At the beginning of every tour we tell the group that we are in a referral based industry. We want to make sure you have a GREAT experience and want to do it again. In fact when you book a tour it asks how did you hear about us and the number one response is a friend/family member did a tour. From driving so many tours we have acquired a wealth of knowledge to pass on to our groups to make sure you have the best possible time. We realize that as the organizer of your group that you have the hardest job so we are here to try and make it as easy as possible on you. Here are some great pro tips to ensure an amazing tour. We have perfected how to have a perfect tour down to a science
Before Your Tour
The booker of your tour is sent a confirmation email that explains what we provide, where to go, when to show up, where to park and many other important things. Please forward or copy/paste this to everyone coming so that you do not have to say everything over and over and no one can say you did not tell me this or that. They can also check it again later instead of having to ask you again. Your driver will call you a few days before your tour to walk you through how the day of your tour and to find out what bars you want to visit. Please read the blog entry all about the different route options. Between the phone call and the confirmation email you should know everything you need to know but if something comes up you have your drivers number to call or text them.
What we tell you during the phone call the week before your tour
Your tour begins and ends at Marshall Street Bar and Grill at 81 Marshall Street. It is a great bar with a great craft beer list, cheap drinks, all types of games to play and really good bar food. (try the quesadillas they are my go to) For parking your group will park in the Wadsworth Square Parking lot where it is free to park your car. 40 Marshall is where you can park for free and leave your cars for free overnight on the weekends. It is 7 houses down from the bar so it is not a far walk, although whoever brings the cooler should just drop it off at the bar then go park. We need everyone to come early because we have pre tour stuff we have to do with your group. We need everyone in the group to sign a basic waiver before your tour begins. The waiver is attached to your confirmation email as well as on the FAQ section of our website. What tricks groups up is that everyone must fill in the date of the tour themselves, it is tempting for the first person to write the date and everyone wants to draw an arrow down through the other boxes. Everyone must fill it in themselves and with the date of the tour, not the date you signed it. Try to have people sign it as they arrive so that we can begin the tour as soon as everyone is present. Make sure everyone in your group knows not to drink their own alcohol/food which they have brought on the Marshall Street Bar and Grill premise, they are a buisness and great partner bar. We do not want to get off on the wrong note because if someone is caught drinking their alcohol on the premise they are not allowed on the tour and no one wants that. Which is why we mention this all over our website, on the confirmation email and in the pre tour phone call. We count on the organizers to relay this to the group.
If you are celebrating a birthday/bachelorette – Don’t forget the decorations, our Facebook page, blog and the gallery on this website have some great ideas from prior groups. You are able to bring your own food, snacks, appetizers and candy on the bike to celebrate. Just don’t forget the plates, napkins, knives that go along with it. When decorating don’t forget to bring painters tape to use (no packaging tape or clear tape because we dont want the finish to get taken off the bike and cleaned up for the next tour). With ballons bring just a few because put them on the back of the bike and we can not block the driver view. Please make sure they are on strings with tape they will blow away and we do not litter. Signs on the back of the bike are a BIG Deal when groups make signs all the cars and people on the streets go wild, they cannot be wider than a door frame tho (so they don’t cover our turn signals). Put holes in the corners and bring string/zip ties to hang them. Your driver will help you decorate, we are very good at decorating from doing this all the time. With bachelorette parties NO giant penises ladies, penis straws are allowed. Kids love to look at the bike and no parent should have to explain to a child what that is. Make sure you bring cupcakes versus a cake so you do not have to worry about all the serving utensils.
What to wear – We have plenty of storage space on the bike for you to put your purses, jackets, gloves, food, etc. The driver stays with the bike while you go into the bar to keep your belongings safe. I always tell groups to overdress and be warm, if you get hot you can take them off. In the summer the biggest thing is proper footwear, NO flip flops or sandals. Flip flops and sandals are uncomfortable to pedal in and fall off. When the bike is moving the pedals keep moving so when your feet inevitably slip off the pedals we don’t want the pedal to come around and hit your foot. Don’t wear sundresses or skirts either as you can imagine you are sitting on a bike seat you will not be comfortable. Many women have told us we should let others know to wear a sports bra. Please bring a wristlet versus a large purse because all you need is your ID, cash and your credit card during the tour. We always love when groups do a theme party whether it be everyone wearing sports jerseys, Hawaiian gear, 80s exercise outfits or wearing white t shirts and bringing sharpies to write on each other with. Let us know so the driver can dress for the occasion.
