Riding in downtown’s new pedicab are Carlin Francis, 18, left, and Autumn Magiera, 31, both of Lawrence. The two got their first ride with Shane Powers, 24, Lawrence, who has invested ,000 for a pedicab, got a city license and pedals around downtown Lawrence making per block per person in his new business.

You can’t train your posterior.

Massachusetts Street isn’t flat.

And a few stiff drinks will make it more likely that somebody will want to ride on a bright, banana-yellow bicycle contraption in Downtown Lawrence.

Three weeks into being Lawrence’s only pedicab operator, Shane Powers already has started to gain a certain amount of street smarts from pedaling the pavement — including some cruel lessons.

“You can buy all the padded pants you want, but there’s no training for sitting on that bike seat for nine hours,” Powers said.

Come to find out, Lawrence residents may need a little bit of training to sit in the much more comfortable passenger seats of Powers’ pedicab.

Powers had planned on last Saturday being his biggest day yet. The city was celebrating Earth Day with a downtown parade and a festival in South Park.

And what says green and Earth-friendly more than paying a 24-year-old part-time guitar instructor and part-time liquor store employee to pedal you around downtown?

Shane Powers cruises up Massachusetts in his pedicab.

Apparently several things. Powers ended up being busy on Saturday, but it wasn’t during the day.

“During the night, I did three times the amount of business in half the amount of time,” he said.

The reason? Maybe it was because the Earth Day celebration wasn’t serving beer. Or perhaps, just not enough high heels.

“It seems to work well at night,” Powers said. “People are in a good mood, and you’ve got girls down here with 6-inch heels and all that. They don’t want to walk from here to there, but I sure wouldn’t mind pedaling them.”

As previously reported, Powers recently won City Commission approval for the new transportation service in February. He started offering rides earlier this month after taking delivery of his $3,000 machine.

What got him thinking about the business was a trip to Austin, Texas. There, he saw a number of pedicabs on Austin’s famed Sixth Street entertainment district, which convinced him that the rickshaw-like devices would fit in well with Downtown Lawrence.

Perhaps not everyone would agree.

“Oh, I make them really angry,” Powers said of motorists trying to navigate Massachusetts Street. “They pass me in no passing zones, basically any type of aggression you can think of. Nobody has thrown anything at me yet.”

Others see the value.

“It is just another quirk for Downtown Lawrence,” said Autumn Magiera, who flagged Powers down for a ride on Wednesday. “I could see it being sought after, especially by people who want to attract a little bit of attention.”

There has been some of that already. Powers said one customer asked if he could bring his electronic keyboard on board to play while he rode up and down Mass. Street.

The answer was easy enough: sure, for a buck a block. Powers is charging $1 per block, per person. The business — which doesn’t yet have set hours — is designed for short trips along Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont streets. But Powers has done some longer distance pedaling.

His longest trip has been from about Ninth and Mass. to 20th and Mass. For football season, Powers plans to operate around Memorial Stadium, taking people from tailgate parties to the game.

That, of course, is if his pedicab’s motor — also known as his two legs — holds out until fall. Powers said prior to starting this business he owned a bike, but stopped well short of calling himself a cyclist.

He has been working out with a personal trainer once a week to try to get in business shape, so to speak. Powers is confident it all will work out.

“I think by the end of the summer,” he said, “I’ll be the most fit person I know.”

Calloused posterior and all.