Denver's pedal-powered party vehicles just hit the streets a few months ago, but the road's been a little bumpy. Denver Pedal Bar was the first sixteen-person bike to start wheeling and dealing, but the company has already changed its name to Denver Patio Ride. "Pedal Pub attorneys wrote them letters saying you can't call yourself Pedal Bar when we're Pedal Pub and you have the same product," says Luke Stone of Denver Pedal Hopper, which got rolling in May. (Stone also owns a Pedal Hopper in Lawrence, Kansas.) "They had to do Patio Ride after that."
But Kent Lutnes, one of Patio Ride's owners, disputes that account. "We didn't have to change it," he says of the name. "That was our choice. What we wanted to do was invoke the image of a moving patio, but you're moving along."
No matter what you call it, the concept has proved so popular for birthdays, bachelorette parties and pub crawls that both Denver Patio Ride and Denver Pedal Hopper have added additional bikes. Nick Vannucci, another owner of Patio Ride, is also opening an outpost in Omaha.
While their rates are similar, Denver Patio Ride has routes in LoDo, the Ballpark neighborhood and RiNo, while Pedal Hopper offers routes in South Broadway/West Washington Park, Uptown/Colfax, Cherry Creek and South Pearl as well as LoDo. And although the two companies' bikes might look similar, Stone claims that his company's vehicles are the original bar cycles that have been used in Europe for over fifteen years, while Denver Patio Ride uses a cheaper version. "I like to tell people you're getting the original," Stone says. "They operate these things in Europe. You're getting the European experience that's been brought to the United States. That's what's kind of special about it."
Lutnes tries to smooth over such issues, insisting there's more than enough room for competing companies, no matter where their bikes originate. "As long as people are out there enjoying these things, that's great for us," he says.
And that's good news, because yet another company has entered the market: MyHandleBar, with bikes in Fort Collins and Boulder.
Club scout: Starting September 1, the Meadowlark (2701 Larimer Street) will host jazz happy hours from 5 to 9 p.m. every Thursday in September, with drink specials and food-truck snacks as well as live jazz.
Over Labor Day weekend, Fortune Valley Hotel and Casino in Central City will celebrate the grand opening of the Lava Room, its 300-person showroom, which sports a state-of-the-art sound system (for both live entertainment and game-watching), a dance floor, a private bar, a sunken stage, three levels of seating and a VIP area. The party kicks off on Friday, September 2, with the Firefall Trio and a special guest, followed by U2 tribute band Under a Blood Red Sky on Saturday, September 3, and the Hot Posse on Sunday, September 4. Each of these shows is free for anyone over 21, and doors open at 8:30 p.m. — Jon Solomon
