A chilly breeze whipped against people's faces as streetlamps and lights from the restaurants lining the street illuminated a typical night on the Corner. Groups of students headed back from restaurants while many others walked back from the night's various parties. As one group stood, dreading the walk back to first-year dorms, they heard an unusual sound -- ding ding. A bicycle bell rang, breaking through the cold air.
But this was no ordinary bicycle. It was a three-wheeled specialty bicycle equipped with seat belts, safety lights and powerful disc brakes that can carry up to three passengers -- a unique mode of transportation offered by one of the newest companies on the block: Happy Rickshaw.
The company, created by two recent University graduates, Ian Ayers and Christoph Herby, offered its first rides Sept. 29. Rides cost between $2 and $7 per person and are provided by request (for weddings and dates, for example) and every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Rides are also offered during special events such as football games and concerts at the John Paul Jones Arena -- "wherever there's a crowd," Herby said. The company also recently acquired a phone number, making it easier for people to request rides.
Ayers and Herby both rode for the Cycling Club while at the University and went on to ride professionally. They often trained together, and it is during such a training session that the idea for Happy Rickshaw originated -- they were discussing what to do during the winter, when cycling season was over.
"We've come up with lots of really good ideas and lots of really bad ideas [while] talking during training rides," Herby said.
He said it did not take long to realize a rickshaw service would fall under the good ideas category, being a great fit for both him and Ayers.
"It's great," Ayers said. "We love Charlottesville, and we love bikes."
Ayers said Charlottesville was also ideal for a rickshaw service because of its bicycle-friendly roads, courteous motorists and the wide variety of University and Downtown destinations.
The next step in the process was to plan and organize the business.
"We got the idea in the beginning of August, and we had the company going by September," Ayers said. "We had to learn a lot about the business side, the legal side, about money, about marketing."
Ayers and Herby also had to find rickshaws and drivers. After first considering buying cheaper rickshaws to test the waters, they decided to "dive in head first and buy really nice rickshaws," Herby said.
They took out loans and bought four rickshaws at $3,500 each.
Ten additional drivers were hired, each going through interview and training processes, complete with a Happy Rickshaw training manual. Of the additional 10 drivers, seven are current University students. While others are also great drivers, Ayers and Herby said there are advantages to hiring students.
"Students can relate to students better," Ayers said. "And they know the Grounds. They know where the frats are, the names of the first-year dorms. It reduces the learning curve."
In addition to hiring drivers, Ayers and Herby had to decide what routes would be best, how to charge people fairly, how to ask people if they wanted rides without making them uncomfortable and much more.
"The whole theme for starting this company is to learn as you go," Ayers said. "It seems like it would be a simple business, but there's a lot to it. It's extraordinary how many day-to-day things we need to keep these rickshaws going."
But Ayers and Herby said all the effort required, including the work involved in physically pedaling a rickshaw, is well worth it.
"A lot of people will say, when we're [pedaling] up a little hill, 'That must be hard,'" Ayers said. "Sure, it's a little hard, but the drivers love to pedal these things, and that's why we're Happy Rickshaw."
In fact, the drivers are so happy that Ayers and Herby said some of them offered to drive for no pay. It is not just a happy experience for the drivers, though, but also the passengers, according to Happy Rickshaw customers.
First-year College student Charlotte Daimler said she and her friends first heard about the company from Ayers when they took his cycling class at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. The first night the rickshaws were running, Daimler and her friends happened to be on the Corner and saw Ayers drive by.
"He stopped, and we all piled into one, and he gave us a ride," Daimler said. "It was pretty cool. Since it was the first night, no one had really seen them, so everyone was stopping and pointing. We got where we were going a lot faster than if we were walking."
Daimler said the benefits went beyond such practicalities.
"It's obviously very different than riding in a bus or a car, so it has that kind of adventurous feel to it," Daimler said. "And you get to interact with the driver more than if you were on a bus. I think that's interesting."
Such enjoyment is exactly what Happy Rickshaw attempts to provide for its passengers, according to Ayers and Herby.
"It's a fun thing, not just transportation, and we want people to feel that," Herby said.
Ayers said people are often hesitant to take a ride on a rickshaw because "it's just kind of new and weird". He guessed that at least 90 percent of people have never been on a rickshaw.
In addition, "I think people feel bad about us riding," Ayers said. "But we love pedaling these rickshaws.
According to Ayers and Herby, it often only takes one ride before people love this new mode of travel.
"All I remember [from the first rides I gave] is people giggling -- it's a trademark thing," Ayers said. "You look back, and there are these three huge Kool-Aid smiles on their faces.
Ayers and Herby said they get a lot of repeat customers once people realize they enjoy rickshaw rides.
In addition, Ayers said they are particularly happy "that the Greek community seemed to embrace Happy Rickshaw." He said students will often yell "Happy Rickshaw" as they pass by.
"That really pumps up the drivers," Ayers said. "We love to hear people yell when we're working hard. It's like climbing a hill in the Tour de France and everyone cheering for you."
Daimler said she is part of the appreciative group excited about Happy Rickshaw.
"I've seen [rickshaws] in big cities, [and] it's pretty cool they're bringing that to Charlottesville," Daimler said. "When one of them rings its bells as it's going by, [you think], 'That's a good idea.'"
Herby said customers sometimes don't appreciate this form of transportation until they have experienced their first rickshaw ride.
There are "the guys that get on [saying], 'I don't need anyone to drive me around,'" Herby said. "And then you're rolling down a hill, and they're screaming and laughing and having a great time. They realize it's entertainment, not just transportation."
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