Juice

It's Happy Tuesday. Finally an off day. I am happy about that. It has been raining steadily since one in the morning. A fat rain, landing with a thick, loud, urgent frequency. There is nothing romantic about it. Nothing soft and gentle. I have lived in the Northwest for thirty years and I know rain. This is it. Still, I am happy because after yesterdays double HIT spin and Sunday's 13.1 95% all out run, I need a rest day.

So let it rain.





Equally as long as I have witnessed the Northwest rain I have wanted to turn all the energy we generate indoors (because of the rain) into stored energy. Watts to watts, usable however small. I once heard an industry rep at a trade show say that Lance on a spin bike, going at TT pace, would generate about enough energy to power the blender for his post work out protein shake. Talk about a battery drain!

But now, as we prepare to depart to Mexico for some indoor and outdoor training and riding, and as the RCV season is in hibernation, I have some time to hit the laboratory and do some experimentation. Tinker a touch.

And I think this might be one of the primary projects. The green energy revolution. Pretty simple concept really, convert our erg output to usable wattage. Dial it up to turn it on. GET OFF THE GRID, in whatever way and however little may result.

So let's consider: If Lance powers the blender, what could the 27 of us who gathered yesterday at 0530 power for an hour?

A stereo? A laptop? A LCD big screen? A hot water heater? Charge the nicad of your Leaf?

There is power in numbers. 27 people x 3 times a week = some serious juice.

I am on it.

Here are the links. Resource Fitness, Green Micro Gym and from Slate.

Also is a hilarious spot from the company that I refuse to name in print.