By 
Felipe Lavalle
WILLIAMSBURG – A fleet of seven San Francisco-made diamond-framed gears are en route to a parking lot near McCarren Park – and Felipe Lavalle is sure the trendy two-wheelers will attract tourists and locals alike to his new ride. bicycle business.
Lavalle will lead people on the Greenpoint, Williamsburg and DUMBO waterfront and across the Brooklyn Bridge on his first tour, and then hopes to expand routes all around Brooklyn with a few other staff.
“I’m going to guide people where they want to go, but also let them explore on their own. So people can see what’s historic but also stop in local cafes and around shops,” Lavalle said. , 27, about the visits he will be making. start the second week of June, with his company Get Up and Ride, which will be launched soon.
“My idea was guided tours from a local perspective,” Lavalle said of the three to five hour routes he planned.
And during this time, he wanted his clients to maintain their image, with “simple classic” public bikes.
“[Some rental] the bikes are really cheesy and campy, you can’t help but look like a tourist when you’re at it, ”said Lavalle, who quit his job in April in sales for a digital printing company to try a new one. livelihood.
He said he hopes the city’s new bike sharing program and more focused attention to bike lanes will also help promote his business.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of anything that moves on two wheels,” said Lavalle, who mountain biked in Virginia as a child and cycled to Midtown from his Williamsburg apartment. .
He plans to charge between $ 50 and $ 100 for his tours, which he hopes to expand to attract people who live in Manhattan and even in his own borough.
“Even just bringing my friends over from Manhattan can be the biggest problem,” he said. “So having something associated with it becomes this great little afternoon in Brooklyn that I don’t know if you would otherwise.”
Lavalle launches its website, Getupandride.com, On June 1, he will present more details about his business, including the chances for customers to book tours.