Detroit Rickshaw was started in the City of Detroit in 2004 with the January arrival of the first of the fleet.
Had the gang at the office not found the entire situation so amusing, it might have all ended with the rickshaw itself.
Thanks to their scheming and conniving ways, I was suddenly the proud owner of a website and domain.
  [If any of you are reading this, my online store selling high quality trucker's rope is still under development.]

What they didn't know is that Detroit Rickshaw had been a long time coming . . .
There was the Pedicab I'd ridden behind on many occasions on M Street through Georgetown.
The cycling trip through Europe, Israel, Egypt and India which exposed me to the varieties of bicycles around the world.
The cycle rickshaw and his driver that got a ride from the Hotel in Hampi back to the train station.
The visit to the International Bicycle Trade Show in Cologne in 1995.
My first step away from traditional bicycles, a Vision R-40 SWB with rear suspension and USS.
The Bangladeshi Rickshaw I would have had in January 1999 if it hadn't been for the snowstorm. (Now on Display at Mt. Airy Bicycles in MD).
The subsequent purchase of Chasing Rickshaws from Lonely Planet, which must have been the signal to my spouse that things were getting serious.
The visit to People Movers in CA to ride a Greenspeed trike while on a visit to Optum's offices for training on the WMS.
The subscriptions to Bicycle Culture Quarterly, Encycleopedia and now VeloVision which fed my desire.
The rickshaw on display at Livonia Schwinn, which was for sale, but out of my price range.  The Worksman cycle pedicab parked next to it which had gears but lacked style.
And then finally the listing on Ebay.
 
 
 

Why an Agra Style Rickshaw?

It all has to do with a small town called Hampi - Vijayanagara Site
Somewhere during a 10 month bicycle tour around the world, after seeing enough working bicycles like the german Post Office Bikes (picture below) and Italian pizza delivery bikes, I found my self in India and had the opportunity to ride in cycle rickshaws.   We had arranged to 2 cycle rickshaws to pick us up from the hotel to take us back to the train station.  The first rickshaw left with 2 passengers and some hand luggage.  The second rickshaw was there to take me and the other bags.
After loading up the bags, I managed to explain in mostly sign language that the driver should sit in the back and I would take us there.

It was like a circus riding down the main road.  He was whistling at his fellow rickshaw drivers, I was ringing the bell and people were laughing and yelling.
The bike was a single gear ride and relatively heavy.  I gained new appreciation for the guys that drive these things all day long.
When we arrived at the train station, I paid my driver for the privilege of begin able to pilot us myself.

I found out later that my ride cost more than the other rickshaw with 2 passengers and luggage!

Postfahrrad Buetzow, 2003