Bozeman beer and bike lovers, your dreams have come true.

And so have mine. For years I’ve envied other cities (Missoula) for their beer bikes. Now Bozeman has one of its very own.

Its name is Gear Belly. If you’re not familiar with the concept, here’s how it works: get a bunch of friends on board, make a reservation for the bike and then spend the day pedaling around to Bozeman’s breweries, distilleries and the cider house. Sounds pretty good, huh?

The bike had its maiden voyage around Bozeman last night when the Gear Belly folks took it out for a test run with some Bozeman brewers, Gear Belly owner Eric Morris said. Morris is already fielding calls and seeing a lot of traffic for reservations on the website.

Morris said he saw beer bikes in other cities and thought it was something that was missing in Bozeman.

“I think the timing was right for the growing beer culture that we have here,” he said. “It’s just a fun way to tour around town and wear off a little of the beer you had at the last stop.”

Gear Belly will be offering three tours per day, seven days a week.Want to get an early start? The five-mile Hair of the Dog loop runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and makes three stops. The mid-day (One Wild Ride) is a 5.5-mile loop starting downtown and heading north. Finally, the Long Way Home tour runs from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and stays downtown for its four stops.

The bike accommodates up to 14 people. You can ride solo or get a group rate.

And if you’re worried about a bunch of beered-up bros pedaling through town on a giant bike, rest easy because there is a paid pilot at the helm. There's also no drinking on the bike, Morris pointed out.

It has great timing as well with this being National Bike Month.

Welcome to Bozeman, Gear Belly, and cheers to a new sign of summer in town.

 

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