The Bolder Life: MyHandleBar Madness

I’ve been living under a rock. A giant rock. Like one of those rocks that Land Rover and Jeep dealerships use to give potential driver’s a taste of the power of their product.

I’ve thought about mixing bikes and booze before. I mean, bikes and booze are two staples of living the Bolder Life in Boulder County. But getting a group of your friends together to ride bikes and seek booze can be a little tricky. There’s the handful of your friends that (gasp!) don’t have bikes. Then there’s always the one friend that has a flat tire or can’t find their bike lock, and mass chaos ensues leaving the rest of the group scrambling.

Well, my friends, picture this—a sixteen-passenger bike that will take you and your friends on a tour of your favorite Boulder or Fort Collins bars for a booze cruise that you will likely never forget.

I was introduced to the MyHandleBar crew and the ridiculous concept of the sixteen-passenger bike this week when I ventured out on a cruise around downtown Boulder to three of the most popular restaurants in the area. Let me paint you a picture:

First Stop: After a solid group effort to power this mobile bar through the busy, traffic-filled streets of downtown Boulder, our group was delivered to the front steps of Salt the Bistro in the old Tom’s Tavern digs. We were escorted to the dark and moody lower level of the restaurant where we were met by head mixologist, Evan Faber, and recent Boulder’s Best Mixologist winner, Adrian Sutevski.  The duo walked us through two unique cocktails and through SALT’s vision and promise to produce the best beverages using as many local and in-house ingredients and as many understandable descriptions as possible. The cocktails were delicious and Evan and Adrian’s passion for mixology incredibly infectious. Don’t forget to bring your own vinyl and share some of your old school records with the passionate staff and grateful patrons that frequent the lower section of this stand-out Boulder restaurant.

Second Stop: The Dunshanbe Tea House is a landmark on the Boulder map. The history behind the Tea House is just as amazing as the interior and exterior of this beautifully crafted building. Up until this week, I had no idea that alcoholic beverages were served at the bar of this incredibly peaceful place that promotes relaxation and all-around happy thoughts. But they do. They serve a delicious cocktail infused with a tangerine tea made especially for the Tea House by Celestial Seasonings. The cocktail is light and refreshing and perfectly matches the serene setting in which it’s meant to be enjoyed in.

Third Stop: I would visit Aji on the East End, solely for their delicious ceviche and prime location for people watching. (The comfortable seats that run along Pearl Street provide some of the best people watching on the entire mall!) But Aji offered me something even better than the ceviche and the opportunity to see a tiny seventy-year-old man walking arm-in-arm with two attractive younger women—Pisco Sours. This South American drink is a wonderful accompaniment to Aji’s Latin-inspired menu. Order one on your next visit and be sure to check out Aji’s sister restaurant, Leaf, which is offering up a vegetarian menu right next door!

MyHandleBar is a sixteen-passenger bike that offers tours in Boulder and Fort Collins. Booze is not served on the bike, a minimum of two hours is required per trip and five of the sixteen seats do not require any peddling. Friday and Saturday rates are $180/hour. (That’s just $22.50 per person for a fun and safe ride around town!)Sunday-Thursday rates are $160/hour and Holiday rates are $200/hour. Visit the MyHandleBar website for more info and to book your tour today!