Recent Posts
- Quick movie reviews of I Saw the Devil, Chronicle, and John Carter.
- Went to see The Avenger’s at AMC’s Dine-In Theater in Downtown Disney today.
- caribbean food, comic books, kayaking, and card fraud.
- My experience pedicab driving for some conventions and on International Drive in Orlando, FL on 5/19/2012.
- My experience pedicab driving during the Sapphire Now convention at the OCCC in Orlando, FL from 5/14-5/16/2012.
- My experience pedicab driving at Tropical Heatwave in Ybor City, FL on 5/12/2012.
- My experience pedicab driving at IEEE, NAMTA, and the Dish Team Summit at the OCCC in Orlando, FL from 5/8-5/10/2012.
- Review of New Edition in concert at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, FL on 5/4/2012.
- My experience pedicab driving at Fiesta Medina at Festival Park in Orlando, FL on 5/6/2012.
- Review of Don “D.C.” Curry at the Improv Orlando on 5/3/2012.
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 It’s extremely rare that I work at night on I-Drive so there were some drivers who were surprised to see me. The day started at the West convention center around 1:30pm. There were 3 conventions going on: a regional volleyball tournament, a nursing convention, and a Magic the Gathering card game tournament. Not to worry, I didn’t see anyone dressed up as any characters. I hit up the rear parking lot first. It was full and still filling up but no one bit for a ride. It was the same situation as the volleyball qualifier tourney in April and just like that one, I knew eventually those people and families would need rides to their hotels. It was a very slow roll getting to that point.
I hit up all of the hot spots on I-Drive and nothing was really going on. No rides. There were other drivers out and it was pretty much the same deal with them. I got two Magic rides but no nurse rides in the day. The nursing convention may not have the most people attending but they still had shuttle buses for attendees. For the first 2 hours, I only got one ride from the Rosen Centre garage to the West. More people were at Hall A than anyplace else so I chose to just stage there for the remainder of the day and night until the convention was done and that paid off. I ventured out occasionally when things slowed down but for the most part, all of my other rides came from the volleyball tournament and they tipped very generously. Other pedicabbers followed suit and also got rides from there.
They were all hotel rides and that lasted until close to 10pm. For the last hour, it was just me giving rides and that’s always a god thing when other drivers disappear. That’s likely due to their lack of experience and the anxiety of not getting immediate rides. Sometimes you gotta wait for it and the people will come. Or maybe they were getting rides elsewhere. Who knows. They were still slowly trickling out and no cabs were around either. With the tips they were giving, it was well worth the wait for the easy rides. I’d rather have conserved energy and got a good ride instead of riding around all over the place hoping to get one. For the future, I know to just work the exit for those volleyball tourneys. Rides weren’t non-stop but they were consistent and I came out green enough to go ahead and stick around to make more money on I-Drive. I could’ve just gone home but I was already out there and didn’t feel like going to downtown Orlando when I was already out and about in a busy area.
It was time for me to get some new experience. I don’t usually drive on I-Drive at night because I like to be rested for the next day’s convention when one is in town that I’m gonna work. Pointe Orlando is the main hot spot but early on, there were no rides to give. There were lots of people there. A security guard said there was a private party at Cuba Libre and didn’t want us pedicabs flowing around on property. The problem with that was the valet area was clogged and made it hard to pass through the normal route easily. Plus the sidewalk doesn’t have ramps and even if it did, valet regularly blocks it with cars.
We did the best we could with what we had to work with. For the first time ever, I gave some tours and got good tips for them. People just wanted to ride around and see the sights. I focused on Pointe Orlando up to Señor Frogs so that I wouldn’t venture out too far and catch any of the uphill action around the convention center. Most of my rides for the whole day were between 3-5 people. Luckily, teenage volleyball players don’t weigh much. I finally got a ride from 3 nurses that night who wanted a tour. One of them asked where we were earlier in the day. I told her if they want us to be around that she’d have to spread the word to other nurses to start taking rides. That’s how it works. When things slowed down, I had to figure out where to be. Having experience downtown, anyplace serving alcohol was the best bet so I staged around Señor Frogs and Howl at the Moon but I didn’t stick around too long. Everytime I left, I got a ride from someone. It’s all about time and place with pedicabbing. If it wasn’t me, it would’ve been someone else.
