People of Pedego E-Bikes: Meet Mary and Patrick

Happy Saturday, friends! When I got my Pedego, I was added to a Facebook group called the Pedego E-Bikes Owners Group. It has just over 400 members and is a bustling community where people share photos of their rides, bikes, ask questions, share tips, and generally just enjoy being a part of the e-bike club. (It’s certainly come in handy for me a few times as I’ve had questions about my bike.) One of the first Pedego owners to befriend me was a friendly lady named Mary. Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed her posting more and more amazing photos of the adventures she and her husband take their bikes on, so I wanted to find out more about Mary, her husband, and their bikes. Mary and Patrick are from Redding, CA, which is Northern California, and have lived there since 1986. Enjoy!

Mary and the bikes in Moab, Utah

(Editor’s note: That blue color in the photo is the other photo I really debated about when ordering my bike! It’s the same color as my car… isn’t it a great color?!)

I asked Mary why she decided to get a Pedego. “We used to ride regular bikes all the time with a group of friends. We are older, I being 65 and my husband is soon to be 63. It became increasingly hard for some of the members of our group to ride anymore so we quit riding. Patrick, my husband, has type 2 diabetes and our doctor said it was mandatory that he loose some weight. So, we started researching exercising methods. We have machines (treadmill and stationary bike) but we didn’t do them often enough and it wasn’t much fun. Patrick started looking into bikes and stumbled upon electric bikes. There are many on the market but the Pedego brand stood out because they seemed to have everything we were looking for such as pedal assist, a throttle and that it was made in the USA. We decided on the Interceptors because they had all the components we required and are built the best (heftier frame, disc brakes, slimed tires and digital display).

We found the closest dealer to us was in Sacramento. We hopped into the car and two and a half hours later we were test driving two Interceptors. It only took 15 minutes of riding these bikes that we knew these were the bikes we had been searching for. No more sore muscles climbing hills and no more down time the next day. We ordered two Interceptors on the spot, mine a 24 inch step through and Patrick’s a classic. That was the first part of December 2014. We received them a week before Christmas.”

Amazing photo by Mary and Patrick of the Pedegos at Arches National Park

One reason I wanted to talk to Mary is that I see amazing pictures she posts from all over the country. I asked her favorite place she’s taken her Pedego.

“I think one of our favorite places we have ridden is Moab, UT (first photo in the post). They have a fantastic paved bike trail that should be the model for all cities. Another place that was great was Yosemite. We rode the whole valley. We also have a wonderful trail system in Redding that keeps growing. We are going to the Grand Canyon in a week and I hear they have a good rim trail now. So many wonderful places.”

Next I asked Mary, what is the most important thing about Pedego that you would tell someone who stops you on the street?

      “We talk to a lot of people when we are out and about. People are always surprised when we tell them that we can ride 20 plus miles a day. Then they find out the bikes are electric. A big smile usually comes after that and many questions. We tell them that no matter your age or disability you can still ride this bike and  have FUN. Both of us have joint problems and this bike allows us to get exercise again without all the pain. We have let people demo our bikes and you see the surprise and delight when the motor kicks in and a big smile follows. We have been told a couple of times “we’re going to get one of these!”

A great selfie of Patrick and Mary and the bikes!

Lastly, I asked Mary if there’s anything else she would add about Pedego bikes. I love her response!

“Patrick has lost about 20 lbs since he started riding. He sometimes rides twice a day. I am not an early riser and he is so sometimes he goes out really early in the morning and then he will go out again in the afternoon when I’m ready to go. He feels bad when he can’t go out because it’s raining or there is no opportunity for him to ride. These bikes have given us something to do together which is important at this time of our lives. He retired two years ago so this trip that we are on is one that we have been planning on for many years. We’re having lots of fun and can say without a doubt that purchasing Pedego bikes was one of the best purchases we have made in a long time.”

Don’t Mary and Patrick sound like a fun couple? Big thanks to Mary for taking the time to answer my questions and share with us here about her Pedego experience. Do you guys have any questions for her or Patrick?

I think taking my bike to Arches National Park is a new goal… now to get Matt a Pedego, and a baby seat for our little lady!

I’ll be back next week to report about some fun, longer rides I’ve been taking with my bike. 🙂 In the meantime, I hope you have an amazing weekend!

Stuff the FTC makes me say: Pedego provided me a complementary bicycle in exchange for my coverage on the Double Chin Diary and social media as part of being a Pedego Electric Bike Ambassador. All opinions are my own.