By Steve Hawkes
Tim Mason has heard it all. Ever since the Tesco executive launched the supermarket giant’s Fresh & Easy venture in America a year ago, analysts have accused him of missing sales targets by a mile, while unions pushing for negotiating rights have complained that staff morale has fallen through the floor.

The critics were out again last week after The Times revealed that, faced with recession, Mr Mason was being forced to slow the store rollout programme. Worried? He hardly looks it. One minute, he’s jumping on to a Fresh & Easy rickshaw for a photo shoot; the next, he’s leading a chorus of Happy Birthday at the head office in Palm Beach, Los Angeles, to mark the chain’s first anniversary.

Asked about the prospect of a looming supermarket price war in America, he jokingly cites the line about amplifiers in This is Spinal Tap, the spoof “rockumentary”: “We’ll do better than the rest,” he says. “Our knobs go up to 11.”

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Tags: America, culture, difference, future, Los Angeles, Manhattan, market, marketing, Newspaper, Pedicab, Pedicab News, Product, recession, rickshaw, route, San Francisco, Story, US, weekend

by Gary Koenig, Denver Cycling Examiner

If you’re like me, you’ve invested more than a few idle minutes thinking about being a professional cyclist. What could be better than getting paid to ride all day long? Daydreams are fun, but sober reflection on the shrinking nature of the pro pelotons, both worldwide and domestic, would lead most of us to conclude that cycling for a living is not realistically in our future.

So what if I told you that I could get you a paying cycling job tomorrow? That you would enjoy the consummate cosmopolitan benefits just as other top cycling pros do. And to top it off, even though you’ll be riding 6-8 hours per day, you’ll never have to tackle a hill and headwinds will be as rare as a 12 ounce Ruth’s Chris ribeye. Furthermore, you’ll never have to answer to a surly directeur sportif who doesn’t even speak your language, never have to sacrifice your legs for an ungrateful prima donna team leader and never suffer the ignominy of watching an Italian gregario who has been latched onto your wheel for untold kilometers suddenly bolt by you to win a Grand Tour stage that so rightfully belonged to you.

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Tags: 16th street mall, bicycling, company, Denver, driver, fun, future, Main Street Pedicabs, pedicab driver, pedicab drivers, Pedicab News, pedicabs, professional cyclist, street pedicabs, traffic

DENVER – As more than 50,000 visitors hit the streets of Denver for the Democratic National Convention, there seems to be one color that keeps coming to mind: green.

Convention planners and the city of Denver are making sure this once-in-a-lifetime event is as eco-friendly as possible.

For Casey Bobay, co-owner of Mile High Pedi-cabs, green is creating green and pedal power is paying off.

“We’ve been doing round about 17-hour days during the DNC. We’re the most convenient green-friendly transportation down here right now .Yesterday, I had 42 missed calls in an hour of people wanting rides,” said Bobay.

Kirk Dornbush is from Atlanta. He says it cost $12 to go roughly a mile in a pedi-cab.

“Pedi-cabs are lean, green, convertible machines. They are the only way to go, it’s just awesome. They are quick. The drivers are courteous and it’s a green way to get around the city. I have not taken a fuel-burning cab yet and I will not. The pedi-cabs are the only way to go,” said Dornbush.

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Tags: better business, bike lane, Cabs, city of denver, convention planners, delegates, democratic national convention, Denver, DNC, driver, lifetime event, Pedicab News, traffic, transportation

BY NICK BOHNENKAMP
Of all the things happening during the DNC, I have been given the task of rounding up a group of volunteers to pick up trash, using pedicabs, from the seven FreeWheelin’ Way to Go bike stations in Denver. And let me tell you, it’s pretty rad. It’s all part of the 1000 Humana/Bikes Belong bikes that are now in place. The picture is of me getting rad on the pedicab. These things are so much fun to ride.

Tags: bikes, Denver, DNC, freewheelin, fun, Pedicab, Pedicab News, pedicabs, picking up trash, volunteers

Ice cream cones and X-ray machines were popularized at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Will “pedicabs” – those passenger carts pulled by bicycle riders – be mainstreamed by the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver?

Big events like conventions and fairs offer entrepreneurs a big opportunity to get their new inventions exposure to lots of people in a short period of time. Entrepreneurs can very quickly see whether there’s demand for their goods and get real-time feedback. (Giving away free product can also be a good way to generate buzz at big events, as I wrote last week.)

Today, my colleague Stephanie Simon highlights how Denver pedicab companies hope the Democratic National Convention will be their chance to show consumers the wonders of being driven by a bicycle rickshaw rather than a gas-guzzling taxi cab on short trips.

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Tags: bicycle riders, bicycling, convention goers, democratic national convention, Denver, Michael Phelps, new inventions, passenger, Pedicab, pedicab drivers, Pedicab News, rickshaw, St. Louis, Stephanie Simon, taxi cab

By STEPHANIE SIMON

DENVER — Owners of bicycle rickshaws, already a popular way of getting about downtown Denver, are seizing on the Democratic National Convention as a chance to showcase their human-powered taxis as more than just a novelty.

Steve Meyer, owner of one of Denver’s largest fleets of pedicabs and a manufacturer of the vehicles, wants the convention’s national audience to see bike taxis as a dynamic part of the urban fabric and the ultimate in green transportation.

“People see pedicabs as like a horse-drawn carriage, sitting there on the curb for our amusement. We want people to see them in a new light, as a fundamental mode of transportation,” said Mr. Meyer, whose Mile High Pedicabs boasts a 40-vehicle fleet.

Bike-pedaled rickshaws took off in the U.S. scene in the early 1990s, in large part due to Mr. Meyer’s promotion. He got them recognized early on as part of the mix in revitalizing Denver’s downtown pedestrian mall.

Mr. Meyer makes bike taxis in his Broomfield, Colo., factory, selling 3,000 in the last 15 years to buyers across the country. The biggest markets include New York, San Diego, Austin, Texas, and Miami. Mr. Meyer says he hopes greater exposure during the convention will translate to bigger business.

Pedicabs, which weigh about 200 pounds empty, can take passengers as far as several miles, but most runs are two to 10 blocks — often too short for a conventional cab, and for pedestrians encumbered by packages, ill health or alcohol, too long to walk. Most rickshaw buggies seat two, though sometimes four or five passengers squeeze in.

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Tags: democratic national convention, downtown denver, fleets, independent contractors, mode of transportation, national audience, pedestrian mall, Pedicab News, pedicabs, rickshaw, steve meyer, vehicle fleet