Biking Around the Farm on My Pedego E-Bike
Are you heading out for a bike ride today? Biking is gaining lots of popularity, especially during this time of social distancing. It's a wonderful way to exercise and spend time with friends and family. Today's bikes are a big improvement over what we rode as children. Nowadays, they offer a variety of different features to make two-wheel traveling easier and so much more comfortable.
Last week, I took a lovely ride around my Bedford, New York farm. Joined by my friend and colleague, Kevin Sharkey, we biked the entire four-miles of carriage road on my Interceptor e-bikes from Pedego, an e-bike manufacturing and retail sales company in Irvine, California. Along the way, we stopped to check on the gardens, visit my chickens, and say hi to my peafowl. Pedego e-bikes can be operated manually or electrically, and the battery-powered “pedal-assist” motor provides just enough boost to zip up hills or cruise over challenging terrain whenever needed.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Here in the Northeast, we’re expecting today to be very warm with temperatures well into the 90s – perhaps too warm for a midday bike ride, but when I set out on my ride last week, the weather was perfect to ride around the farm. Here I am with my Interceptor E-Bike. I am wearing my straw hat bike helmet from Bike Pretty – it’s sold out now, but they’re making more!
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- The Pedego bike seat has a soft saddle with a suspension seat-post for extra cushioning.
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- It has a state-of-the-art 48-volt battery that uses the same advanced lithium-ion cells as an electric car. It is lightweight and can go as far as 60-miles on just cents worth of electricity. And a whisper-quiet 500-watt motor does all the work. It also has built-in front and rear lights for safety and convenience.
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- The Kevlar-belted tires help prevent flats along the ride.
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- It also has a large chainring and a deluxe 10-speed drivetrain that provides the fluid shifting and comfortable pedaling – even at higher speeds.
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- Pedego bikes have wide, swept-back handlebars that allow for a relaxed ride. The handles are comfortable to grip and the bike has top of the line hydraulic disk brakes to make sure the rider can stop quickly and easily.
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- On the left side of the handlebars is an LCD display with a USB charger port for a phone. Here, one can control the twist-and-go throttle and five pedal-assist levels.
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- On the front of my bike is a Nantucket Bike Basket Co. Lightship Bike Basket from LLBean. This basket is also temporarily sold out, but keep checking their web site.
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- Kevin road this Interceptor: Platinum Edition E-Bike. From end to end, this bike is 75-inches long and its rear height from the ground to the top of the rack is 31-inches.
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- Pedego bikes are also built with a cruiser frame geometry so riders are always sitting upright. Here I am behind my stable as I start riding down to the peafowl.
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- We rode down through the Linden Allee and greeted my peacocks and peahens – 16 in this pen and one that just hatched in my incubator. Here is one of my blue peacocks looking over to see where I am. They always respond when I call.
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- This peahen also stopped foraging for insects to see who was visiting.
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- After the peafowl, Kevin and I rode down to the chicken coop area to check out the vegetable garden and, of course, the chickens, geese, and Guinea fowl.
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- Earlier in the day, we gave my chickens a treat of frozen berries from years past. They loved them and devoured every bowl full.
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- Here’s a fun snapshot of Kevin and me from inside the vegetable garden with our e-bikes parked just feet away.
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- Then it was off again – around the chicken yard, past the tennis court, and then through the newer allee along the lower hayfield road leading to the woodlands – this one with beautiful London planes, Platanus × acerifolia.
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- These trees are small now, but they grow quickly. The London plane tree is a very large deciduous tree that is quite resilient and looks great planted in multiples.
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- Here I am riding by the 104 pin oaks we planted last autumn – all lined up along both sides of the carriage road leading to my “Contemporary House.” The trees are hard to see with their slender trunks, but in time they will be big and beautiful. Kevin took this photo – see more of his great images on his Instagram page @seenbysharkey.
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- And look at the lilies in my formal white lily garden in front of my main greenhouse. They’re looking stunning and soon all of them will be blooming.
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- I captured this image of Kevin in the middle of the lily bed.
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- Kevin and I had a wonderful ride. I can’t wait to ride my bike in Maine and in East Hampton. I hope you’re able to get in some good exercise during this pandemic. Stay safe and healthy.
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