The Maple Highlands Trail has spawned a new business in Middlefield Village.
The Maple Highlands Trail has spawned a new business in Middlefield Village.
Catering to residents and visitors who fondly remember riding bicycles in their youth, Keith and Nancy Gecking opened a Pedego Electric Bikes shop in March in the middle of the village.
The trail, paved in the last few years and stretching from Chardon to south of Middlefield, gives bikers a clear path through some of Geauga County’s most scenic territory.
Gecking, 62, said in a recent phone interview he and his wife opened their first Pedego shop in 2020 in Peninsula, Ohio, to rent and sell e-bikes to those who want to ride all or part of the nearby tow path along the Erie Canal System. The 120-mile long trail stretches from Lake Erie to Dover-New Philadelphia.
When he heard about the Maple Highlands Trail, the idea of starting another store picked up speed.
“We were just looking for another business opportunity,” he said. “We wanted to be as close to the trail as possible.”
A Pedego e-bike runs on a rechargeable battery pack with the small motor mounted behind the rider.
The e-bike can be pedaled like a normal seven-speed bike without the electrical assist. If the rider wants to pedal part of the time, the action will help recharge the battery which will help the rider pedal, Gecking said.
If the hand-operated throttle is twisted, the rider can take a break from peddling while the vehicle motors on down the path.
He said most of his customers are older folks who want a nice bike ride, but are cautious about going too far from home or their vehicle or trying to get up a hill. Having the electric boost to rely on means those fears are groundless.
“The Pedego is a pleasure bike. We have wide, comfortable seats on our bikes,” he said.
Gecking is one of those people who recalls wonderful hours on his bike as a youth travelling for hours and miles with friends, blissfully free.
“We had a group in our neighborhood. We’d bike 40 or 50 miles in a day. That was nothing, as a kid,” he said.
These days, he and Nancy like to explore trails near their home in North Ridgeville, but they are lucky when they can find time to use their own bikes.
When they can get away for a few days in their motor home, they pack their e-bikes so they can pedal around campgrounds, enjoy local trails or travel into town.
“I got my first bike as a child. I am, predominantly, my customer,” he said. “E-bikes are a great tool in the RVer’s arsenal.”
Pedego Electric Bikes was started by CEO Don DiCostanzo in 2008. On the company website, he said he met with a friend for lunch and sketched out the idea on a napkin. Four years later, a Pedego devotee opened a shop in Huntington Beach, Ca.
Gecking said there are about 200 Pedego stores around the country, proving the love of biking doesn’t stop when retirement starts.
Pedego’s quality product and sales are in the top three in the country, making it a premium dealership, Gecking said, adding Pedego bikes start at $1,895 and include a five-year warrantee. The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Located at 15960 East High St. in Middlefield, it is centrally located and provides close access to the Maple Highlands Trail.
Middlefield Village has been working on a transportation plan to create a bike path through town so the north and south parts of the trail are clearly connected.
Gecking rents his e-bikes by the hour or by the day. Pedego has become a member of the chamber of commerce and the business donated an e-bike for a recent raffle that brought in $2,200 for the scholarship fund, he said.
“We are excited to be here and want to get to know the area,” Gecking said.
