BY CAITLIN CUNAGIN

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Bike taxi, pedicab, rickshaw, cyclo, becak, sidecar, trishaw or velotaxi. Whatever your hometown calls it, it’s all the same. These small-scale local means of transport are human-powered and fueled by nothing but hefty muscle, vigor and stamina. Sure, this cheap alternative to a cab ride has got tourist bait written all over it, but the locals can’t get enough either. These pedal-powered taxis are some of the hottest wheels downtown Charleston has to offer.
     Pluff’s Caitlin Cunagin recently sat down with 26-year-old Virginia native Nickie Cutrona, who has worked for Charleston Pedicab since October 2010, to gain insight on this one speedy pedaler. What’s it like on the job, and if she had it her way, where would her wheels take you? She gives us the good, the bad and the downright sweaty.
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Cunagin: Does being a female pedicab driver pose any challenges a male wouldn’t encounter?
Cutrona: They’re [guys] definitely stronger, but the bikes are built to hold people, and I can definitely keep up. I can hold my own. Every once in a while you get somebody that jokes, ‘Ah I feel really bad you’re a girl, I should be pulling.’ In the past two and a half years I’ve worked, there’s only been one person that’s refused to get in. For the most part, I’d say guys are pretty excited about having a girl ride them around the city.

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Cunagin: What was your hardest day on the job?
Cutrona: Even harder than working a double (that’s a 16-hour day, folks) and the physical toll that takes on your body, for me, is dealing with drunk people, particularly on the weekends. I had a particular individual that pushed me. Stuff like that.

​Cunagin: If you had the choice to cruise a customer anywhere around town, where would it be and why?
Cutrona: The whole South of Broad area, not necessarily the Battery, but Lenwood, Legare, Tradd Street—that whole residential area. Then I’d definitely take them to the Old Jail and on the way up there take them by Colonial Lake. It’s super off the beaten path. A lot of people come to Charleston and never leave the market, you know? Oh! There’s the echo rock at Waterfront Park. That’s one of my favorites, and not a lot of people know about it.
     My other little secret spot is the top of Wentworth Mansion. Sometimes they’ll let us go up there if you have really special guests. There’s an elevator that you can take up to the top, and it’s a 360-degree view of Charleston. 

​Cunagin: Who is the most interesting character you’ve given a ride to?
Cutrona: Do you know the band Broward Earth? I once gave some gentlemen a ride to The Music Farm, and I asked them if they were going to the show, and they were like, “Oh, well, we’re actually the band.” I had heard of them, but had never seen them before. They ended up giving me tickets, and I went to the show that night, which was awesome.

​Cunagin: What’s the biggest tip you’ve ever received?
Cutrona: A $200 handshake.
​Cunagin: Damn.
Cutrona: The nice part about the job is that you can go get coffee, breakfast, lunch. I mean, I’m sitting here right now. You make your own schedule. Your work as hard or not as hard as you want. It’s the closest thing to working for yourself without working for yourself.

​Cunagin: OK, how do go about getting this job? If you can even call it that.
Cutrona: When I first moved to Charleston, people told me there was a long wait list—there’s no wait list; it’s just knowing somebody that does it. It’s definitely more word of mouth, and they like to keep it that way. It keeps it trustworthy; we’re a family.