Biking for electricity!

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve doubtless seen those commercials on ESPN.  A sportscaster is trying to work in his little cubicle, but the overhead light flickers.  He gets up, walks down the corridor, opens a door marked Generator Room, and inside is bicyclist Lance Armstrong, taking a break.  “What’s up?” says the sportscaster. Armstrong apologizes quickly and starts pedaling again.

Last year, the TV series Bones gave a similar example, when a “green enthusiast” offered to make the two main characters a fruit smoothie.  He places the ingredients in a blender, then gets on a stationary bike in the middle of the kitchen and starts pedaling.  The blender flickers into life.  “Saves electricity and is a great way to keep fit,” the character points out.

But have people done it in real life?  And more to the point, can you do it?

The answers are, yes, and; of course you can!

A site called Instructables shows you how to build your own bike blender.  Or you can purchase one from a site called The Juice Peddler, located in San Francisco, California.  (That’s just one example.  Make sure you check the web for their competitors, and do a little comparison shopping.  We mention the name just for the sake of information.)

In addition to making your own electricity via bicycle, a few green restaurants allow you to supply the power for their concoctions as well.  You’ll find most of these places at trendy restaurants in California, but a few have made their way across country.

The Firebox at Broad Street’s Billings Forge in Hartford, Connecticut
Habana Outpost in Brooklyn, New York

And even in other countries.  The Giggling Dolphin Restaurant & Boat Bar in the tourist resort city of Loreto in Baja California Sur, Mexico, for example, has a margarita blender.

However, there’s no need to spend your leg-power just mixing a smoothie.  You can also use it power your television set, or your computer.  The Pedal-A-Watt Stationary Bike Power Generator is a stand on which you place your bicycle.  The energy created as you pedal is stored in a battery that can then be removed and used to provide power wherever necessary.  The Pedal-A-Watt has competitors; of course, check them all out before you make your decision.