OC TALK RADIO

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John Minto, the mayor of Santee, California, joins us to talk about his own passion for eBikes (as he pedals his Pedego Electric Bike all over town for fun and better health).  And how it’s actually helped him be a better mayor by getting out in the community more and meeting more people at a more personal pace.  Explaining how cities (like his) are embracing and adapting to this new eBike Revolution with greater access, encouragement and safety training.  All on this week’s PEDEGO PODCAST.

With continuing tales of the entrepreneurs driving this movement. And the love stories of those just riding along. Powered by Pedego Electric Bikes.

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Today is the special story of Ryan Gustman, a gifted young photographer who traded in his car and shifted to riding an eBike full time instead.. Not in spite of his autism but precisely because of it. Taking him off the road and into the forgotten backroads of his beloved Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. Where he makes a living photographing old, abandoned buildings caught in that “liminal”, shifting space between what they once were and are quickly becoming. Once alive but now forgotten. With some being “born again into something new (like a revived retail or restaurant location). 

It’s all part of what he’s capturing and exploring on his Pedego City Commuter. As he moves beyond the boundaries of his own autism to becoming part of an even bigger narrative. “My eBike has given me the freedom to explore,” explains Ryan, “at a slower, more human pace my autistic brain can better absorb and handle”.  Both calming him and energizing him at the same time. Allowing him to grow and change and explore the world all around him. “In ways I could never have imagined”. smiles Ryan.

An imaginative tale of calm and change in this week’s PEDEGO PODCAST. As we continue to chronicle the eBike Revolution (and the love stories of those riding along).

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Having worked for the famed outdoor adventure/personal development company OUTWARD BOUND for over a dozen years, Laurel Zimmerman had clearly adopted their whole credo “to stretch your comfort zone” and “accomplish things you never thought you could” thru challenging outdoor adventures. But she could never have imagined how far that approach would take her in life, growing from instructor to course director, to admissions, to finally managing the national admissions office for the entire country, based out of an office in Asheville, NC. Or that it would eventually entice her to leave the company she so loved to challenge herself even further by opening an electric bike store in her adopted home of Greenville, South Carolina.

But that’s exactly the leap she made in the middle of COVID, going from passionate ebiker to ebike entrepreneur.  Bringing her life partner, Ashby Knox along for the ride. “When I originally went to him with what seemed like a wild idea, I was really just looking for someone to bounce it off a bit” says Laurel. “But when I laid it all out to him, he jumped at the idea as well.” 

Having already changed his life and jumped from a career in construction to a polar opposite in nursing, Ashby was no stranger to change.  For him, it just seemed like another way to help people (without the burnout and stress he’d been experiencing in health care). So they found a place in an old cotton warehouse in the quaintest part of historic Greenville (right near the Rails to Trails Swamp Rabbit Trail) and set out blazing new trails for themselves and their customers.

It’s a romantic story about a couple of life partners who also work as real life partners in this real life adventure. Helping people achieve more than they can ever imagine. Right in the heart of Dixie. On this week’s Pedego Podcast. Powered by Pedego Electric Bikes.