Portland May Soon Be Home to Dueling Pedal Pubs

If you've been waiting to rent a pedalpub, a 14-rider cycle that often includes an onboard keg, it may be a while yet before you can pedal in unison while downing a cold one. But two Portland businesses, Pedalounge and CycleSaloon, are deep in negotiations with the city to allow the human-powered party buses on the road.

CycleSaloon's partners in Minneapolis have worked with that city to change regulations to allow onboard drinking. There, pedalpubs are in the same classification, as far as liquor laws go, as limos or party buses—so long as the driver abstains, passengers (who are also pedalers) can drink as much as they like. "At this point, it is hard to tell when we could make this happen [in Portland]" Tracy Drago, of CycleSaloon says. 

CycleSaloon's planned routes are conducive with alcohol consumption though: The company will start in the lower division area, where the roads are flat and there are plenty of good bar stops.

In hope that the first summer on pedalpubs won't have to be beer-free, CycleSaloon is working to get negotiations completed with the city as soon as possible.