What to bring with you? – You do not need to bring a speaker we provide a speaker with a Bluetooth system for you to play whatever you want from your phone. You can bring whatever food, snacks, appetizers and candy that you want. While some food you will be able to eat on the bike while you pedal and others while you are stopped. On each route there is one bar where you can bring your own food into which is perfect for harder to eat foods like cake, chicken wing dip, salsa and dips etc. Some groups bring huge quantities of food, sometimes everyone brings only chips so coordinate what everyone is bringing. Cheese and crackers and vegetable trays tend to not be eaten. You are allowed to bring 2 alcoholic beverages per person on the bike this means 12 oz cans of beer and wine in single serving plastic containers. NO glass, NO liquor which includes jello shots and mixed drinks in water bottles and NO boxed wine that you plan on drinking out of solo cups. Let your groups know all of this because we strictly enforce these rules and you will have to return them to your car across the street. Make sure everyone brings cash, it will make it easier for everyone to pay you back and when you go into the bar you will be there for only about 25 minutes which is only enough time to have one drink so need point to open up a tab. It just delays the following people from getting served. When you are late from one bar it eats into your time at the following bars. We don’t want you to have to dash in and have to rush at the last bar. Dont forget to tip your driver you will see how hard they work making sure you and your friends have a great experience, they do alot more than just drive you from point A to point B. People always wonder what to tip the driver and $5 a person is pretty standard unless people are rowdy and then throw them extra. They will let you know what the drink specials are at the bars you pick, call you ahead of your tour to walk you through how the day of your tour will play out, call to order food ahead for you, take group photos and watch over your belongings. The organizer collects the tip money ahead of time and gives it to the driver at some point before the end of the tour because at the end it is chaios.
When you show up? So right now you and your friends are at Marshall Street Bar and Grill and have parked in the right place. Sign the waivers and when the tour before you comes back start rallying your troops to use the bathroom and close out there tabs. When the group before yours ends they do a last group photo, give them there bellongings and clean up the bike then your driver will come to find your group. We ask that you show up early so that we can get everyone situated on the bike, go over information about the bike and put your belongings away before the tour begins and hopefully start a little bit early. The BIGGEST thing you can do to speed up the process is print out the waiver ahead of time and have everyone sign the waiver as they arrive. Please listen when the driver is doing their pre tour speech to the group. When people are talking we have to wait for them then begin again. Anyone who has spoken in front of a group knows how hard it is once you lose your train of thought. As the organizer of your group we will take all the photos on your phone to reward you for all the hard work organizing the tour. Be sure to send those out to everyone so we do not have to take photos on everyones cameras. The bike has plenty of storage space for food and snacks, purses, extra clothing and room for a cooler. You can bring two alcoholic beverages per person (12oz cans) of beer, wine, cider, sparkling seltzer, mikes hard lemonade type drinks. NO Glass, No liquor which includes jello shots and mixed drinks in water bottles and NO growlers or boxed wine that you would drink out of a solo cup because with all the bumps that will make a mess. We cannot have this on the bike and if you try to bring it you have to bring it back to your car and then they will be mad because they would have just brought what they were allowed to bring. On our way back at the end of your tour we will give you a 5 minute warning and a last chug before we need to dispose of your cans and get ready for the next tour
Tour Dont’s
- Arrive Late
- Try and steal glasses from bars
- Bring drinks out of the bar to drink on the bike. bar drinks are bar drinks, bike drinks are bike drinks
- Have a conversation with friends while your driver is giving pre tour instructions (you are just cutting into your bar time)
- Try to buy the driver a alcoholic beverage at the bar (every group has one person who will try)
- Leave phones on the counter, when we hit a bump it will move. it may move 1cm, 1 inch or 6 inches we don’t want you to lose your phone
- Forget the plates, napkins, cake knife, candles that go along with your food.
- Bring noise makers
- Drive Drunk. You can leave your car overnight in the lot we are referencing, get a discounted hotel stay at the East Ave Inn by calling the front desk and telling them you took a pedal tour to get the discount or take a cab. Don’t be stupid and drive drunk
Pro Tips
- when someone is late and you are calling to ask them how far away they are, after they say how far away they are ask how far are you really to find an accurate time. if they are going to make your group they can meet you at the first bar and sign the waiver then and join the group.
- Slice limes for cans of Bud Light Lime and Corona’s
- Don’t forget the water
- Bring paper towels versus napkins because napkins blow away easily
- Bring food, snacks, appetizers and candy to munch on during the tour
- Control the music versus ask the group what they want to hear
- Give your group a 5 minute warning in the bar. Finish your drink, dont get another drink, use the bathroom, close out your tab etc.
- Make sure your phone has enough memory/battery for photos to be taken on it
- Bring a wristlet versus a large purse
- For late night tours don’t try and over decorate because certain things will not be seen when it is dark out
- Come up with a post tour plan ahead of time. Trying to get people to agree on anything is hard, getting people who have been drinking for 2 hours to agree on anything is even harder.