One would be hard-pressed to find somebody more passionate about preserving the environment than multi-professional bike enthusiast John Boyer.

"I was mad as hell about the treatment of the planet since I was very small," he said. "I've always been an environmentalist at heart."

Boyer Currently holds four occupations: a mechanic at Carmichael Cycle, an instructor at the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, a long-time waiter at La Bohème and now founder of catering delivery business Edible Pedal. Yet despite his loaded work schedule, Boyer said he's able to find solace in his work because of the eco-friendly message it provides the community.

"I bike everywhere," Boyer said. "When I was a child, I was probably the original eco-terrorist because I grew up in Michigan and watched the destruction of my environment at a very young age."

As he grew older, Boyer's distaste for his environmentally unsound surroundings drove him to get on his bike and pedal his way to Portland, Ore. to begin life anew in a community he felt better shared his sentiments. From there, he decided to make bicycling more than just a hobby, but a staple of his business and identity, eventually leading him to Sacramento.

"I had always used a bike since I was little, and I used that bike to get out of Michigan to Portland," he said. "After that, I continued to bike my whole life, one way or another. I want to get people out of their cars."

After working for several years as a bike mechanic and waiter, Boyer recently had the idea to merge the two jobs into an eco-friendly catering business called Edible Pedal, a bicycle service that delivers food from a number of smaller catering restaurants within the downtown grid.

Initiated in January of this year, Edible Pedal has continued to grow in recognition and now delivers for several catering restaurants like Sampino's, Magpie, OneSpeed, Steamers and La Bohème, among others still in the works.

"I sort of married the two concepts," Boyer said. "I also incorporated into that the idea of helping small restaurants market themselves. Delivery's not for everyone, but it also helps expose smaller restaurants to the corporate world downtown and in the neighborhood.

"In the future, I'd like every neighborhood to have a nice quality restaurant deliver either pizza, pasta, family style, or something of that sort," he said. "My goal is to have numerous applications of Edible Pedal."

As the business expands its number of caterers, so too has the distances Boyer needs to travel to deliver the food. As the owner and sole employee of Edible Pedal, Boyer bikes across all of downtown while also covering some of East Sacramento in some circumstances. Although it hasn't been easy, Boyer said he is having a state-of-the-art bicycle constructed just for his delivery service by Whitworth Cycles that will significantly improve his carrying capacity, as well as his time efficiency.

Unfortunately, Boyer said that many restaurants are contracting their operations — not expanding — so it has been difficult for him to negotiate with some establishments. However, Boyer said it has also been a great opportunity for him to pitch his inexpensive alternative delivery service to some small businesses that welcome such ideas, as well as corporations who are on the fence with catering and might consider a more affordable option than traditional delivery.

"Because of the economy, it's been a bad time for me to expand with corporations cutting back, so I've noticed a little dip in my catering, to be honest," Boyer said. "But with that said, it's also an opportunity for businesses to use me as a marketing device that's inexpensive. And I've got some marketing ideas up my sleeve that will hopefully get more corporations to cater to their personnel, because they do better when they eat well," he said.

While Edible Pedal is a dream being lived out, Boyer said he knows that additional help will eventually be needed to help him carry the load, literally. He continues to run his business on his own while also working his other professions, something he said has been rather difficult to manage. In the near future, Boyer said he'd like to hire people to deliver alongside him, but that it's been a struggle locating those willing to put themselves in harm's way for the good cause.

"I haven't had that much success outsourcing my riding," Boyer said. It's something I hope to fix here very soon, but it's hard to find good people that have the karma of never getting hit. The Achilles heel of this business is the liability. I'm wiling to take that risk because I believe in the business, and I know I'll find others who feel the same way."

More information and links to the restaurants Edible Pedal delivers for can be found at ediblepedal.com.