Chef takes his job on the road by bicycle

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Louisville bicycling SoupByCycle soup chef Ian Ritchie is on the mend after a motorist hit him from behind at a stoplight last week.

Ritchie says he didn't suffer life threatening injuries, but he'll take a couple of weeks to recover before getting his mobile soup kitchen back on the road.

That's got to be good news for his ever-growing clientele, who may soon tire of their own attempts at turkey-leftover soup after Thanksgiving.

Soup launch

Chef Ian created SoupByCycle earlier this year after he was laid off from his regular job and decided to combine his vocation (cooking) with his avocation (bicycling). He started cooking up homemade soup delicacies and delivering them to different parts of town three days a week.

The soup delivery rig is about 16 feet long and weighs about 100 pounds. He pedals about 100 miles around town on his bike every week, delivering the three types of soup (vegetarian, vegan and meaty) that customers had ordered online from a menu the previous week.

According to an article in Louisville.com, Ritchie launched his business in a snowstorm last February:

“I made some chili and called my friends. Then they told their friends. … I think I sold 40 bowls that week.”

By October, he had about 150 customers.

Hit and run

Ritchie was injured Nov. 17 when a car struck him from behind at a stoplight, pushing him about 3 feet into the intersection, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. The driver pulled up alongside and asked if he was all right. When Ritchie responded in the negative and asked for her insurance information, she drove off.

Ritchie says he'll post updates on his condition at his SoupByCycle website. You can order his soups there. He also has a Facebook page .

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/26/chef-takes-his-job-on-the-road-by-bicycle/

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