Pedal along the Allegheny with kayaks, paddleboards in Millvale
New watercrafts have entered Pittsburgh rivers, and if you can ride a bike, you can ride these — paddleboards and kayaks powered by pedals.
Tres Rios Sports, based at Millvale Riverfront Park, offers pedal kayaks and pedal boards as well as traditional paddleboard rentals. It’s also a distributor for Epic Kayaks.
Owner Robert Hainan of Aspinwall was a competitive kayak racer for eight years but retired after he entered his 40s. “This is our first year open,” he said. “We want people to come out and have fun on the river.”
The pedal board is a sort of a fusion of a bike, a StairMaster and an elliptical machine. He advises customers to treat the pedal board just like a bike.
A rider holds on to a pair of handles with each handle having a steering lever. The rider’s feet rest on top of two pedals that are pumped to make the board go forward. Within a few minutes, the pedal board cruises across the river.
The pedal kayaks have a near identical pedal system and steering system similar to the pedal board. They also feature a reverse function. The kayak is ideal for customers who prefer more security, Mr. Hainan said.
The fact that Mr. Hainan is making a living on the water is a little surprising, given that he didn’t even learn to swim properly until he was in his 30s. He grew up on a 100-acre farm in Latrobe.
Once he felt confident in the water, a friend convinced him to participate in a triathlon — which traditionally includes running, biking and swimming events. He excelled in the running and biking portions, but his swimming was weak, he said.
After a few years, he came across adventure triathlons, which replace the swimming portion with other exercises such as kayaking. He had kayaked for recreation but had never competed.
“I lost a lot when I first started,” he said. “These guys on these white bullets would pass us all the time. Then I bought myself one of those white bullets.”
He was talking about Epic Kayaks — high-performance
kayaks and paddles for competitive racing.
Mr. Hainan started purchasing higher-performance kayaks until he had a personal collection of 15 kayaks at home.
After first buying the Epic Kayaks from the company’s home office in Charleston, S.C., he explored becoming a distributor in Pennsylvania for the company, an idea Epic officials embraced.
But he quickly learned that the demand for these high-performance kayaks — which can range in price from roughly $1,500 to more than $3,500 based on model, according to the Epic website — was not as high as he had hoped. A friend suggested he rent out the kayaks to the public.
He took the advice, but he wanted the selection to be user-friendly and safe, so he opted for pedal kayaks and pedal boards.
A few months later he opened up Tres Rios Sports. The name is in Spanish because his wife is from Mexico. It’s named after the three rivers because he has three daughters — one for each river.
He is aware that his passion for water is not a common one.
“Most people are uncomfortable with the idea of water,” he said. “I know Pittsburghers are hesitant about the rivers and with good reason. I want to offer people a comfortable and safe way to engage with the [Allegheny] river. This isn’t the old river it used to be.”
Tres Rios Sports offers four solo pedal kayaks, four pedal boards and four traditional paddleboards that rent at $26 per hour. There is one tandem pedal kayak available for $30 per hour. Taxes areincluded in the pricing.
Hours are 10 a.m to 6 p.m Friday through Sunday. The business will be open through the end of August.