Pedal Pub wheels out spirited new offering

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This article was published 01/08/2024 (717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bikers with beers will soon traverse Exchange District streets.

Pedal Pub, a popular attraction where users cycle to local bars, is preparing to offer brews on its quadricycles.

“The first question we get from people is whether they can consume alcohol on the bike,” said Miguel Gauthier, co-owner of Pedal Pub’s Winnipeg branch.

“Now we’re very proud and happy to say that we can answer… with a big, firm ‘Yes.’”

Starting Monday, employees will load coolers full of beer and vodka sodas onto the quadricycles, which are four-wheeled vehicles that riders pedal.

It’s been a long time coming for Gauthier and his partners. They brought Pedal Pub to Winnipeg in 2022.

In other Canadian cities, customers of the franchise could sip alcohol while pedalling to various bars. They’d get off, drink more and hop back on. It was the case for operations in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Winnipeg’s Pedal Pub couldn’t get a liquor licence from the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba. The LGCA would only issue a liquor service licence if other government agency licences and permits regulated the entity in question, spokeswoman Lisa Hansen explained earlier this summer.

And in 2022, Pedal Pub’s quadricycles — where 15 customers can pedal at a time — didn’t fit any vehicle registration class. It didn’t need a City of Winnipeg licence, either.

Pedal Pub contacted the provincial government to create laws targeted at quadricycles, co-owner Brandon Guenther said.

As of this Wednesday, Manitoba has launched a pilot project regulation for large quadricycles. It’s set to be revoked Jan. 31, 2029.

Part of the legislation called for municipal approval. So in July, the Pedal Pub owners waited to see what the City of Winnipeg would say — and on July 3, councillors gave the green light.

“The province is the one that’s regulating it, so I wish them the best,” Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) said while moving the motion.

Now, Pedal Pub is preparing for an even boozier ride.

“We’re really, really excited,” Gauthier said.

The tour will continue the same: the two-hour Exchange District trek will have two bar stops and pre-paid drinks.

However, customers can order a cooler stocked with cans to accompany them on the quadricycles. Packs range from 15 to 36 drinks, at $6 per Torque Brewing beer and Smirnoff vodka soda.

People must place their orders online before the voyage, according to Gauthier.

Pedal Pub isn’t required to change its safety features, such as adding seatbelts. Instead, it’s adding a second staff member to its rides, Gauthier detailed: one employee will drive and another will act as bartender, ensuring riders behave.

“Nobody who is on the bike can just reach in and grab their own drink,” Gauthier emphasized. “If there’s instances of full intoxication, we’re in full control of that vehicle. We’re able to remove the person from the tour… if it’s becoming unsafe.”

Each quadricycle has an electric motor, a backup if legs fail.

Pedal Pub has 10 bar, restaurant and distillery partners in the Exchange District. Each tour elicits an average $1,200 in spending at local businesses, Guenther said earlier this summer.

The company is currently restricted to operations downtown and in the Exchange District. It must get city approval before touring elsewhere, Gauthier said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com