It was a great 2.5 years at the B&C Storage facility next to Middle Ages but they were turning the garage where we stored the bikes into storage locker units. Luckily when driving a tour from Press Room Pub to Wolfs I noticed a for lease sign on the Post Standard Newspaper building at Clinton Square and a large garage door. I made the call, took a tour and signed a lease for our bikes to now start/end there. The best part about being in the heart of downtown is we get to miss many of the hills downtown. 

Parking- You can park for free on the street after 6pm on weekdays and all day on the weekends. For earlier tours or for those who do not want to park on the street. Paid parking is offered at Press Room Pub as well as the Dinosaur BBQ lot. 

Are all the rage this year for birthdays, bachelorette parties and team buildings. Go on Amazon and get the loudest flamboyant sunglasses you can find for the group to rock out. Whether they are the same color or the rainbow variety pack everyone will love them and wear them… Even after the tour is done. We encourage organizers to take care of getting the alcohol, ice, snacks, decorations, tip and just have everyone pay them back so this way you do not have to worry about people letting you down. 

Birthday party variety pack

Bachelorette party heart ones on our party boat in Rochester

Fun 4th of July shades from the holiday

Dont forget a pair for your driver

First and foremost make sure you booked, you will know you booked your tour because you will get a confirmation email. The confirmation email is  very important because it tells you everything important that your group needs to know so please  share it with everyone coming back screenshotting it and putting it into a group chat or forwarding it.  They can also check back against it instead of asking you. Your driver will call you a few days before your tour to walk you through the day of your tour and find out what bars your group will be visiting. Here is the list to pick between https://www.syracusepedaltours.com/2017/06/07/routes/

ABC- Always Be Collecting with venmo and cash app it has never been easier to collect everyones money. We encourage organizers to take care of the alcohol, decorations, food, tip and then let everyone know how much to pay you back this way you can make sure everything gets done how you want. 

Plan the decorating and theme. People have always made decorations and there is a special page in the blog section about them but new this year is people adding their Venmo/Cash App to the sign on the back and people sending them money. Getting free money is fun so make sure you find the artistic friend and have them make a fun sign. Colored Wigs, 80s Workout Gear and Grannies gone wild themes became very popular in the last year. Plan ahead whether you make special shirts, wear sports team jerseys or come up with a new theme idea.

Prepare for when the driver reaches out to walk you through the day of your tour and finds out where you want to visit during the tour.  Your driver is reachable via text so we can work with you to set up a 10 minute conversation to go over important stuff before your tour. 

Be sure to read the other blog entries which will help you with packing, decorating, pro tips and other helpful information.  

People have always made signs to decorate the bike with but starting last year people starting putting their Venmo/Cash App on them and O WOW did that prove to be a great idea. Who doesnt like Free Money? Its not a car stuck behind us at a red light it is all your friends, family, co workers that could not make your birthday, bachelorette party, etc showing you love by paying for a drink at the bar.

Shout out to all the amazing groups who made these signs. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so take a look at these amazing signs and use them for inspiration on your pedal tour. Remember to put them on a piece of posterboard (it cannot be wider then a door frame so that it does not cover up our turn signals. Poke some holes in the corners for zip ties, strings or painter tape (no clear or packaging tape on the bike)Signs not only look good on the back of the bike are a great prop to hold in the group photos your driver will take of you

2 Bike Pedal Tour Fun

Tours begin and end at the back of the Post Standard Newspaper building at Clinton Square. 239 North Clinton Street is what you should put in your GPS but you cannot park there. Find the closest parking spot. Street parking is free after 6pm and on weekends. Paid parking is offered in lots at Press Room Pub and Dinosaur BBQ. Glazed and Confused Doughnuts and Dinosaur BBQ are two local landmarks a minute walk from where your tour will begin and end This means we can take out groups of up to 26 people since each bike fits 13 guests. You dont have 26 people? Dont worry you do not need nearly that many and with our base price covering a group of up to 10 per bike you really only need 20 to get the best price per person. If you have more than 20 you just pay proportionally more per person.

