Pedal-pub coming to Harsens Island

Harsens Island visitors will be able to drink their beer while burning off a few calories this summer.

The Barrel Bike Bar is a 15-passenger pedal-pub that will be visiting the island on four separate occasions.

The bar-on-wheels takes a three-hour tour around part of the island while passengers drink their brews and help pedal.

The company popped up in Mount Clemens in March and has hosted about 25 rides so far. Renee Poole, a Barrel Bike Bar co-owner who grew up on Harsens Island, said she was excited to bring it to the island next.

“The island is such a beautiful route by the water on the North Channel,” Poole said. “I was raised on Harsens Island and my parents are still there so I go back a lot on the weekends.”

Pedalers must bring their own beverages. As long as they are on the bike, they are allowed to consume alcohol.

“There are 15 seats and, of them, 10 of the passengers will have to be pedaling at all times,” Poole said. “You don’t have to be physically fit to participate, you just need to make sure you have 10 people to help pedal.”

There are five seats without pedals for those who wish to just ride along.

The bar will be on the island during the last week of June, 4th of July weekend, the last week of August, and Labor Day weekend.

The cost is $400 total for 15 people to ride three hours, drinks not included.

Riders will get picked up across from the ferry on the island, driven to San Souci, and then back to the Harsens Island Ferry.

Poole, of Chesterfield, and co-owner Debra Williams, of Clinton Township, had the idea for the company when they were in Nashville, Tennessee, and saw a similar bar-on-wheels drive past. So they came back to Michigan and ordered the pub from the Netherlands.

“We thought it would be a cool thing to do in Michigan here so we are making a go of it,” Poole said. “We both do medical billing full-time, so this is just something for fun that we thought looked really neat.”

Artie Bryson, Clay Township supervisor, said the Barrel Bike Bar will attract new people to the island as well as offer something new for the residents.

“It was perfect timing,” Bryson said. “When they approached us we were reviewing and changing our peddlers permit, so we changed it to allow them to be operated on certain roads under 35 or 40 miles per hour.”

For more information or to reserve a spot to pedal go to www.barrelbikebar.com or call (586) 399-0897.

Contact Nicole Hayden at (810) 989-6279 or nhayden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoleandpig.