Riders on the storm

Undeterred by an early evening downpour, the 115-member procession en route to a rainy rendezvous navigated slick brick streets – on bicycles.

The determined cyclists merely donned rain gear for the Urban Restaurant Tour, which, on the last Thursday in June, was an Ode to Ybor, making five scheduled layovers during the four-hour outing.

The tours launched in March 2010 by City Bike Tampa draw a diverse group from a wide area.

"The ages run between 20 years old and 70 years old," said Kellie Cyr. She and her husband, Jason, own and operate City Bike Tampa, 212 E. Cass St., and lead the tours. Participants come from New Tampa, Brandon, New Port Richey, plus "some regulars who come over the bridge to do it every month," she said.

Dan Crowley and Susie Nelson-Crowley of Davis Islands agreed.

"We've been doing this for a year, probably," including the Guavaween Costume Tourmed cyclists, she said after chaining her bike to a city bench at Gaspar's Grotto and beginning to remove her rain gear. "It's a real nice diverse group and I think it's some of the most fun you can have around here."

Dan said it also introduces them to new restaurants and other "fairly avid" cyclists like themselves, spawning bike outings in smaller groups.

Inside Gaspar's, cyclists arriving from a snack at the traditional starting point, the Tampa Museum of Art's Sono Café, were welcomed with gazpacho, salmon and more.

A group of 11 cyclists from Hunter's Green – inexplicably outfitted in Hawaiian-themed outfits -- have secured several tables with a view of rainy Seventh Avenue.

"This is the first time we've been," said Andy Ritter, 52, as he enjoyed a draft beer and chicken wings. "Thank God we got great weather for it," he joked.

The group of neighbors and Hunter's Green Country Club members skipped the gathering point and drove directly to Gaspar's, bikes in tow.

"Our thinking," Ritter offered, "was if we got to Ybor and it was really raining, we wouldn't bike, we'd just go bar to bar."

As more and more riders checked in, fellow golfer Tom Frankfurth, 49, remarked, "Can you believe this turnout in this weather?"

The rain stopped before the scheduled 7:25 p.m. departure to Ybor Square, a five-minute ride. There, at Tampa Bay Brewing Co., riders were treated to Cuban sandwiches, chips, salsa and hummus on pita points.

The 45-minute layover allowed time to buy a beer, as did South Tampa resident Jason Bergold, 24, and girlfriend, Trisha Evens, 25, of Bradenton.

The couple, who work in the hospitality industry, learned of the tour through Tampa Bay Bike Co-op in Seminole Heights. They are among the VIP guests assisting City Bike staffers in guiding the entourage to each destination and tending to stragglers.

"We've been doing this seven or eight times now," Bergold said. "Love it," added Evens.

Like many on the tour, they expressed concerns about conditions bicyclists face here, labeling Tampa "unfriendly" to cyclists. "I have people honk at me," even on Euclid Avenue and other city streets clearly marked as roadways shared by motor vehicles and bicycles, he said.

"It's tough out there," Evens said.

The Urban Restaurant Tour germinated from the Cyrs' downtown lifestyle.

"We live in the area and frequent lot of different places on our bicycles," Kellie said. Six to eight "urban folks like ourselves" became regulars on the tour -- the equivalent of a progressive dinner party, by bike, to multiple restaurants. "Why not grow it to something a little bit larger," Kellie pondered.

After organizing a couple of successful free tours, she began promoting them and charging $5 per person. The price later raised to $7.50 is now capped at $10, "fair for what a guest gets on the tour," she said.

The tour that initially drew 28 riders reached 58 the next month. Every one since has sold out, around 120 prepaid riders registered via www.citybiketampa.com.

Some on the tour, like Joe Papadopoulos, find more than lasagna, pizza, wine and camaraderie.

"I had seen this girl out of the corner of my eye" during the November Urban Restaurant Tour, he said. After a little flirting and two more monthly rides he asked her out – on a bicycle ride.

Harbour Island resident Amber Bahlke accepted the date with the fellow cyclist, who after "four blissful months," she now calls "the love of my life."