Depending on the location, you do wanna stage for a while but I could see for I-Drive that might not be a good thing to do when there aren’t any business conventions going on. Usually Pointe Orlando would have consistent rides but not on this night. There were rides to be had elsewhere and you had to be in the right place at the right time. I even gave a ride to some high-schoolers who were at a prom taking place at the Rosen Plaza. I had fun. The weather was nice and cool. No rain. And no asshole independent pedicab drivers were bothering me. They still need to clean up their act because they look like shit hanging out in front of Walgreens. They make us all look bad when they do that. Most of those losers wonder why they don’t make any money. It’s their own fault because I made mine.
I chose not to work Sunday because a tournament, by nature, includes eliminations. That meant there’d be less people around for the card game and volleyball. I was ready to have the week off when I found out about a new festival at Lake Eola called Viva Orlando. It was a small-scale Latin jazz fest and food truck event at the Disney Amphitheater. Since it was the first one, I wanted to get in on it from the ground and make my presence known. The problem with the Lake Eola area is that all of the major exits for a pedicab are up very steep hills because the roads drain into the lake. That makes it impossible to take rides away from events there but easy to bring people to it.
I rode all around downtown for a ride and got jack shit. I made sure to pay attention to where people were coming from but parking was too close. I staged for a good hour and got a lot of stares and comments but no rides. My plan was to stay and work the event and then later on to work downtown. I was already about to leave by a certain timetable if I didn’t get a ride soon when a regular downtown driver showed up who was attending the event and he brought his negativity with him; saying I wouldn’t make much at the event. I had that figured out already but I didn’t need someone to come and rain on my empty parade. I tend to associate with positive people. As a matter of fact, I ONLY associate with positive people. He could’ve kept that to himself and let me learn the hard way which is exactly what happened anyway. When I secure advertising for my pedicab, which will be coming soon, that might have worked out better for me being at the event since I was visible to people inside the event, cars passing by, and residents at the condos across the street.
I guess Sunday nights aren’t a good night to work downtown because I was the only game in town. Thornton Park didn’t yield anything either. I could see my time was being wasted and dipped out after only 2 hours of being there. I did hear one act that played some repetitive-sounding instrumentals. There were Chevy vehicles on display on the road where the food trucks were. And they had a few vendors. The ‘Win a Trip to Puerto Rico’ booth seemed to be the most popular being that it was mostly Spanish people in attendance. I don’t ever see any ‘Win a Trip to Africa’ booths at black events or ‘Win a Trip to Europe’ for white events. Just sayin’.
This was a different convention because of a few things. One, both South and North entrances were open. Two, it was the same people and same amount of people attending every day. Three, a pedicab company there was giving free rides due to sponsorship and people mistook every pedicab as offering free rides. Registration was on Sunday but I skipped out on that so I could get some rest. When I arrived around 10am on Monday, the South parking lot was already full. I wasn’t expecting that. That very rarely ever happens that early since the exhibition floor opened at the same time. I thought that’d be the best time to get there. How wrong I was. It didn’t rain and it wasn’t really that hot but it was very humid and the sun was shining all day.
I read the agenda on their website and each day was gonna be a full day. These people who came from all over the world were pampered with free food, free shuttles, free private parties, and a free Van Halen concert on the last night of the convention; not to mention the free pedicab rides. During the convention, since they were getting free eats, that meant not many people were leaving the building for lunch and that’s a period us pedicabbers rely on when the parking lot dries up. Didn’t work out that way this time around. After the usual parking lot rounds, you had to get creative because nothing else was happening anyplace else until the exit on each day. Some drivers left, some left and came back, some took that time to relax, while others like me had to use different techniques to keep the money flowing.
My average per hour was great but if I was lazy it would have sucked. The only types of breaks I take are to use the bathroom, get cold water, and take pics. I bring my own food. While other drivers were absent or staging endlessly, I was still hustling and my technique got better for the last 2 days of the convention. You have to learn to adapt to these things because not every convention has the same dynamic. For instance, when the parking lot dried up, for the most part, everyone else went elsewhere but elsewhere didn’t have shit going on. There were still cars trickling in which meant a higher probability of getting a ride. So I stayed in the parking lot until later in the afternoon.
During lunchtime and when there weren’t enough cars coming in, I guess I’m the only one that knew both entrances were open so I hit up the North side and had that all to myself for all 3 days. I focused mostly on rides to the Westin. It pays to ride around and keep your eyes open. The free pedicabs on day one were becoming a hindrance not just because of the confusion but also because of the inexperienced drivers not knowing how or where to stage or even how to pitch. When you’re in first place in line, you’re in charge. When you’re not getting a ride, neither am I if I’m behind you and I can’t be havin’ that shit happen. I gotta get paid. So we do gotta work together in that department sometimes; mainly when it’s not busy or when people simply aren’t taking rides. The vast majority of them will never be seen on a pedicab again after this convention so it won’t be too big of a deal. Can’t get into all of the details about that sponsorship they had because it’s not my place to do so.
During the exit, business picked way up along with the tips and it lasted about an hour or so after the convention closed. Lots of hotel and Pointe Orlando rides where there were 2 private events going on. I contemplated working all night long but decided against it so I’d be refreshed to work the remaining days. I heard Lance Armstrong and Reggie Jackson were inside. There was an entrance where various executives representing companies inside left from and they had limos waiting for them. If any of them were in the mood for a pedicab ride, the tip probably would’ve been awesome. There wasn’t enough action going on to stage there though. Day one was good and lessons were learned to prepare for day 2. I arrived an hour earlier on Tuesday and Wednesday and that was a good decision because the morning rush and the exit were where the money was. Mid-day, the lull was the same as the first day and I still had to be creative to keep my average up. I learned how to deal with the people thinking I was free, too. I gave 2 free rides on Tuesday. Thankfully, both were short rides. Those were the only 2 free rides I gave for all 3 days.
It rained during the exit on Tuesday and Wednesday with good cloud cover all day to keep things a little cooler. The rain certainly didn’t help with rides. Instead of taking a pedicab, people opted for taxis and shuttles to stay dry. On Tuesday, the exit rides were to Senor Frogs where there was a private party going on there. It only rained once. On Wednesday, it rained on and off throughout the day; hard sometimes, soft others. Surprisingly, my average was higher per hour on the last day than any of the other days. I wanted to work downtown for the Van Halen concert (they were gonna be at the Amway Center) but the rain just kept coming and going and I didn’t wanna have to deal with that shit. Van Halen was just at the Amway last month but I didn’t work it then either. It would’ve been a huge risk going there not knowing how many attendees were gonna go or where the shuttle buses were picking up and dropping off at. But I wouldn’t have had any competition so if it didn’t rain, I would have went without question just to see what it was like.
For the most part, each day was about the same minus the rain. It’s rare to do better business on the last day but I did. I didn’t think it would be a good day at all but I know now not to anticipate anything from a convention I’ve never worked before. I really wasn’t expecting much in tips but that last day was a damn good day. Not much more to write home about because nothing significant or noteworthy happened over the 3 days. If this convention returns to Orlando, I’ll be there. It was lucrative and not at all a waste of time.
This event was put on by the radio station WMNF and I was contacted by someone associated with the station to come and work the event. Nothing else was going on anyplace else that day so I obliged. Since I knew nothing of the event beforehand, and I do pretty thorough research on what’s going on where in the state, they probably wanna do a better job promoting future events. One reason I may have neglected finding this event was because of the restrictions that the city of Tampa has in place in regards to pedicabs; not to mention the sky-high insurance requirements. Pretty much, all of downtown and all around Raymond James stadium, the 2 bread and butter spots in the city, are off limits. Therefore, I had no need to search for events there since I couldn’t drive for them anyway.
Ybor City is the only place that’s open to pedicabs that a driver could make any money. Even knowing that, most pedicabbers are based in Orlando. On any given weekend night, why travel when you can just go to downtown Orlando instead? I know of no pedicab driver who’s worked in Ybor. The local pedicab company doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Ybor basically has no pedicab presence of any kind although I did see a couple of golf carts riding around but only for a few hours. I wanted to arrive earlier in the day around 3pm but I fell asleep in the afternoon and was on the streets riding around by 6:30pm. I made sure to check Tampa’s map of what roads I could be on to stay out of trouble.
It didn’t seem to matter because not one cop got on my case when I did venture onto those forbidden roads. Didn’t have a choice. People wanna go somewhere, I gotta be able to take them as long as it was within the Ybor vicinity. There wasn’t much for traffic on 2 of the roads (4th and 9th). 7th was the busy street but we’ll get into all of that later. My first order of business was to get familiar with my surroundings since this was gonna be a new experience for me. After surveying everything from the terrain to where people were parking, I primarily staged by a closed road on 14th and 9th where the bulk of the people and vendors were. There was also action at The Ritz and Centennial Park but my spot was the best one because every trip was all downhill.
