’t realize all the safety precautions I had taken,” he said. “People didn’t want open containers on the road. “We chose to stick with two alcoholic drinks per person to make sure people are being safe. As long as people on the bike are being respectful and keep the music at a tolerable level, they can choose the playlist and volume.”
The bike transports a group to two places of their choosing, where it waits for them to go inside for a while to have a drink and eat, and then go onto the next stop, and then everyone is returned to the starting point on East Main Street.
There’s the other element of safety, and that’s a licensed driver, just as with a chauffeured limousine. Preston wasn’t able to make Friday’s gig, so he gave Steve Ognibene a call.
Ognibene has driven a limo and a school bus; he’s driven for parties and other entertainment events and had the experience Preston, and his family was looking for. After all, this was a 15-person, open-air pedal bike with a whole new set of rules and regulations, Ognibene said.
“So with this, it's different because, basically, you're riding a bicycle. And I asked a lot of questions, a lot of safety questions. And they said, Well, everyone has to wear their seatbelt. And riding the limo, you're totally contained. In this is where, you know, you're on this little tiny seat. And you want to have yourself strapped in at all times," Ognibene said. "Pedaling is kind of optional, where you can pedal or you don't have to pedal. But as far as the comparison, it's kind of totally different. And I'm trying to be more aware because this is the first time I've ever driven something like this being on the road, and you're open, that no one doesn't, you know, try to unbuckle or anything like that, or act crazy or try to stand up.
"So, you know, safety is actually the first and foremost concern. We went over a lot of safety rules before we even left," he said. "And so everyone has to sign a waiver before we go, and that's pretty much it. Just call ahead, book a date."
What did Sumeriski and her wedding party think? They were having so much fun, they said, they booked another hour to prolong the evening.
For more information, go to Batavia Pedal Party
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