During a 2 bike tour groups visit 2 bars for about 40 minutes at each. You get to pick the bars but we do have to run it by them ahead of time to make sure they are cool with it during the time of your tour. We do these tours at least 2 times a month in the summer so we are great at making sure everything runs smoothly and taking tons of group photos for you. This is the perfect team building and joint bachelor/bachelorette parties. 

Just Look at the Smiles on Everyones Faces

2020 sucked because Covid caused people to not want to go out and do tours until late that summer. We still had an okay fall then 2021 turned into a very busy year because the weddings that were cancelled in 2020 took place in 2021 and all the bachelorette parties did our tours since other activities were not happening. For 2022 we hope to have a record year! We always book up fast but now with 2 bikes operating at the same location we get a few 2 bike tours per week so that availability you see can be gone in 1 phone call. Covid caused us to change our pricing and it works out better for groups since you can now get the best rate for 10 guests and pay proportionally more if you have more than 10.  Being able to add people on later even right up until your tour is great for organizers unsure of who will be able to attend, test positive or flake out.

What’s the deal with the Funraiser?

This exciting, new “funraiser” is a great way to raise money for your organization while having a good time. After you’ve been approved and we agree on a date, you’ll work to promote the day we’ve agreed on and try to sell as many tours as possible because you will keep half of the proceeds. In the winter, you can pick any day of the week to host your fundraiser (and that does include weekends) but once our season gets busier in April, then it will take place only on Mondays during select weeks for the rest of the year. Please note, this is for the pedal tour bikes, not the boat.

Financials

Regular season (April-November) guests pay $285. The tip for the driver is not included in this amount.

Subtract taxes, which are $21.11, and we divide that up by 2. We know you are a non-profit, but when you purchase the tour you have to pay tax on it. You keep $132 off each tour sold.

In the winter, our rate is $200 on a weekday or $250 on a weekend. We will subtract the tax and divide that by 2. Also in the winter, we’ll allow your organization to pick weekends as well. From December 1st through March 31st, organizations can book for weekend tours. The rest of the year Funraisers take place on Mondays.

Your tour is half off, so we also encourage the organization to book one tour and sell individual tickets to it for people that are unable to get a full group together so they can join. You can sell these tickets for however many dollars you want and keep all of that profit because you booked the tour for the fixed price of $285 (of which that you will keep $132). Tip: If you provide the beer, wine, and food, you could charge riders a premium.

Tour Types

We offer bar/brewery tours, architecture tours, and food tours. The guests get to pick whatever type of tour they want. If the group books a bike to sell individual tickets, we encourage the architecture tour because of how fun it is! We have start times at 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, and 8:30 p.m. If your group is able to get board members to team building events where they work in the afternoon and have friends and neighbors join at night, your group can potentially raise a lot of money.

Payment is done through our website rochesterpedaltours.com where they’ll be able to view an up-to-the-minute calendar and book. On the questionnaire after they book, they’ll write the name of the charity so we know how much to write the check for. We’ll write you a check for the total amount when the tours are completed.

What do we expect out of your organization?

We want to make you as much money as possible, which is why we give you all the promotional material to use to sell tours. The harder you hustle, the more tours you’ll sell and the more money you’ll raise. We are working towards the same goal of selling pedal tours, so we want our sales material to be used word-for-word because we see it work everyday. We’ll message you a logo, photos of the bikes, and sales pitch to use for marketing. Any time you mention us, make sure you tag us and after the event, mention us in a status and include a picture of a group on the bike. Reviews are important to our business, your driver will ask the groups to write reviews, but we want to ensure you and other members of your organizations write us reviews on any of the review websites.

Next Steps

Talk this over with your boards and message us to start working on date selection because dates fill up quickly.

Driving pedal tour truly is the funnest job ever, sure not every group is perfect but the overwhelming majority are filled with great people. I love to see how much fun groups are having, you will never know how fun it is to high five someone walking on the street or when someone honks and wishes you a happy birthday because of the sign on the back of the bike. Going on a pedal tour is such a unique experience in so many ways and you need to try it for yourself! Anyone you know who has been on one will tell you what a great time they had. Just look at all the smiles on the photos we post and they will sell you more on a pedal tour then anything I can write here.

Bachelor Party Fun