Temperature gauges in Bastrop measured 50 degrees as Georgina Ngozi shifted her hat and looked out on the Colorado River from her seat in back a red pedicab.

"I love it. I just love it," she said, as she thumbed a green, wool blanket to warm her hands.

Robert Boyd turned his bike and pedaled hard up a winding hill into downtown Bastrop. People in passing cars waved and honked at the sight — a pedicab rolling down Main Street.

Ngozi, the city’s museum director, was the first passenger to ride the bike-drawn carriage through town last week.

"I can’t wait to tell my kids Mommy went on a pedicab through downtown Bastrop," she said of the experience.

Soon, locals and visitors will be able to hitch their own rides when Boyd’s business, Pine Street Pedicab, opens in April.

The Bastrop City Council gave the fledgling enterprise its blessing last week when it agreed to craft an ordinance to let the operation set up shop in Bastrop.

Currently, there are no city codes that legislate pedicab service.

"I think it’s a wonderful idea," Bastrop City Council Member Kay McAnally said.

"I wish you the best of luck," she told Boyd.

Pine Street Pedicab will begin by offering rides on weekends only and for special events like the First Friday Art Walk and Pine Street Market Days. Guided tours will allow visitors to hear the histories of the city and its prized homes.

Residents and visitors will be able to reserve rides. The cab’s service area, Boyd said, will span west to the end of Loop 150, east to Texas 21, south to College Street and north to Mesquite Street. Those parameters still have to be approved by the council, along with other regulations.

Boyd said the cost to ride will be minimal, and he plans to be the only pedicab for now. In the future, he hopes to run a fleet of five pedicabs and open a shop downtown with his wife, Susan.

A musician, painter and carpenter, Boyd drove pedicabs in Austin for three years — a job he says requires stamina, a good diet, two gallons of water and ample rest. He called it the absolute best way for any visitor to see the city.

After years of peddling passengers through the Austin bar scene, Boyd decided to set up his own business in Bastrop.

"It’s a lot less hectic," Boyd said. "More family-oriented. Slower pace and really nice people."

He called Bastrop — with its quaint small town feel, an air of hospitality, and rows and rows of historic streets to ride — is the perfect place to offer pedicab service.

Downtown business owners seem to agree.

As Boyd drove Ngozi down Main Street, many shopkeepers came outside to show support, offer ideas for future tours and to inquire about reserving seats in the cab.

"It’s ideal for anyone: grandparents and their grandchildren, couples, tourists," Ngozi said, beaming in her leopard-print coat.

When she got out of the cab, she gave Boyd a hug.

"I want this to work," she said. "I want it to work for Robert but I also want it to work for Bastrop. And I think it can."