Nine members of the Pork and Bourbon Bicycle Tour, sated with a bite of Little Rock history yet hungry for barbecued ribs and other city delicacies, prepare to hit the road after a lesson in traffic safety and hand signals.

“We might be stopping traffic as we ride through these intersections. I want you guys to play along with me, and use these hand signals,” says Bobby’s Bike Hike tour leader Jeremy Lewno, 37, as he demonstrates the proper technique. “Though Little Rock is a friendly city, we don’t want to demonstrate any hand signals that might be demonstrated back toward us.”

The joke lands perfectly in the group because the polished, affable Lewno has tour-guiding in his genes.

As a child, he roamed the country each summer with his father, Bob Lewno, who started a bus based venture called Cosmopolitan Tours and developed his son’s passion for travel. Jeremy Lewno eventually discovered his own tour-guide calling during a trip to Europe when he signed up for a bicycle tour in Munich.

“I toured all over the place for my dad’s company, but it was the first time I’d really done a bike tour. It all just clicked and made sense, and it stuck with me,” he says.

After graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Central Arkansas at Conway, he sold his car, moved to Chicago and founded Bobby’s Bike Hike, named after his late father. Over time, he became a bicycle convert, slowly seeing the health, environmental, financial and communal benefits of cycling.

“I started realizing you can just pull your bike over and have a conversation with someone,” he says. “Car ownership is expensive and with a bike there’s free parking, no gas, not much in the way of repair, and you start seeing all of these benefits, so it’s really changed my life.”

That was 11 years ago, and now he’s bringing a bit of that cosmopolitan - read: European - flavor back to his hometown with regular bike tours combining entertainment, education and eating.

THE RIDE

On this Friday, the second Pork and Bourbon Bicycle Tour group pedals down President Clinton Avenue and over the river into North Little Rock for the first stop: pork.

At the corner of East 14th and Poplar streets, the group pauses under the Lindsey’s Barbecue sign, surrounded by a vacant lot. Lewno, leading a group of mostly out-of towners based in Kansas City feigns ignorance.

The sign is here, but he doesn’t see the building. After a few moments in suspense, he reveals the original location burned in a fire, and we’re just one block away from our barbecue snack.

Outside the current location, Lindsey’s Hospitality House, he gives a quick barbecue lesson, going over the five geographical types of ’cue: Memphis, St. Louis, Carolina, Texas and Kansas City.

Inside, after a sampling of three ribs apiece, we’re asked to guess which kind is served at Lindsey’s.

Around the table, we chat and speculate.

“I’m going to guess ‘delicious,’ says one of the Kansas City residents, with a laugh.

We all settle on the correct answer, but I won’t ruin it for you.

BICYCLES AND BUSINESS

Restaurant owner and operator Donnie Lindsey says when he was approached by Lewno about the Pork and Bourbon Bicycle Tour, he had his doubts.

“I thought bikes and barbecue was a strange combination,” he says. “It did take some convincing. But once we got the concept together, I thought it would benefit both of us.”

After seeing a tour or two come through, Lindsey is even more confident about the process.

“I think it’s working out fine,” he says. “He calls me before he leaves … and we have it set up on the buffet. He’s estimated about three ribs per person, and we add maybe a few more, we put a little fudge factor in there for some heavy eaters.”

The Pork and Bourbon tour has even renewed Lindsey’s interest in spending time on a bicycle.

“I think it’s a neat concept. I told my kids that’s what I wanted to do for Father’s Day, maybe not that particular tour, but I do want to go on a bike tour or just rent some bikes and go riding,” he says. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

As the bike tour returns to Little Rock over the Main Street bridge, the hilliest terrain is behind us.

Pam Galuska, 53, is relieved: “I spent my childhood on a bike, but I was a little surprised by the lengths of the hills. I didn’t know we were going to be taking such big hills. You can hop off and walk almost as fast as you can bike at that point, but I was determined not to.”

Her husband Bill, 55, had more worries about sitting for so long on a bicycle seat.

“Cardiovascular-wise, I had no concern at all, but I thought the seat would feel uncomfortable, but they were fine, and the fact that we stopped frequently, it’s not a problem,” he says. “There’s one point going uphill you might have heard Pam complain about her knees, but it’s by no means strenuous.”

Lewno says his tour is suitable for all ages and fitness levels, and his guides are trained to watch for intimidated riders in the group.

“What we usually do is have [slower people] ride up front with us, and be our co-pilot; that way we can actually set them at ease a little bit plus gauge their pace,” he says. “They’re usually the pace-settler .… We’ve never had anyone come up to us and say, ‘We can’t do this.’”

THE REST OF THE STORY

Hills conquered, we make a victorious beeline for the Capital Hotel and a pimento cheese prize.

“The Capital Hotel has been the scene of local politics. Everyone comes here to wheel and deal, even to this day,” Lewno says as we park bikes in front of the building. “It fell into some disrepair in the ’70s, and then it was revitalized in the ’80s, and started slumping again. In the middle of 2000s, it was refurbished again, and now you have what it is today, which is absolutely incredible.”

And one final piece of trivia, “The elevator was supposedly built big enough to fit Ulysses S. Grant’s horse,” he adds as we traipse into the lobby holding helmets and water bottles.

The waiters bring out servings of pimento cheese, one for each of us, which feels generous.

We dine and unwind for about 15 minutes, and then Lewno amiably ushers us out.

“It’s just eat and go, eat and go,” he quips to the group, but later he says, “There’s an art to how long the stops should be. We don’t want to dive too far into just sitting around, it is a bike ride, but you don’t want to rush in, see how fast we can eat and then run out. Finding that balance is something we really work with our guides on.”

His plan is for each Pork and Bourbon tour - or Swine and Wine should the alcohol be switched - to span three hours. His tours in Chicago typically took four.

The next stop is Dempsey Bakery, near the state Capitol. Lewno says the specialty bakery made the list because it’s the only gluten-free place in town, and “I was looking for very unique spots.”

To-go packages of muffins in hand, the tour pedals up to Vino’s Brew Pub to sample two beers and then down Capitol Avenue to Rock Town Distillery for an abbreviated look at the bourbon-brewing and a stop in the tasting room. Then it is back down to the River Market to part ways.

“I appreciate you guys coming on board, even if you feel a bit warm and fuzzy now,” Lewno tells the riders. “Now that you’ve seen what Little Rock has to offer, maybe you’ll ask for it by name and that helps local industry build and grow.”

Because ultimately, he tells me after the tour, it’s about promoting the city.

“The important thing is that every person that’s now coming here - and we’ve talked to a lot of them because our location is great for people just walking in and asking questions - has a positive experience, and that bodes well for them going to their hometown and spreading the word,” he says.

“That’s very important for tourism.”

The Pork and Bourbon Bicycle Tour is $45 per person, or $40 for senior citizens, students and military. The tour departs from Bobby’s Bike Hike (in the River Market, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock) at 11:30 a.m. on Fridays, based on demand, and typically takes three hours. It’s suitable for all ages, though riders must be 21 to drink. Helmets included. Call (501) 613-7001 or visit bobbysbikehike.com/littlerock/.

Style, Pages 27 on 06/18/2013