There were times when rides were steady and times when nothing was going on and I had to ride around to get rides. The tips were generous and my time wasn’t wasted. I wish I had gotten there earlier because my average per hour was pretty damn good. When the golf carts disappeared, I was the only game in town. There were a lot of taxicabs circling around as if they were pedicabs but they were at a disadvantage because there was no place for them to stage like a pedicab could. Our carbon footprint is zero and we take up less space. They could handle the long trips since we’re not allowed downtown, we could handle the short trips to get around to the different bars and such and the parking lots.
That was the dynamic. I ran into some other pedicab drivers from Orlando who were down there just having a good time and not pedicabbing. It very rarely happens that I run into people I know at events or conventions. The top destinations of the night were the 2 joints that I already mentioned along with The Crowbar. One group wanted a tour and I gave them one so they could see the sights and sounds of the area. 7th is the equivalent of Orange Ave. in Orlando. The difference is that Orlando will close the busy area to traffic while Ybor leaves their shit open and that just caused a traffic nightmare on that street due to all the cruising and bad traffic light timing. Closed to pedicabs or not, certain parts of 7th during certain times of the night, it’s detrimental to be on that road because traffic doesn’t move. It’s like I-Drive in the summertime and people drive just as bad as the tourists there, too. The one and only advantage is that’s where all the people are. The other downside is parking isn’t very far from that street.
I talked to some WMNF reps and explained to them why there are no pedicabs in Tampa. A lot of them said they’d never seen any at that event before. I was the first and hopefully not the last. I got a solid impression that they enjoyed the rides I gave them. Their experience, and the service that I provided, can be passed along to the powers that be in Tampa and maybe their laws can be updated to open up free enterprise there. I know the cab companies won’t like it, and they’re probably part of the problem, but everyone is losing money with things the way they are except for them. Entrepreneurship is being halted in what is easily the biggest untapped goldmine in Florida. Money that could be going into the local and state economy simply isn’t. C’mon, Tampa. Let’s work together to do what’s right.
It didn’t rain at all and the night temperature was pleasant. The brick roads were a real bitch and the uphill slope headed back to my staging spot was, too. I discovered I had a flat tire on my pedicab after a trip to The Ritz. It actually occurred when I had the tour group on my pedicab and that explains why it was so difficult to get them uphill. The weight plus the crappy road conditions are likely what caused it. I pulled over by the railroad tracks, out of people’s way and out of sight, to get back in business. Didn’t take long. I had a lot of conversations that night but I gotta learn when to cut those short because it does cost me money when I’m not focused on what I went out there to do.
My final tally was good and I’ll do the event again next year if nothing else is going on that night. As for the music, a band I heard at the end of the night where I was staged wasn’t all that great. A band that was playing at the park was actually pretty good. There were a lot of bands but most of them were indoors. The scene there ain’t much different than downtown Orlando. When the event ended, so did rides and good tips. That’s when I knew it was time to go home because all I saw were mostly girls dressed like tramps, guys dressed like thugs, look-alike girls, and look-alike guys. Same old shit, different city.
There was the usual religious nut on a megaphone there. Scientologists were soliciting in front of their building. The streetcars probably had it tough with all the drunks playing chicken with them. Saw that one too many times there. Speaking of chickens, Ybor is like Oviedo and has wild chickens running around. No one there should be going hungry with free food right outside their door. A guy let me taste a chocolate chip and bacon cookie but I didn’t taste the bacon. I was against it at first because the combination sounds disgusting. I didn’t encounter any drama from anyone. The only drama I saw was one guy yelling at someone in a car calling whoever it was a punk ass bitch and another guy who said something that set off a guy who charged at him saying, “What’d you say, motherfucker?” He was being held back by his girl while the other guy simply walked away. Ladies have to start understanding that guys are the way they are because that’s what they choose. That’s right, you women are the ones responsible for the lack of good men that you claim to want. Why should a guy improve himself when you accept him when he’s doing dirt?
I had a good time at the event but next time I might wanna reconsider giving a ride to someone looking for a light for their spliff on my pedicab. I thought it was just a regular cigarette but when someone lit them up, it became clear what it really was. The guy with the lighter told my passenger he was brave. And as a reminder to you folks, these are the people we’re sharing our roadways with. I’d make it so that you can’t even get a license without passing a drug test first. No competition is the best competition and I came out green. It was a positive experience and maybe the ball can get rolling to get pedicabs into Tampa if the right people make enough noise. I’d be happy to play ambassador again and help.
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