Lazy Summer Days

I don't find much I really want to talk about these days, other that commenting on other blogs and the online news.

I have walked the new South Limestone several time and we intend to attend the street party. Mrs Sweeper and I have enjoyed the Thursday Night Live evenings despite the heat and humidity. I even found time to go to the airport and ride on the new runway on Second Sunday.

South Limestone looks vastly different after a year of construction. All it needs now is a few towering street trees for daytime shade or the filtering on the streetlights, and we can all be transported back in time to the beginning of the last century. Mrs. Sweeper commented how the Tin Roof building now looks slightly out of place in the transition from restored residential toward the adapted commercial and the university. Maybe some design guidelines could help in a future redevelopment of the site. I also think that the hospital's parking lot begs for a street front use to hide the autos.

Thursday Night Live is something that we have talked about for a while and recently began attending in addition to our Tuesday jazz evenings. For this one we leave the guys at home and just have some "us" time. I have probably seen more old friends there than at Ecton Park and the food and drink are more varied. I just have to remember that the sling chairs are in MY car and get them out before I go to Cheapside. With so many people crowded into such a limited area it is still so strange to find that all the circulation paths can be fouled by one or two quick conversations in inconvenient locations.

Regular readers will know that I don't totally agree with the Second Sunday events held in Lexington, but this past Sunday was a really unique situation. The chance to ride on the new airport runway was just too much to pass up. Wide open space and basically very flat for 4000 feet. And then another 4000 feet back again. I saw my friends from Sprocket Jockeys(the pedicab folks) and just a ton of kids. The airport, for all their bad press, really did a super job and the DLC put on a good program. Maybe they are working the kinks out.

I heard the Mayor speak today about his efforts on historic preservation and came away with the impression that some things could be strengthened and that we will probably get some design guidelines, but that he will not try to impose any personal preferences on the outcome. Some of you will call that weak leadership but I am not so sure about that. I will have to wait until next month to see what Mr Gray has to add to the discussion.

Maybe something will break lose and strike my fancy in the next few weeks. We will see.

Pedicabs Are Coming To Downtown

I spent this evening with an interesting group of young people. I was allowed to attend the orientation meeting of potential pedicab drivers for Sprocket Jockeys. I want to thank Lauren and James for allowing me to see their enthusiasm for what I think is a wonderful new service for downtown Lexington. It makes me wish that I was 30 years younger so that I could drive one of those things.

First off Lauren Pfannerstill, a promotions person for a local liquor outlet, and James Gonyer, who if I heard correctly, works in a local bike shop have come together to bring Lexington its first pedicab service. Both are avid cyclists and but even so they could not drive all the time, so they let it be known, they need for drivers. My oldest son expressed interest in doing so and I was just interested in seeing what it took.

They seem to be modeling this as a cross between a taxi and the horse drawn carriage rides through downtown. Each of the drivers will be an independent contractor, leasing out the pedicabs to cover shifts and are able to pick their clientele/service area. Some may serve the downtown area alone or they may wish to go between the various concentrations of activity(downtown/Distillery District, downtown/campus, campus/Chevy Chase, ...). They have even lined up some specialized promotions at set locations and will be a visible feature at UK football games.

The drivers will be fully licensed and well versed on the Lexington bicycle ordinances. Charges for the service are not set and each driver may charge as they see fit. There will be NO dispatching center, so each driver will have to coordinate with the others to get things to go smoothly. So far, Lauren and James have found that most people do tip well for this novelty.

Their projected initial hours will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, starting at 6 and continuing until 4:00 am. This should take care of the early "dinner/date" crowd and the later "bar-hopping" crowd. The pedicabs do come with lights (front and back), turn signals and electric assist for that extra "umph" to get up those longer hills. My one caution on this is for the safety of the drivers in carrying substantial amounts of cash at that time in the morning. These independent contractors should not put themselves unduly at risk.

From the number of potential drivers at tonight's gathering and the interest displayed, these folks will have to add more pedicabs to the two currently in the stable. Most of them appeared to be post college age although some may be in their last years at school.

I am optimistic that this will work and can't wait to see the downtown public's reaction. Lauren, James, Here is wishing you well.

What I Missed At The Art Fair

I was wandering through the LexRides website today as I try to do on occasion and tripped across an interesting tidbit. They had a pedicab at the Woodland Art Fair. And I missed it.

I was all enthused about the availability of a bike corral that I missed any discussion of a pedicab service. It seems that I am not the only one, I think that a lot of others missed it too. So for all of you out there who may be interested, here is what I know.

A young couple, Lauren Pfannerstill and James Gonyer, have formed a company called Sprocket Jockeys, LLC to provide a pedicab service in downtown Lexington. Wow, what a rush, a pedicab service in Lexington? And they tried it out at the Art Fair to, from what I understand, was a good business.

Their website says that they will begin with weekend night in downtown and see how it progresses. I can see this as being a contender, of sorts, to the Lextran trolley system which has yet to be rolled out. One could go out for a night on the town, dining at Baker's 360 and then dancing at the Penguin on the other end of town, or a short ride downtown from campus (once South Lime gets finished) and back. It is not inconceivable to consider some of the other near campus destinations like Chevy Chase/Euclid or the new South Broadway developments. The possibilities are almost endless. Distillery District may be a ways off but who knows what will happen with the completion of the Newtown Pike Extension. These thing would also be great for the Gallery Hop evenings.

I wish these guys a lot of luck and hope to take advantage of their service real soon. And I hope that you do too.